· Disney TV channel Playhouse is hosting a 'Playing for the Planet' day for preschoolers on Clapham Common, London, on Thursday. Teaming up with the Woodland Trust, the event aims to help parents teach kids about the environment through interactive games. Places are limited, so if you fancy taking part go to www.playhousedisney.co.uk and click on 'Playing for the Planet'.

· Families can lose themselves at Apple Jacks Farm in Stretton, Cheshire, this summer. The working farm's Amazing Maize Maze offers hours of fun, with 'Pirates of the Corn' greeting kids and challenging them to find hidden clues and piece together a treasure map. Or you can join in a corn on the cob eating competition on Wednesday (last year's record was 28 in 20 minutes). Tickets £6.95 per person, or £25 for a family of four (www.applejacksfarm.co.uk).

· Europe's biggest surf, skate and music festival, Rip Curl Boardmasters, returns to Newquay in Cornwall for a week starting tomorrow. There'll be surfing and skateboarding competitions. Bands,including Razorlight and Feeder, will play on the clifftops (www.ripcurlboardmasters.com).

· Gunnersbury Park hosts London's largest Asian cultural festival, the free London Mela, next Sunday, with over 60,000 people expected to turn up to hear everything from classical Indian music to Indo-electronica, with a funfair and entertainment for the kids thrown in (www.londonmela.org)

· For music of a different kind, head to Glasgow where Piping Live!, the international bagpipes festival, takes place for a week beginning tomorrow at venues across the city. The line-up promises a 'twist on tradition', and there will be workshops for those who fancy having a go. Call 0141 564 4242 or visit www.pipinglive.co.uk.

· Discover what lurks between the tides on a Summer Seashore Safari in Kent. The free two-hour safaris, run in conjunction with the Kent Wildlife Trust, check out rock pools every day next week, from Monday to Saturday: head to Westgate at 11am on Monday or 5pm on Friday; to Broadstairs at noon on Tuesday, 1.30pm on Wednesday or 3pm on Thursday; or to Ramsgate at 4.30pm on Friday. Call 01843 577672 or visit www.thanetcoast.org.uk.

· Don't wait until 5 November - at Great Yarmouth you can enjoy free firework displays every Wednesday at 10pm. Earlier in the day try the new Yesterday's World museum on the Golden Mile, celebrating British tradition from Victorian times to the 1960s with more than 100,000 artefacts and a range of interactive displays. Tickets: pounds 9 adults, pounds 7 children (01493 331148; www.yesterdaysworld.co.uk).

· TV presenter-turned-environmentalist Peter Duncan gets his hands dirty for the Woodland Trust.