With the long school holidays fast approaching, this month the What's On blog throws out a few suggestions on how to keep young bodies and minds occupied over the summer. Juggling budgets, different ages and the frustratingly flighty British weather can be more than a little bit tricky at times, so here's our attempt at avoiding a few tears and tantrums - and keeping the kids happy, too...

Sunny weather
Nothing screams 'summer' quite like a spot of outdoor swimming, so if you want to wring every last drop of sunshine out of the holidays a trip to one of London's lidos might be just the ticket. Otherwise, you can take the kids to a sandy urban beach, or head to The Scoop's open air amphitheatre for a family (and free) stage adaptation of the Jules Verne classic, Around the World in Eighty Days.

Festival season is well and truly underway, and this year a number of events are aimed squarely at the family market. The LolliBop festival at Regent's Park is likely to send younger kids into a frenzied hyperdrive, with characters such as Peppa Pig, Rastamouse and Zingzillas putting on a special show. Later, Jolly Day Out takes over Hampton Court for the August bank holiday, with music from Imelda May and McFly, a theatre tent staging Charlie & Lola and Horrible Histories, as well as funfair rides, craft workshops and fireworks.

The almost weekly street parties, carnivals, summer fairs and music festivals taking place over the summer mean that you don't necessarily have to shell out on the price of tickets if you don't want to. Highlight events for a free summer include the Notting Hill Carnival, the Mela at Gunnersbury Park and the Thames Festival, which brings the festival season to an end with a mass party along the banks of the river.

Other outdoors events taking place over the summer include the circus skills workshops at Regents Park and Battersea Park, where anyone over the age of six can learn how to complete a trick on the flying trapeze. There's also the perennially popular PYO, and also the chance to really get stuck into country pursuits at Vauxhall City Farm, where you can feed the pony, handle hens, walk the ferrets or even sign up to be a farmer for the day.

Rainy days
In the event that the weather continues to be something of a mixed bag, it's worth mentioning some indoors events that won't be a complete wash out if it rains. It might have come to your attention that the latest (and last) Harry Potter film has just come out, and the BFI IMAX is showing the film in 3D on the largest cinema screen in the UK. Other cinemas across London are hosting a variety of family film clubs, with the Barbican leading the way.

For the more theatrically minded types, Kids Week makes a welcome return for 2011 - for the uninitiated, this festival actually lasts a fortnight and gives one child a free ticket to see a West End stage show, when accompanied by a paying adult. There's also the magical Le Cirque Invisible circus show at the Southbank Centre, the free monthly Sunday Funday club at Whiteleys, and more child friendly exhibitions than you can shake a stick at.

Three museums that really pull out all the stops in terms of free and frequent children's activities are the Museum of London, sister venue the Museum of London Docklands, and the V&A's Museum of Childhood. Highlights at the later venue include the Tiger Who Came To Tea exhibition and the Feline Festival, where children can dress up as a lion, tiger, their pet or other favourite moggy to join a kitten parade. Presumably, elsewhere in the world there needs to be a simultaneous eruption of wart encrusted trolls so that the world's sweetness balance isn't permanently upset...

Teens
If your offspring now consider themselves too cool to prance about all day dressed as a cat, then perhaps tickets for the Underage Festival might be the order of the day. Aimed at those aged 13 - 17, the one day festival includes live music from Yasmin, Janelle Monae, CocknBullKid and other acts that you're probably too old to know. Otherwise, there's some gloriously bloodthirsty entertainment promised at the Gladiator Games, which recreate the sports traditionally found in a Roman amphitheatre. Meanwhile, The O2 is being transformed into Gotham City for Batman Live, but not before hosting Big Screen, which sees Hollywood stars, film props, premieres and preview screenings come together for one huge cinematic event.

So, that's it, folks! Next time - retro larks and vintage kicks.