Coronation Park
One of Sefton's seven Green Flag parks, in the middle of Crosby, with a play area, tennis courts and a model boating lake. Small, well kept, free, and about as low effort as a Saturday morning gets.
Days out with the kids in Crosby
6 places in Crosby, Merseyside, 4 of which cost nothing. Everything below is within easy reach if you live locally.
6 in Crosby4 free1 indoor
Crosby's beach is the strangest free afternoon on this coast: a hundred cast-iron men staring out to sea along two miles of sand, Antony Gormley's Another Place, with container ships from the port gliding past behind them. Children treat the statues as a game the tide is also playing; stay between the beach entrances and off the mud beyond, because the signs mean it.
Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre sits on the marine lake behind the shore, running paddle sports and watersports sessions for older children in season, with a cafe for the spectators. That is the town's offer, and it makes an honest half-day. Formby's squirrels and dunes are ten minutes up the coast and Liverpool's free museum quarter twenty minutes south, so the iron men never have to carry a whole day alone.
Places in Crosby
Crosby Beach
A hundred cast-iron men stare out to sea along two miles of sand - Antony Gormley's Another Place, and the strangest, most memorable free afternoon on this coast. Sand, statues, ships from the port gliding past.
Rimrose Valley Country Park
A long country park running south from Crosby between the Leeds and Liverpool canal and the railway: paths, meadows, reedbeds and the Brookvale nature reserve with its boardwalks. Free, open, no charge to park.
Victoria Park, Waterloo
Waterloo's big multi-use park, with a skate park tucked in the corner by the railway line and sport pitches across the rest. Sefton list play facilities too, but check before you promise a playground.
Crosby Leisure Centre
Two pools a hundred yards from the beach, the smaller one shallow enough for a child who is still learning. On Tuesdays the main pool gets Atlantis Splash, a full length inflatable obstacle course.
Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre
Sefton's watersports centre on Crosby Marine Lake, with pay and play paddle sessions in season and the Gormley iron men on the beach over the road. More of a booked-session place than a turn-up attraction, so plan before you drive.
Also worth the drive
Not in Crosby, but close enough for a day out.
World of Glass
Free, indoors and better than it sounds: interactive science aimed at younger children, glassblowing demos, a picnic area and a small playground outside.
Sherdley Park
St Helens' biggest park. Play areas, open space and a walled garden, and it costs nothing.
Dream, Sutton Manor
A 20-metre white head rising out of a reclaimed colliery, with woodland trails around it. Genuinely strange and memorable for kids, and a short walk rather than a hike.
Sankey Valley Park
A green corridor of canal towpath and parkland running from St Helens down towards Warrington. Flat, traffic-free and ideal if the bikes or scooters are coming.
Holiday Clubs (HAF)
Funded holiday clubs with food included, ages 4 to 18, for families on benefits-related free school meals. Worth a look even if you assume you won't qualify.
Prescot & Whiston Play Centres
Space World in Prescot, Sensory Hive in Whiston and Boomerang: the council-listed indoor options when it rains and everyone is climbing the walls.
Family & Friends Playcentre
Soft play with a full role-play village attached, which is the bit that holds a four-year-old's attention long after the frame stops being interesting.
Knowsley Safari
Drive through the reserve from the car, then the sea lion and birds of prey shows. Reviews are split on value, and several warn that families expect a full zoo and find fewer headline animals, so set expectations first.
What’s on near you, every Friday
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.