THERE are a whole host of virtual events taking place next week for children to enjoy during half-term on lockdown.

Youngsters can explore the city and its museums virtually and there are a number of online Yorkshire Games Festival events taking place.

As well as online events, there is of course local parks, stunning Bradford countryside and a wide range of fun physical activities families can do at home to have fun and pass the time during the holiday.

The Yorkshire Games Festival, hosted by the National Science and Media Museum, is running a handful of online events next week during half-term.

The Northern Games Showcase, where you can play a handful of video games online and read about several others, is free and available to play all week on the Science and Media Museum’s website.

The BAFTA Young Game Designers resources are also available for free, with masterclasses on programming, art, storytelling and more for any budding game designers to enjoy.

There are also a number of virtual resources to enjoy some of Bradford’s best museum exhibitions through the Visit Bradford website.

You can delve through Bradford’s vast Photo Archive, which has a large number of different exhibitions showing Bradford through the years.

There are virtual tours of notable buildings and areas around the district, with room-by-room tours and also stunning drone footage of Bradford.

You can explore the Science and Media Museum, Cliffe Castle Museum, Bradford Cathedral and Bronte Parsonage, as well as iconic scenery in Bradford featured in film and television, such as City Hall and the Midland Hotel which have been haunts of the Peaky Blinders in recent years.

With this week’s freezing temperatures set to disappear next week, it will also be a great opportunity to get out and explore the nature and wildlife around the Bradford district.

The district has plenty of green spaces and parks to enjoy and to get out and play, look for wildlife and to get some much needed fresh air and exercise.

Exercise is critically important for children’s development and is a great way to get away from staring at a screen and sitting down all day, improving children’s (and adults) fitness and overall health.

If the weather turns, forcing families to stay indoors and out of the rain, there are still a large variety of activities to do which don’t involve screens.

Visit Bradford’s Days In section of their website has a variety of arts and crafts activities available to download and print to keep youngster entertained for hours, and there are countless other ideas available online.

The kitchen also presents a great opportunity to pass the time and also teach children vital skills they will need for life, cooking meals and baking together is always a fun way to pass the time.

Half-term also presents an opportunity to foster a love, or rekindle a love, for reading. Regular reading is essential to developing a child’s learning and also to help them learn new language and knowledge and breeding a love for books in their youth will last a lifetime.