Best day ever: Things to do with kids in Liverpool

Another Place, Crosby, by sculptor Antony Gormley consists of 100 cast-iron figures gazing wordlessly out to sea from the beach. It adds something different to the experience of playing on the sand with a bucket and spade. Art and artless childhood abandon co-exist here.

Giving your kids a nineties summer is definitely a mood this year. So get lost in Donkey Kong Jr and Street Fighter 2 at ArCains. Part of the Cains Brewery Complex, it’s a gamer’s paradise.

If your kids are getting into proper music, The Beatles Story is a good place to build on that enthusiasm. The interactive Discovery Zone is the highlight with its sing-along-a-Beatles karaoke, and a giant floor piano for composing your own pop classics.

When it comes to days out with kids in the North West, Chester Zoo is the big one. Literally. There are over 30,000 animals – and more than 520 different species – spread across 130 acres. It’s one of the most highly-rated zoos in the country and its huge size means there is plenty of space for the creatures who call it home – you don’t get that slightly icky feeling of looking at sad animals in small enclosures.

Get stuck in with a pottery painting session at Frankie’s Paint-It Pottery. Whether you’re crazy about clay or it’s your first time getting creative with ceramics, there’s a wide selection of paints and pots to choose from. Pot prices start from as low as £12 depending on size and design.

Treat football fans to a day out that takes in the dressing rooom and the tunnel so they can imagine themselves leading the team out to victory. Check booking dates carefully because there is no pitchside or dugout access between Monday 20 July and Wednesday 12 August.

Gravity MAX Liverpool is like an indoor theme park that encompasses ten pin bowling, indoor karting, batting cages, arcades and urban street-style mini golf. It’s also the home of Immersive Gamebox in Liverpool.

Gulliver’s World is a theme park that’s perfect for smallsters. It has rollercoasters and upside-downy things for tweens but these stomach-churners are vastly outnumbered by gentle planes, water rides, teacups and rollercoasters of the introductory variety.

The Camp Knowsley summer activities easily outshine similar programmes with survival skills and bushtucker challenges. Knowsley Safari Park’s biggest thrill is driving through the monkey enclosure. Watch cars being shredded by cute little simian vandals and know that you too are going to be calling in at Halfords on the way home. Only wimps swerve this part of the day.

Huge fans will love to go behind the scenes at Anfield. They can pretend to give a post-match press conference or shout instructions from the dugout. The Summer Family Fun Zone is a budget-friendly alternative. It doesn’t include stadium access but you do get the target cage challenge, the fast feet skills challenge, and the 4-a-side football pitch.

Cool off at Liverpool Watersports Centre. The Aqua Park is a big attraction for summer – like an inflatable adventure playground that always ends up with you in the water. Or try out canoeing, kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding. Swan pedalos are a more sedate option.

There’s plenty to do here if you like larking around in the water. Try the inflatable, lake-based aqua park or canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, all available to hire or bring your own. (Watch out for age restrictions.) There are also kids clubs in the holidays. Landlubbers might prefer to test themselves on the adventure trail: an obstacle course for those who aren’t afraid of heights or a bit of mud.

The Museum of Liverpool on Pier Head is an eclectic and diverse collection of Liverpool stuff and stories. Part of the National Museums Liverpool group, you’ll find everything including a carriage from Liverpool’s overhead railway which you can climb aboard. Smallsters will love the Little Liverpool interactive area for under-sixes. Parents be warned: their favourite bit will be the Liverpuddles water play. This is free but ticketed.

New Brighton Beach used to have a bit of a grotty reputation but with sandy shores, shallow water for paddling, watersports and millions of pounds being spent on regeneration, it gets our recommendation. It’s not an unspoilt wilderness but you can dip your toes in the water and watch container ships glide by. Plus, The Times has named New Brighton one of the UK’s best coastal towns to live in.

Sefton Park is larger than most city parks, although it’s not Liverpool’s biggest – that title goes to Croxteth Country Park. There’s something for everyone here, from open green spaces to peaceful woodland trails that feel far removed from the city. The lake attracts plenty of wildlife too, so keep an eye out for kingfishers skimming across the water.

Speke Hall is Liverpool’s only traditional house-and-gardens property which makes it a popular family getaway. Highlights for young visitors include the wattle-and-daub building (comes up in primary school history lessons) and the Priest’s Hole. Outside, the hedge maze and the zip wire get the thumbs up.

Splash World in Southport is an inclusive family-friendly water park. It offers a range of attractions but is perhaps more suited to younger splashers. There’s a shallow toddler splash pool with interactive water play and a larger version too, like an adventure fort, only with sprays, waterfalls and small tube slides. There’s also a tyre ride, a family slide and a fast slide for older visitors but there’s nothing too adrenalin-driven.

A trip to Thurstaston Beach is more like a day in the countryside than at the seaside. Part of the Wirral Country Park, this sand and shingle shoreline is the most unspoilt part of the peninsula.

West Kirby Beach is a relatively small, sandy beach that’s perfect for families. It’s clean and compact with soft sand and all the facilities you need for a fun day out. What sets it apart is the opportunity to walk across to Hilbre Island at low tide – keep your eyes peeled for seals and dolphins.

The Walker Art Gallery is always a brilliant rainy day standby. It has everything from 20th century artists like Lowry and Freud to medieval and renaissance Art (there are gruesome works involving saints being tortured – take that as a warning or an endorsement depending on your children’s proclivities). Take a sketchbook and get kids to draw a detail from their favourite paintings. It easily passes a good half hour.

Head to Walton Hall & Gardens for landscaped grounds, woodland walks and a whole host of fun things to do. The orienteering, the alpacas and the mini golf make it a good bet for days out with the kids.

Discover the rush of flying over a lake on a rope swing and daring yourself to let go at Wild Shore Delamere. This outdoor watersports and aqua park near Chester offers all kinds of water-based adventures, including the Aqua Chimp; a ropes course where falling off means getting wet. They also have a big blue floating playground, complete with tire runs, ninja jumps, and slides.

The World Museum, part of National Museums Liverpool, is selling itself short. It’s not a World Museum, it’s an absolutely everything museum – there’s even a full dome planetarium. When you’ve discovered everything there is to know about our world, you can move on to outer space. Stay on earth long enough for the aquarium and the bug house.

Zap’s graffiti art classes have a few more street smarts than other alternatives. Book a two-hour slot over the summer holidays – prices are currently reduced to £25 – and remember to send off your budding Banksys in their oldest clobber. This is great fun but anyone with asthma should give it a miss.