29 Best Sports & Activity Venues In Devon

With a phone call rather than a booking form. Riding schools set their own minimum ages and their own rules about hats and footwear, and those two answers decide whether a first session is possible at all. Dean Riding Stables lists indoor and outdoor space, which usually points to somewhere a lesson can go ahead in poor weather, while Budleigh Salterton Riding School is an outdoor entry. Ask what a first lesson involves and whether anyone leads the pony, and you will know very quickly which suits your child.

Indoors, almost always. The Barn Indoor Climbing Wall and Dart Rock Climbing Centre give a beginner holds that are meant to be found, floors that are meant to be fallen on, and staff whose job is to spot the problem before it becomes one. Devon's real rock will still be there afterwards, and children who have had a good first hour on a wall are far more likely to want it. Check what a taster session includes and whether an adult needs to climb too.

Footgolf on the Exe comes closest. It needs no skill worth the name, everybody plays at once rather than taking turns to watch, and a wide age range can share a round without anyone being carried. Splat Attack Adventure Play is the other candidate, built for children to throw themselves about while adults keep an eye from the side. Both are outdoor entries, so they belong to the dry half of the week.