What to do with kids in Manchester for 1 day

lycam_2

We live in Glasgow but are flying out from Manchester in June at 06:45 so rather than drive down through the night we thought we'd book a travelodge the night before and to make this more worthwhile and to try and tire the kids out so they go to sleep earlier we thought we could drive down very early the day before, have a day in Manchester and then get an early night.
Any ideas for something we could do with the kids in or around Manchester? They'll be 12, 10, 9 and 6 years old.

kingfisherblue

The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) is amazing. There's bound to be enough to keep all four children busy, and it's free. You might have to pay if you want to go into an exhibition though. There's also a cafe.

lycam_2

Thanks so much, that's perfect, exactly the sort of thing they'd love and being free is a bonus.

Tigsteroonie

Do you want something that'll wear them out? We have a number of trampoline parks, and a huge ski slope/winter sports centre at Trafford (Chill Factore).

Or something educational? The MOSI as above, the Manchester Museum, Art Gallery?

Or are they into media, you could take them to Salford Quays to see whether anybody is wandering around outside the studios. Depending on day, there might be a studio tour happening.

DomRavioli

Trafford Centre is also an option (parking is a nightmare!). They have legoland discovery centre, mini golf, and there's chill factor E (snowdrome) and a trampoline park within 10 minutes drive of there.

Further towards the airport (you don't say which travelodge you're in) there's some great parks if the weather is nice, and the airport pub is a must for some plane watching and to get them excited!

lea2012

There's also the national football museum in the city centre too if they like that?

At the the Trafford there's also an a high ropes adventure trail thing too and indoor sky diving!

You can even take a canal boat trip from worsley or other areas.

lycam_2

Thanks there's loads of good ideas there. Trampolining sounds like a good idea to wear them out so they hopefully fall asleep earlier although they might still be too excited. We've not booked a travelodge yet but several are quite cheaply priced so I'll pick one once we've decided what to do. The airport pub sounds good too as it's their first time flying so it's all new to them.