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Housed in a spiked tent, this electrifying exhibition is a great mix of education and entertainment. You travel through all sorts of environments, from volcanic eruptions to the Ice Ages. Stand on shaking floors and get caught in a real tropical downpour – lots of interactivity, powerful images and the full experience of television’s Walking With Dinosaurs (see Our Dynamic Earth) .

One of the world’s great zoos, particularly noted for its marvellous penguin colony. Well over 1,000 animals can be seen here, including such fascinating and endangered species as red pandas, tigers, white rhinos, ring-tailed lemurs and poison-arrow frogs (see Edinburgh Zoo) .

Simply the best aquarium to be found. Dazzling shoals and lots of dangerous water inhabitants. A conveyor-belt tour takes you effortlessly through this beautifully presented environment. A mesmeric experience (see Deep Sea World) .

Huge fairground fun centre with everything that gravitational and centrifugal forces can do to you. Big wheel, free-fall machine, flying carpet, kamikaze whirlygigs and the giant “500 tons of twisted fun” roller-coaster. For the younger ages there are gentler water chutes and merry-go-rounds.

Housed in a landmark building, three entire floors of hands-on experiments, which puzzle, delight and demonstrate that science is miraculous. There’s an IMAX screen with 3D films, too, and the world’s first revolving tower (see Glasgow Science Centre) .

The family estate of the Earls of Glasgow doubles as an adventure park. The surprise-packed Secret Forest gets the best vote, and kids go berserk on the Marine Assault Course and soft play area. Spectacular displays of falconry and well-organized pony treks.

Children just seem to love noisy engines and burning their way round race tracks. For all budding Grand Prix champions, this is the place. There are courses and machines to suit all ages, and safety helmets are provided. The Bullit is the fastest kart.

A discovery and play centre on a tree theme. Join the squirrels on the Tree Top Trail, climb the tallest timber tower in the country or try sawing a log with a two-man cross-saw. There’s also a Spider-man’s delight of climbing apparatus.

One for the younger visitors. A family theme park with giant-sized models of storybook characters for kids to crawl over and enter make-believe worlds. Nursery rhymes feature highly: Humpty-Dumpty, Pooh and Postman Pat are some of the happy characters present.

Aberdeen has 10 swimming pools, but this is the one for flumes. There’s a mini-flume for tots, but older children will be after the hairiest and scariest: the Pipeline, Wipeout and Tube. The last of these you negotiate on a tyre, while as for the other two … just close your eyes and hope for the best.