Days out with the kids in Rossendale

Rossendale's three are either indoors or up a hill, which suits valley weather. The Whitaker in Rawtenstall is the free one, a museum and gallery with an early years studio and a steady run of family days, films and makes. Ski Rossendale, above the town, sells tubing: fifty minutes of sliding down the dry slope in a rubber ring, £15 a head, age 5 and up.

Grip & Go in Haslingden is the climbing, twenty-four themed walls and an hour in harnesses for £14, from age 4, with the Leap of Faith as the paid extra everyone wants twice. Both are run by Rossendale Leisure Trust, and the council has put the ski slope under a further review, so check it is open before a long drive.

Places in Rossendale

The Whitaker

Rossendale~45 min

★★★★☆4.4(703)

Rawtenstall's free museum and art gallery, with an early years studio and a busy programme of family days, films and makes. MANR, the restaurant on site, feeds you afterwards.

Free entryIndoorsAges 0-11

Grip & Go

Rossendale~40 min

★★★★★4.7(108)

Twenty-four themed climbing walls in Haslingden, harnesses on and an hour in the arena, from age 4. The Leap of Faith off the top platform costs extra and is the bit they will want to do twice.

£14 a climberIndoorsAges 4-14

Ski Rossendale (The Hill)

Rossendale~45 min

★★★★★4.6(453)

A dry ski slope on the hill above Rawtenstall where the family draw is tubing: 50 minutes of sliding down in a rubber ring, age 5 and up. Snow not required, and never promised.

Tubing £15 a headAges 5-14

What’s on in Rossendale

2 dated events coming up.

Also worth the drive

Not in Rossendale, but close enough for a day out.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.3(35,528)

The big one. Nickelodeon Land covers the primary ages properly while the Big One and the wooden coasters wait for brave older kids. August queues are real; go in expecting them and it is a great day.

Wristbands - cheaper onlineAges 4-11

Blackpool Tower

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.5(18,434)

The Tower Eye's glass floor 380 feet up, a proper circus that still knows how to play to kids, and the famous ballroom below for a fancy ice cream. Buy the attractions you want rather than the bundle you will not use.

Per-attraction ticketsIndoorsAges 4-11

Sandcastle Waterpark

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.3(8,767)

The UK's biggest indoor waterpark, kept at tropical temperature: proper toddler pools and mini slides at one end, big flumes at the other. Rainy-day Blackpool solved.

Book online - cheaperIndoorsAges 4-11

Blackpool Zoo

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.6(17,786)

Elephants, gorillas, giraffes and sea lions in 37 acres that are actually walkable with primary-age legs - big enough to feel like a full day, small enough that nobody ends up carried.

Book online - cheaperAges 4-11

Sea Life Blackpool

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★☆4.4(11,062)

A solid seafront aquarium with an ocean tunnel and rockpool sessions - the reliable wet-weather hour when the beach plan falls apart.

Book online - cheaperIndoorsAges 4-9

Stanley Park

Blackpool~1 hr

★★★★★4.6(6,085)

Blackpool's grand free option: Italian gardens, a big boating lake, one of the best playgrounds on the coast and model boats on the lake. The antidote to a wristband day.

FreeAges 4-11

WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre

Burscough~40 min

★★★★★4.7(3,181)

Otters at feeding time, flamingos, pond dipping and a canoe safari through the reeds in season. One of those places that quietly turns a nature-indifferent child into a nature child.

Day ticket - WWT members freeAges 4-11

Windmill Animal Farm

Burscough~40 min

★★★★★4.7(1,883)

A friendly hands-on farm whose star turn is the miniature railway running out across the fields. Animal handling sessions, indoor play for wet spells, and it never feels too big.

Day ticketIndoorsAges 4-8