Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
History for children in Edinburgh
Kids and history can seem to go together like, well, peanut butter and aged cheese. History sometimes comes across as the most boring subject imaginable and kids zone-out at the long lists of names, dates, what significant impact the Magna Carta made on the shoe leather industry, blah, blah, blah….
Since we can’t have kids growing up oblivious to tales of events that have created a Scotland as we are today …. don't give into the history blahs!
Instead, discover the fascinating and complex history of Scotland and together, history can be turned into fun beyond a page in a textbook and get the kids bitten by the history bug!
Take a family field trip this spring
Uncover the story behind Scotland’s heroes such as William the Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Visit a historical home or, prepare for battle at the Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre near Stirling – 3D 
technology enables visitors to stand face-to-face with the fearful warriors as two opposing kings prepare to battle it out. Several attractions across Scotland relive historical events….
Think you know what to expect from museums? Think again! Go and see what Scotland’s museums have in store for you at Festival of Museums – an exciting weekend full of fun from Friday 13 – Sunday 15 May. From little ones to big kids, there’s something for everyone in a packed programme of activities taking place all across Scotland over one exciting weekend. This fun-filled celebration of museum awesomeness featured in the Sunday Post’s Top Ten Days Out for 2016, so make sure you get involved. Find a location near you at www.festivalofmuseums.com
Hurl a Haggis!
Games and sports have been part of Scottish culture for centuries. Some believe the roots of the 
Highland games date as far back as the 11th century, when King Malcolm III called a foot race to the summit of Craig Choinnich, near Braemar, in the hopes of finding the fastest runner in the land to become his personal courier.
Take the family to a Highland gathering to listen to massed piper bands as they show off their skills whilst Highland dancers give colourful and dazzling displays of fancy footwork. The athlete’s amongst you can compete at tug-o-war, toss a caber, enter a dance competition or merely enter the family’s Hairy Maclary into the bonniest pet on show. See this year’s line-up of Highland gatherings starting from May at www.shga.co.uk/events.php
Recreate History at Home
Kids love dressing up, so spark an interest to recreate a historical wardrobe. Ceilidh down the cat-walk with a Royal fashion show - display fashion trends….or the disasters of Scotland’s Kings and Queens. It doesn’t need to be fancy or even realistic looking. The learning will happen when children are trying to figure out what they are supposed to wear.
Simply crafting at home is a great way to bring history to kids if you’ve a hands-on learner. So, you could even stay home and build historical landmarks out of Lego bricks or inside a video game like Minecraft. Dress the budding Historian up as a reporter and let them interview a Scottish past they wish to explore. Help paint descendents - little kids can have a hard time comprehending that they are descended from a long lineage. They don’t think beyond the people they know…..
Tell history through a tale
The Scottish thistle is our national flower – a humble weed might seem an odd symbolic choice – right?
One of the best-known thistle legends takes place in the mid-13th century when a Viking force came ashore to creep up on the Scottish clansmen and Highlanders to overcome them as they slept. This amount of stealth required that they go barefoot!
Unfortunately for the unwary invaders, a soldier’s barefoot came down hard on a Scottish thistle and the cries of shock and pain were enough to wake the sleeping Scots.
Leaping to their feet, the clansmen charged in to battle and the rest, as they say, is history….Because of the heroic role the plant played in the outcome of the battle, the thistle was immediately chosen as the national emblem. The thistle moved on through the centuries to appear on silver coins, become an integral part of Scotland’s Coat of Arms and the name of one of Scotland’s highest chivalric orders was “The Order of The Thistle”.
Once you've exposed your young one to the fun side of history, don't be surprised if they develop a taste for more! Haggis for breakfast may not be on the breakfast menu or, a kilt top of the list for Santa this year, but they’ll be sure to have a new appreciation for history once they learn it's not so boring after all…..
Have fun reliving history together!