Free Days Out in Birmingham

The country parks, for the simple reason that a two-year-old does not need a reason to enjoy open ground. Sheldon Country Park and Sutton Park ask nothing of a child except that they be outside. Of the indoor entries, Lapworth Museum of Geology tends to work better than a fine art collection with the very small, because rocks and fossils are physical objects rather than things that must be looked at politely.

Enough that they should be the day rather than part of it. All three sit well out from the centre, and the point of them is space rather than convenience. Public transport reaches them but the last stretch is often a walk, so check the route with the age of your children in mind. Once you are there they are genuinely large, which is the whole reason to make the trip.

Seven of the ten are recorded as indoor, which is a healthier proportion than the country-park emphasis suggests. The university museums and the city galleries are all under cover, and Roundhouse Birmingham records both indoor and outdoor space. That gives you a genuine wet-weather list rather than a single option, which matters when a day has already been promised to somebody small.