A 21st-CENTURY space capsule, ancient poo, newborn lambs and a horde of Vikings are among the highlights of the half-term activities on offer in and around York.

Families looking for things to do during the week-long break are spoilt for choice as attractions pull out all the stops to bring in visitors.

Here's a selection of events and activities coming up:

1. The Jorvik Viking Festival - the Vikings’ annual invasion of York - runs from Monday to Sunday, with the traditional parade on Saturday, February 17.

This year’s event is celebrating the arrival of the Norse invaders in 866AD, when the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Eoforic was reborn as the Viking city of Jorvik. The event includes a real smithy where a traditional craftsman will be making arrows, living history encampments and a dramatic combat performance.

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Picture: Frank Dwyer

2. Other Viking-themed activities are on at the Yorkshire Museum as well as at York Minster - where children can make their own Viking-style decorations to take home on February 15.

3. The Castle Museum and York Art Gallery are focusing their attentions on the suffragettes, with a celebration of the working lives of women during the First World War and a trail to find works of art by leading female artists.

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4. Tim Peake’s battered space capsule is on display at the National Railway Museum, with daily talks, and there’s also a range of other activities at the museum for budding astronauts, including Space Code:ettes - where kids can discover the coding behind space exploration - an astronaut training school challenge, and virtual reality (VR) sessions.

York Press: SPACE: Tim Peake and the Russian Soyuz capsule. Picture Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

5. There will also be a customised double-decker on Parliament street today and Saturday, which will feature VR, videos and electronic games that take a look inside a spacecraft.

6. Between Tuesday, February 13 and Saturday, February 17, York Theatre Royal are hosting a performance of Benji Davies’s award-winning book Grandad’s Island - aimed at five to eight-year-olds - and have a range of story sessions, drama sessions and workshops on Wednesday and Thursday.

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7. There’s slightly more disgusting fun at Barley Hall, off Stonegate, who are holding a “Poo Day” - where kids can explore “the messier side of archaeology”, including finding out how poo is really used to crack ancient mysteries.

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8. Bish Bash Pot, on Walmgate, are offering a full timetable of pottery painting for little ones all week, with a special lunch offer - as is Pots and Whatnots in Bishopthorpe.

9. There’s also plenty going on at York Explore libraries that will keep youngsters entertained for an hour or two.

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10. Piglet’s Adventure Farm in Towthorpe are offering lambing live, tractor trailer rides and dancing sheep.

11, Meanwhile, there are crafts and lantern-making at Fountains Abbey, near Ripon. Also at the abbey, you can also enjoy a guided walk of the snowdrops from 2pm on Saturday, February 17.

12. As well as bug and bird hunting, Beningborough Hall has an and an owl trail at Beningbrough Hall and other activities.

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Picture: Nigel Holland

13, Activities on offer at Nunnington Hall, near Helmsley, include making bird feeders and bird boxes.

14. For those who don’t mind getting messy, Harlow Carr, near Harrogate, has a Mud & Machines trail, with activities including Worm Day and the Great British Mud Pie-off.

15. If older children need a bit of tiring out, you could let your little monkeys swing through the trees with the zip wires, ladders and Tarzan swings at Go Ape in Dalby Forest.

16. To tie in with Aardman’s latest claymation comedy Early Man - which is in cinemas now - Scarborough Castle has an early man quest where young adventurers must follow the clues and complete the quest to uncover centuries of history. There’s an Early Man mini model-making kit for successful adventurers.

17. Meanwhile, at Scarborough’s Rotunda museum, kids can learn more about dinosaur footprints in fossil sessions and make crafts linked to the Chinese new year celebrations.Chinese new year celebration at the Rotunda museum - as 2018 is the year of the dog, youngsters can make doggy charms and intricate Chinese crafts inspired by the collection.

18. At Scarborough art gallery, there are sessions for kids to dress up, get into character and jump into the paintings - all thanks to the magic of green screen technology.

They also have a new story to listen to every Saturday, followed by crafts and activities inspired by the reading. The story on February 10 is A Very Strange Creature by Ronda Armitage and Layn Marlow, while on February 17 they’re reading Nina Laden’s When Pigasso met Mootisse.

19. There are more tales to be told over at Whitby Abbey, with exciting - and often gruesome - anecdotes of highwaymen, full of facts about crime and punishment in the Georgian and Regency periods.

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20. Over in the East Riding , there are a number of fun storytime sessions - including readings of Timothy Knapman’s Pirates in the Supermarket - at the East Riding libraries.

21. While Flamingo Land theme park is closed until March 24, the animal collection is open daily along with winter entertainment at weekends and in the school holidays. 

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During the half term, from Saturday, February 10 until February 18, plus every subsequent weekend until Sunday, March 18, The Pirates of Zanzibar will be making a comeback.  With performances at 11am, 1pm and 3m each day, the show provides live family entertainment.

Dino-Stone Park is open with a selection of themed rides, animatronic dinosaurs and a Dino-Dig fossil hunt.

The  Sea Lion Show is at 12pm and 2pm, plus a Bird Show at 1pm.

Peter Rabbit and Lily Bobtail characters will be out and about, with two meet and greet sessions available each day at 12.30pm and 2.30pm.

A small selection of rides for younger children are available too, including the Muddy Duck Tractors, Jungle Carousel, Mischief Mansion and Wacky Races. We’re sure this will provide another great way to keep them entertained.

More details about all of the events listed here - including dates, times, prices and booking information - can be found at the attractions’ websites.