THIS Summer, IWM North, Manchester, part of the Imperial War Museums, is staging family friendly crafts, tours and entertainment that communicate the impact of the war.

Children can dress up in war time themed costumes, watch interactive theatrical and puppetry performances, have a go at code breaking, climb through smelly and noisy trenches, play hopscotch on a war time terraced street and make toys, games and crafts all popular during the period.

There is a family friendly tour of the First World War Centenary exhibition From Street to Trench: A World War That Shaped A Region.

Children can read real life stories about children writing to Lord kitchener to spare their beloved pony from munitions duty, discover the soldiers who served on the Western Front and listen to some genuine First World War era shellac records with a resident master of the gramophone, 'the Vintage78DJs’.

There are activities suitable for children of all ages as well as parents, inlcuding performamces, which dramatise life during the First World War.

Discover the contribution of Girl Guides and Scouts to the war effort as told by a proud mother and the energetic women footballers of a Lancashire munitions factory, as told by one of their best strikers.

Visit www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north for more information on events.