Picking holiday outings for kids can be child's play

WE can all remember the mandatory Sunday trips to the "must see" places on our parents' educational itineraries for their children. Some outings were, it has to be admitted, lots of fun, but many others provoke nothing more than sibling arguments and frayed nerves among the adults.

If families dedicated even one day a month perhaps every fourth Sunday specifically to a child focused outing, such day trips would be much less anxious family affairs, according to Bridog Ni Bhuachalla, who has written a new guide to children's activities in Ireland called Kids' Day Out.

However, finding something that children enjoy may be more difficult than one first imagines. Ni Bhuachalla admits that she was very disappointed by the lack of facilities for children in many parts of Ireland when she was compiling her guide.

"Cob Longford was particularly bad (it warrants only a single page in the book featuring a cinema, a sports complex and a heritage village), but the midlands were bad in general," says Ni Bhuachalla, adding that she felt obliged to leave out playgrounds which were made up of merely two rusty swings and a slide.

"The standard of facilities varied hugely and another problem was that a lot of heritage centres around the country are very similar. Often, their audio visual shows are said to be suitable for children, but I'd question that. They may be very thoroughly researched, but they are boringly presented from a child's point of view," she adds. Ni Bhuachalla was, however, amazed at how much better facilities for children were in the North.

"The facilities in the Six Counties are superb and there are lots of things to do that are free or reasonably cheap. In the Republic, money needs to be invested in good public amenities like playgrounds and swimming pools and there needs to be a lot more happening things like teen aerobics and puppet shows for younger children."

Perhaps contrary to the prevailing view of the 1990s that children are much more sophisticated than children, say of the 1960s or 1970s, Ni Bhuachnlla believes children are easily entertained.

"You can bring two to five year olds anywhere and they will be surprised and astonished by things. As they get older, it does get more difficult, but I think it's the parents who feel they have to do a lot to give children a special day out Parents particularly urban parents put a huge amount of energy and money into doing spectacular things with their children who may be just as happy doing something straightforward," she says.

Fionnuala Kilfeather, co-ordinator of the National Parents' Council (Primary) agrees. "Children are children. They can be entertained in ways they have always been entertained. Their taste in television may be different to that of children in the past because TV is a new medium. Small children still enjoy looking at animals, playing football and simple things like that. The important thing is for parents to be interested in what the children are doing, to have a positive attitude and to show encouragement."

Ni Bhuachalla includes a list of simple (and free) activities such as collecting shells, a trip to the airport, making daisy chains, fruit picking and going to a market, at the beginning of her book. Teenagers shouldn't be forced to join in family outings, she wisely adds.