Take your pick from our Easter treats

THE temperature has plunged and there's snow on the hills – that's right, Easter is looming.

There's so much going on that we've split our ultimate Easter guide into two parts. Tomorrow, we'll tell you how to make the most of Easter without spending a penny.

HATCH A PLAN

Easter is traditionally a time for families, chocolate, eggs and, of course, the Easter Bunny bunnies. They all combine at an Easter Sunday breakfast at Dobbies in Lasswade. The breakfast party includes entertainment and costs 9.95. Booking is essential.

On Easter Sunday you can join the newborn lambs and chicks at Gorgie Farm on Gorgie Road.

The fun starts at 10am and includes an egg hunt, bonnet competition, arts and crafts and egg rolling. You can help take the lambs for a walk, as well as ride a pony and feed the chickens. Entry costs 10 per family.

Decorate some eggs at Foodies at Holyrood caf in Holyrood Road. The egg decorating costs 2 and all proceeds will be donated to (CRY) Cardiac Risk in the Young charity. To book a place, call 0131-335 3235.

Five Sisters Zoo in Polbeth, West Lothian, kicks off its Big Easter Fun Weekend on Friday. Events include donkey rides, tractor rides and on Sunday, an Easter egg hunt and bonnet contest. Adults 6.50, children 4.50 Web: www.fivesisterszoo.co.uk

An annual Easter must is the massive egg hunt at East Links Family Park near Dunbar throughout the weekend, where hundreds of eggs are waiting to be found. Go to www.eastlinks.co.uk for further details.

ART ATTACK

Tepooka at The Big Red Door on 8 April in Lady Lawson Street combines crafts, models, puppets and masks with the chance to learn more from ecologist Hannah Werdmuller about the natural world.

For more information go to www.tepooka.org.

Modroc Modelling at Imagination Workshop, Marchmont Road, is a messy and fun plaster modelling technique. Classes run from 10am, 6-9 April, 15 per day. Alternatively, try out the Funky Stuff week long class the following week. Make mobiles, clocks and light shades, 75 for the week. Visit www.theimaginationworkshop.co.uk for details.

Ceramics workshop Doodles in Marchmont Road runs a holiday workshop from 12-16 April with the chance to learn clay modelling and pottery skills. 65 for the week or 14 per day. 0131-229 1399 for details.

If drawing is their particular talent, the Filmhouse in Lothian Road is running a Children's Drawing Workshop with cartoonist Malcy Duff on Thursday, 15 April, 12. www.filmhousecinema.com (0131-228 2688)

Workshops on Thursday 8th and Wednesday 14 cost 12.

Learn how to turn snapshots in photojournalism at the Dean Gallery, Belford Road (0131-624 6200, www.nationalgalleries.org). The How to be Photojournalist workshop for 16-21 year olds is on Saturday, 10 April, cost 30.

GET SPORTY

Don't worry about keeping the children active over the Easter holidays – Edinburgh Leisure has plenty on offer.

Choose from golf to athletics, swimming to tennis. There's even a multi-sports camp at Meadowbank for kids who just can't decide what they want to do.

Remember, primary school aged children can swim for free at Edinburgh Leisure's ten swim centres across the city.

If your youngster is showing promise on the links, hone their swing at a junior golf camp. Choose from morning or afternoon sessions for five days during which participants will learn the basics of swing, club selection and etiquette while taking in part in a range of fun and challenging games.

Golf camps run from 5th-9th April at Princes Golf Course and Silverknowes Golf Course and from 12-16 April at Craigentinny Golf Course and Portobello Golf Course. Costs 68 per child. Book via e-mail at mail@edinburgh leisure.co.uk. Go to www.edinburghleisure.co.uk for full brochure of events.

Edinburgh International Climbing Arena in Ratho offers a range of fun activities for kids. Check out the Aerial Assault course, and abseiling to multi activity days (runs on 7 April, for ages eight-14, 35). New for 2010 is the chance to experience Gorge Walking. Go to www.eica-ratho.com

At Hillend, the Midlothian Snowsports Centre is running skiing and snowboarding clubs for kids. Call 0131-445 4433 for details.

International Soccer Schools football camp for 5-10s runs at James Gillespie's High School from 12 to 16 April. Go to www.internationalsoccer.co.uk or info.

STORYTIME

The Scottish Storytelling Centre in High Street has a full Easter programme of story fun for kids.

Whether it's tall tales about the mystical Water Kelpy of Loch Ness (Friday 2) or quirky adaptations of classic stories such as the Brothers Grimm tale The Fisherman (Wednesday 7), there's a story to keep the kids amused every day. Storytelling sessions cost 6.50/4.50. Go to www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk

The Puppet Animation Festival is about to start, with events at venues across the city. Choose from Jack and the Beanstalk and the Billy Goats Gruff, Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre's dramatic versions of Viking tales, Banyan Theatre Company's quirky adaptation of the Princess and the Pea and Oscar the mouse's exciting adventures in space. See the full programme at www.puppetanimationfestival.org

ON STAGE

Edinburgh's Ceilidh Culture festival is in full swing – and kids have the chance to get involved at Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin at Brunstfield Primary School between 5 and 8 April. Workshops in fiddle, song, dance and drama taught by some of Britain's finest young traditional musicians. Suitable for children from P5 and P6, cost 95. See www.eyg.org.uk or e-mail [email protected] for more information and bookings.

If they have the X Factor, they'll want to join the Popstars Academy at Cramond Kirk Hall, which is adopting the Alice in Wonderland theme for a three-day workshop culminating in a full scale performance. From 6-8 April, 45. Find details at www.PopstarsAcademy.com

Meanwhile, the Filmhouse in Lothian Road and the Royal Lyceum Theatre also run their own workshops for talented future stars. From learning how to create characters for the big and small screen at the Filmhouse to designing their own costume and set at the Lyceum, the classes will give children a backstage view of theatre and film life. There are details at www.filmhousecinema.com (0131-228 2688) and www.lyceum.org.uk (0131-248 4848).

Kids Rock is a child-friendly introduction to learning music. Professional, trained staff put kids through drums, guitar, keyboard and even DJing skills over two days of workshops on 14 and 15 April.

Prices start from 15 for a half day 25 for a full day and are taking place at Corstorphine Parish Church from 9:30am till 4pm. Go to www.kidsrockuk.com or call 07748048060

TAKE A BREAK

Holidays are exhausting for parents, so leave kids aged between three and seven years with Tumble Tots Easter Playscheme at Cluny Church Centre, Morningside. Sessions last from 10am-12:30pm, dates vary over the holiday period. Costs 9 per child. Find details at www.tumbletots.com/edinburgh, call 01875 819966 for more information.

A hands-on approach to fun at Science Festival

FROM high-tech robots to ancient mummies, bloody medicine to birdspotting, pond dipping to rocket science . . .

If you can't find something to interest the kids at this year's International Science Festival, then you're not looking properly.

What junior zoologist could fail to be thrilled at the thought of spending an entire night at an Edinburgh Zoo sleepover, where they can join a torchlight safari to see nocturnal beasts go about their business?

And there aren't many little boys who wouldn't want to be in charge of a Lego Mindstorm robot.

One of the best bets for families is a day pass for the City Art Centre.

Pre-book your places at the most popular, such as Unwrapping the Mummy – a chance to unwrap the bandages to explore the ancient Egyptian's life.

Look out for Rampaging Chariots, where young racers can steer a robot around a challenging obstacle course, the Jungle Safari which explores the ways animals communicate or, for the bloodthirsty young ones, The Blood Bar, where visitors can mix up a gooey blood milkshake and even touch a real heart.

Events at the City Art Centre run daily from 3-17 April (not 11 April), between 9:30am and 4:30pm. Day passes cost 6.50 for adults, over-7s 8.50, children aged 3-6 6, under-threes go free.

For youngsters with an interest in ecology and nature, search out Science Festival-themed events at the Botanics.

If they prefer wildlife, delve into the secret lives of animals at Edinburgh Zoo, where kids can inspect a dung sample under a microscope, learn more about the work behind the scenes and explore X-ray records of animals from anteaters to zebras.

Science Festival events are also running at Edinburgh's museums and the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian, where junior aviators can combine Easter egg fun with catapult design to create their very own "eggcrafts", attend cabin crew school and man the parachute store.

Finally, no Science Festival would be complete without the crazy antics of Brainiac's Dr Bunhead. This year, find him and his glow in the dark sausages at George Square Theatre with his Natural Disaster Show (5.50 children, 4.50 adults, shows on 10, 11 and 17 April).

Details of all events are at www.sciencefestival.co.uk.