Sauce of slight disappointment

These utterly footling incidents seemed to sum up a couple of days which didn't quite come up to scratch. The kids loved the Museum of Childhood, which has enough for a full-day visit. Ditto Conkers. But an adult eye found both attractions lacking.

The museum - note that word - is full of fascinating artifacts. The toys bring back many memories to grandparents and mums and dads and the doll's houses are terrific and, sensibly, getatable by young hands. We had a great time in the schoolroom in the cane-toting Mr Smith's class, doing copperplate writing on our slates and trying to sit up straight. He had just the right light tone of schoolmasterly discipline and historic information.

Jess enjoyed climbing a chimney (too dark for Becky and many other kids) and all the hands-on games and dressing up were a delight - try to spot the special mouse holes in each of the museum's eight areas.

But too few of the exhibits have proper labels. I was dying to know details of a butcher's shop toy carved from wood - could it have been English when almost everything was being made of brittle plastic?

Wonderful upside-down display of bedrooms from three eras on the ceiling and helpful staff, but the business of getting in took far too long, with queues stretching out into the rain. There must be a better way of getting entrants to fill in Gift Aid forms while everyone else just stands waiting.

Good food at the cafeteria, but expensive, and the usual generic National Trust fripperies at the Gift Shop, and no Museum of Childhhod fridge magnet - a serious lack at Birmingham Botanical Gardens as well.

A good craft workshop in a marquee at a quid per child and interesting gardens - find the wicker man and climb the cedars. But in an attraction clearly designed for families it's a serious oversight to have no play area inside or out. I'm sure Wicksteed have some old swings that could double as exhibits - or is the health and safety and insurance red tape just too much to deal with?

But, as it's been open only since March, perhaps it's still a work in progress.

Conkers has a fairly new indoor feature, the Enchanted Forest, which combines play area elements with eco-angled displays. But in the exhibition itself many switches don't work and there isn't enough seating for the grown-ups.

The day we went the barbecue was closed, the water feature didn't work properly and a lot of playground equipment was out of use.

Plus points were the animal shows in the Ampitheatre with Nick Spelman, the DIY sculpture with logs and stones in Artspace and the challenges of the Adventure Trail - mega climbing frames of the adventure park type really meant only for adults and teenagers.

Given the right breaks, Nick Spelman, a unique blend of magician, holiday camp entertainer and environmentalist, could be a big star. Some of his sharp and slightly patronising asides at the expense of the parents in the audience were probably best saved for his core audiences in the Home Counties, but he knows how to work the kids in the audience and the shows are genuinely informative.

He clearly loves performing - and his animals. He really ought to audition for Britain's Got Talent and get a serious agent.

Both attractions are within easy reach of Birmingham for day trips - but take a picnic and/or your own tomato sauce.