Tom Cullen

Young’uns driving you madder than a wet hen? There’s no shortage of super-fun things to do with kids in Birmingham. They may well have had it up to here with all the brilliant Birmingham attractions and museums, or maybe even caused a scene in one of the city’s best restaurants. If they are flagging, here’s how you can keep up morale. With brilliant family activities ranging from day raves and vintage video arcades to Bear Grylls’ adventure wonderland and a tip-top aquarium, all tastes are pretty much catered to – if you can tolerate a little shrieking. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best things to do in Birmingham

Time Out tries sees writers test out new, unexpected and sometimes just plain weird experiences in the city. I’m looking at a menu of activities. I don’t know what any of it means. What’s Airsoft? Who’s Hado? Why am I being offered LARP? Grange Live Gaming is an oasis of things you didn’t know you could do in Birmingham. Want to shoot opponents with plastic projectiles launched from replica air weapons? That’s Airsoft, apparently. Fancy competing in a sport that mixes VR and real exercise? As far as I can tell, that’s Hado. And, honestly, I still don’t know what LARP is but it stands for live-action roleplay and it doesn’t look like my cup of tea. My cup of tea is smashing cups of tea into smithereens with a crowbar. And, amazingly, I’m allowed to do this in Grange Live’s Rage Room. You’ll be dressed like a member of Slipknot but instead of a creepy mask they quite rightly give you a protective face shield and gloves. The cheaper packages allow you to go to town on smaller objects – crockery, glassware – but pay more and the objects of your aggression get bigger. TVs, printers, keyboards; hammer at them with hammers, batter them with baseball bats, let your internal tiger out of its godforsaken cage. ‘Fancy upgrading to a photocopier?’ I'm asked. Yes. Yes, I do. I say the words without even pondering the question and my host wheels out a full-sized old school Xerox machine. I strike and strike and strike at the plastic, the glass and the circuitry, a world of frustration exit