The school holidays are finally here and if you’re knuckles are turning white at the thought of having to keep the kids entertained for six weeks What’s On may just be able to help. Here’s our summer guide to the pick of the fun and games in the county.

This Art of Mine studio, near Maidstone

Arts and crafts courses run throughout the six-week break, making everything from Olympic trophies to fabric puppets. The first week is the warm up for the London 2012 Games so children can design and print their own Olympic-themed T-shirts, hand paint gold medals and create ceramic trophies.

Open: Olympics warm up Monday, July 23, to Friday, July 27 and various dates after.

Cost: The holiday courses are suitable for children aged seven and older. Sessions can be booked individually or as a week-long course. Prices £35 for one day, £150 per week.

Where: This Art of Mine, Little Budds Farm, Coldblow Lane, Thurnham, Maidstone ME14 3LR

Contact: 01622 735312 or www.thisartofmine.co.uk

Bluewater

RollerFest turns the Glow exhibition space at the shopping centre into a retro roller skating rink, with a vintage fairground, a festival food village and giant sport screens showing live events. While the kids wear themselves out in the skating rink dad can enjoy a pint or two in a traditional English pub, the Bluewater Arms.

Open: Saturday, July 21, to Saturday, September 1.

Cost: Roller-skating sessions need to be booked and cost £8 with skate hire.

Where: Glow, Bluewater, Greenhithe DA9 9SG

Contact: 0870 7770252 or www.glowbluewater.co.uk

Buckmore Park, Chatham

Go-kart racing can be mixed with Laser Warfare games in the woodland by the site. The park has held laser tag parties for a few years but has now extended the age range to include those aged eight and above. This requires a minimum group of 10. On the track, the Turn Up ‘n’ Drive sessions for ages four and above run throughout the holidays, with sessions for ages four to seven, eight to 11, 12 to 16 and adults. There is no need to book but be prepared to queue on busy days.

Open: Daily, usually from 10am to 4pm.

Cost: Sessions from £15.

Where: Buckmore Park Karting Ltd, Maidstone Road, Chatham ME5 9QG

Contact: 01634 201562 or www.buckmore4kids.co.uk

Down House, near Orpington

Follow in the footsteps of the biologist Charles Darwin and see how his Kent home inspired his revolutionary theories on evolution. Hour-long tours will run twice every day on Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the summer holidays. Guides will point out 12 of the scientist’s experiments, now recreated in the grounds. Visitors can also see how the fruit and vegetable gardens fed Darwin’s ever-expanding brood.

Open: Tours are Wednesday through to Sunday at noon and 2.30pm.

Cost: Adults £9.90, concessions £8.90, children £5.90, families £27.70 plus £3.50 for the tour.

Address: Down House, Luxted Road, Downe BR6 7JT

Contact: 0870 333 1181 or www.english-heritage.org.uk

Drusillas Park, East Sussex

The Fat Controller alights at the park to make sure the railway runs on time and will be posing for pictures with visitors. The next day the ZingZillas from CBeebies – Zak, Tang, Panzee and Drum – will make their first appearance at the zoo.

Open: Daily from 10am to 6pm. Fat Controller on Tuesday, July 24, ZingZillas on Wednesday, July 27.

Cost: Family of four £62.

Where: Drusillas Park, Alfriston, East Sussex BN26 5QS

Contact: 01323 874100 or www.drusillas.co.uk

Historic Dockyard, Chatham

Pirate Play Days aaarrrrrrr back, keeping young swashbuckler’s entertained throughout the holidays. Children can drop anchor at the desert island sand pit and take on an assault course and canon-firing sessions. There will be storytelling with Pirate Pam aboard the HMS Gannet. Peppa Pig and her brother George, from the Channel 5 and Nick Jnr programme, will also be visiting for one day.

Open: Saturday, July 21 to Sunday, September 2. Peppa Pig and George visit on Thursday, July 26.

Cost: Adults £16.50, concessions £14, children £11, families £45.

Where: The Historic Dockyard, Chatham ME4 4TE

Contact: 01634 823800 or www.thedockyard.co.uk

Kent and East Sussex Railway

Thomas the Tank Engine will be making an appearance with his carriages Annie and Clarabel. Children can hop on board and watch a giant TV screening Thomas DVDs all day. Budding train operators can help fill the engine’s boiler with water and watch children’s shows from Uncle Myles and Charlie the Clown. There will also be face painting, roundabout rides, skittles, hoopla, face painting and colouring. Every child gets a free sticker and there will be a coal cake presentation for Thomas each day. Sir Topham Hatt, the Fat Controller will be making sure everything runs smoothly.

Open: A Day Out with Thomas is from Saturday, July 21, to Monday, July 23, but a timetable runs daily throughout the holidays.

Cost: Adults £13.50, children £10.50 including a one hour and 10 minute ride to Northiam Station.

Address: Kent and East Sussex Railway, Station Road, Tenterden TN30 6HE

Contact: 01580 765155 or www.kesr.org.uk

Hop Farm Family Park, Paddock Wood

Become a farmer for the day throughout the summer holidays, with a big dig in a giant vegetable patch and the chance to groom the donkeys and ponies. Children can take Farmer Bob’s Barrel Ride, pulled by a quad bike through the Hop Farm fields. They can learn how to dosey doe in the Big Red Barn Dance In and see daily puppet shows. There are also the regular attractions like Farmer Jack’s Magic Bean Factory, the Giant Jumping Pillows and Farm-ula One Driving School.

Open: Daily from 10am to 5pm.

Cost: £14.95, seniors £8.95, children £12.95, families £44.95.

Address: The Hop Farm Family Park Paddock Wood, Tonbridge TN12 6PY

Contact: 01622 872068 or www.thehopfarm.co.uk

Leeds Castle

The Medieval Games bring the sport of hundreds of years ago to the summer of 2012. Families can try archery, tug of war and quoit throwing, which involves throwing rings over a spike on the ground. Children can learn leather working techniques and take home their own leather bracelet. Plus the Knights of Royal England will battle it out in a jousting tournament.

Open: Daily but activities on selected dates from Friday, July 27, to Sunday, August 12. Jousting from Monday, July 30, to Thursday, August 2.

Cost: Adults £19.75, seniors £17.50, children £12.50. Tickets valid for a year.

Where: Leeds Castle, Maidstone ME17 1PL

Contact: 01622 765400 or www.leeds-castle.com

Penshurst Place, near Tonbridge

A maize maze opens for the six-week break, giving parents the chance to relax as their children get “lost” in the fields for a few hours. Families can then wander the 14th century estate and the Elizabethan gardens. More than a mile of yew hedging separates the 11-acre walled garden into a series of rooms.

Open: Maize opens on Saturday, July 21 and runs until mid-September.

Cost: Adults £9.80, children £6.20, families £26.

Where: Penshurst Place and Gardens, Penshurst Tonbridge TN11 8DG

Contact: 01892 870307 or www.penshurstplace.com

Wildwood, near Herne Bay

Looking after wildlife native to British shores, families can get up close to owls, otters, badgers, beavers, wild boar and wolves. Look out for the rare albino squirrel spotted by staff in May, as well as the pure black squirrels, with the exact opposite genetic mutation to the albino. The park breeds more than 50 species with the hope of releasing many of them into the wild.

Open: Daily from 10am to 6pm.

Cost: Adults £9.95, concessions £8.95, children £7.95, families £32.50.

Where: Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay CT6 7LQ

Contact: 01227 712111 or www.wildwoodtrust.org