Creeping centipedes, Batman, it's school holiday time again

The Herald's picks for filling the mid-winter holidays include the Auckland Museum's Winter Family Festival and its "bring a bug" Fridays with entomologist John Early.

The sessions are for Dinomite members only - but from 11am to 1pm he will happily identify squirmers only children seem to find and show them some even more horrifying bugs.

On the same theme, the Discovery Centre's Weird and Wonderful room offers delights such as being able to "smell crawling cockroaches," and "feel squirming mealworms".

Just what the doctor ordered.

The Treasures and Tales area will give the ears of parents and neighbours a rest from that recorder practice by offering children instruments from around the world to bang on.

As an added bonus, the new Stevenson's StorySpace explanation of the history of New Zealand should put paid to all those awkward questions from preschoolers about where they came from.

A combination of stories, play and make-believe, sessions are on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10.30am and 11.15am, for $4 a child.

It also has Dinosaurs Alive! and a Walk on the Wild Side family expedition through the natural history section, storytelling and special goody packs for any Dinomite members.

See www.aucklandmuseum for full details.

The Auckland Art Gallery satisfies young creativity with the Sunday Kids art programmes. They start at 11am and cost $4. Some holiday programmes also run from Wednesday to Friday. Phone 307-4540 or email Auckland Art Gallery

Once the children are sick of learning and doing, pack them off to see the Man of Steel in the 3D version of Superman Returns, which started this week. Woooah.

There is also an animated animal flick, Over the Hedge, while more animals feature in the classic Lassie and superb documentary March of the Penguins, at the Bridgeway.

Live-theatre offerings include Margaret Mahy's classic The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate, at the PumpHouse Theatre in Takapuna from July 4 to 15.

Teenagers can discover life before Bro'Town by going to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, performed by the Auckland Theatre Company at the Maidment from July 13 to August 5.

Today is the final day of Kidsfair, the children's expo at the ASB Showgrounds. It features a Scooby Doo stage show.

Kidsfair runs from 10am to 5pm and costs $14 for adults and $6 for 5- to 14-year-olds. It's free for the under-5s.