It’s week two of your staycation in Bermuda with the children and already they are growing restless and threatening to riot. They’ve used up all their new craft projects, and watched all their favourite movies twice.The staff at the Aquarium know them by name.“We should do something,” you think. But what? Sometimes grown-ups expect that a child’s enjoyment of something should be commensurate with the amount of time and effort we put into something. If only that were true. More often than not it is the simple things that children love. (You spend an hour cooking some elaborate pasta dish, only to turn around and find them happily eating the uncooked pasta, for example.) Here are some simple ways to spend a few happy hours with your children.1. There are train (really trolley) tours of Hamilton, the Town of St George and Dockyard. This might be a fun way to spend an hour and learn something about Bermuda’s culture and history at the same time. A lot of little children really get a kick out of taking a “train” ride.2. It’s Shark Week at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute until August 11. There will be lectures, meet-and-greets with Galapagos shark expert Corey Eddy and displays about sharks. See the Bermuda Calendar in this newspaper for details, visit www.buei.org. Also at the BUEI is a mock submarine ride and lots of shells to look at. Warning: some of the display items can be disconcerting to small children. My daughter refused to go in the first time because she was terrified of the life-size diver mannequin at the front of the museum. If the little ones freak, there is always the small carousel on the lower floor of the BUEI. It requires change.3. Take the ferry up to Dockyard, have lunch and then have fun in the games room at the back of the Frog & Onion Pub. There are lots of coin-operated games. Again, you are going to need change, but the games room is great for all age levels.4. How about visiting the Youth Library on Church Street in Hamilton for an hour? It screens movies for $3 every Wednesday morning and afternoon. While you are there have the children sign up for the Reading is So Delicious competition, a programme for library members that offers prizes for reading a variety of book genres over the summer.5. For a really inexpensive afternoon, feed the fishes with some stale bread. There are great spots all over the Island for this, but some of the best might be off the dock across from the Aquarium, the bridge next to The White Horse Tavern and the old fish stocking pond next to Tom Moore’s Tavern. While there, take the children on a nature hike through Tom Moore’s Jungle.6. Stretch your muscles and walk up Gibbs Hill Lighthouse to see the view, and get some exercise. One recent visitor to Bermuda, commenting on the rusty state of the lighthouse said the view was spectacular but, “don’t lean on the railing”. According to www.bermudalighthouse.com, the lighthouse is open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm.7. If you have arty children there are a number of art exhibitions on now at the Bermuda National Gallery, the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art and the Bermuda Society of Arts. Sometimes you have to have patience taking little children to art galleries as very often the star attraction is the stairs in the gallery they can climb up and down. (Sigh). However, a real attraction for children might be the BNG Biennial entry by the Fungus Art Cooperative. An elaborate mesh of random bits of equipment, dryer vents, books, pulleys, levers and nets have been tied together. Drop a ball into an opening on the upper level and watch as it rushes through the piece and eventually drops through a shute on the ground floor. Children love to race downstairs to watch the ball pop out. The Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard also has an exhibition on until August 20 called ‘It’s A Dolls World’ which includes dolls made by various local artists.8. A highlight for children at the Bermuda National Museum in Dockyard are the dolphins at Dolphin Quest. You can pay to swim with the dolphins or you can just pay admission to the museum and sit and watch the dolphins for free. Of course, a walk around the museum complex can also be amusing depending on the patience level of your children. On a windy, day the atmosphere in the Commissioner’s House is wonderfully spooky, with the whole building creaking.9. Take the children to the beach to gather ocean-smoothed seaglass or shells, then take the loot home and make craft projects such as mosaics or necklaces. Some of the little beaches fringing Black Bay along Malabar Road in Somerset are known for their seaglass. Don’t take more than you need. Leave some for other crafters. Have a swim in the warm shallow water while you are there, or explore the old Royal Naval Cemetery across the road.