The trend for learning holidays for adults – where you end your week away blessed with some new skill – is well established, but now it seems the whole family is getting in on the act. My son doesn’t mind where we go on holiday this summer, as long as it includes a soccer camp, and my middle daughter is voting for a week’s horse-riding (luckily, there isn’t an Introduction to Shopping, Tattoos and Piercing course to tempt the older one). So, simple pleasures such as burying dad in the sand seem to have slipped off the agenda for ever, but, as I quickly discovered, there really is no end to the skills they can learn and polish.

Package prices are for the summer holidays, unless otherwise stated

SUBMERGED

If you are over 10, you can learn to dive on a restricted certificate – no deep solo dives or wreck-exploring, but all the fun of the reef otherwise.

The diving specialist Explorers (0845 644 7090, www.explorers.co.uk ) is offering a seven-night Learn to Dive holiday at £399pp (all ages) in the warm waters of the Red Sea, off bustling Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. It includes return flights from Gatwick (Manchester add £22), transfers, B&B at the three-star Ocean Club Hotel, and a two-day PADI dive course for beginners. This consists of three classroom sessions, three confined training dives and two open-water dives, either from the shore or from a boat. Neilson (0870 333 3356, www.neilson.co.uk ) also has dive packages in Sharm, or try Family Diving Holidays (01285 869679, www.familydiving.co.uk ), which features Gozo and Egypt.

Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Young Ambassadors of the Environment courses are aimed at ages 4-12. The programme, which is gradually rolling out at top-end hotels worldwide, starts this summer at the Grecotel Cape Sounio, which is about an hour’s drive outside Athens. Courses include an underwater photography safari (snorkelling not scuba), which costs £44 for a three-hour session, with the underwater pics displayed on the computers back at base. There are also one, three- and seven-day programmes with a variety of marine themes. A week at Cape Sounio costs £1,039pp (£629 child) in a family room, B&B, including flights to Athens and private taxi transfers, through Planet Holidays (0871 871 2234, www.planet-holidays.co.uk ).

Farther afield, the ocean-front, water-themed Acqualina Resort in Sunny Isles, Florida, has a comprehensive sea-focused programme where kids can learn about reef ecology, become junior coastguards and have life-saving lessons. The weak dollar means rooms that sleep three at this five-star property now start at £175 per night, including breakfast; flights to Miami are extra, on British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com ) or Virgin (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com ) from about £650.

The programme costs £28 for a full day, £18 for a half-day. Contact Rosewood Resorts (00800 8767 3966, www.rosewoodhotels.com ) for further details.

SPOTTED

Canvas Holidays (0870 192 1154, www.canvasholidays.co.uk ) offers a Wild and Active programme at selected campsites this summer, aimed at kids with an interest in flora and fauna. Activities, under the guidance of a Canvas courier, vary from site to site, but a typical Wild and Active holiday at Belvès, in the Dordogne, might include bat-spotting and identification, nature trails, tracking and scouting, looking out for woodpeckers and buzzards, a beaver hunt and a trip to a vulture observatory. The programme is mostly free to clients (small charges may apply to some field trips); one week in a tent for a family of four in the Dordogne, including a short ferry crossing and bed linen, costs £825.

Or try Naturetrek (01962 733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk ), which has family holidays spotting and learning about brown bears in Finland or orcas in Norway.

EXCAVATED

Andante Travels (01722 713800, www.andantetravels.co.uk ) offers a Bare Bones Pompeii/Herculaneum trip that welcomes budding archeologists of any age. The programme combines expert guidance with enough information to explore independently, with three free afternoons for more site visits, or resting your own bones. It costs from £895pp sharing, including flights from Gatwick to Naples, transfers, seven nights’ B&B just outside the walls of Pompeii (or in a hotel by the sea), transport and entry to all sites, plus a guide/ lecturer; departures are July 22 and October 21. Other archeological sites are available, including Egypt and Avebury.

The Young Archaeologists’ Club (01904 671417, www.britarch.ac.uk/yac ) organises holidays/digs in the UK.

RIGGED

Situated in the safe bay of Fornells on the north of its home island, Minorca Sailing (020 8948 2106; www.minorcasailing.co.uk ) did a grand job in teaching my family to sail and windsurf. It offers excellent coaching, fun kids’ clubs and first-class equipment. A week in a two-bedroom apartment costs from £947pp, room only, with four sharing, including flights from Gatwick, with a 25% reduction for ages 2-5 and 10% for 6-11.

Also try Sunsail (02392 222222, www.sunsail.com ), which has three sailing resorts in Turkey and one in Greece, and Neilson (0870 333 3347, www.neilson.co.uk ), which has centres in Greece, Croatia and Egypt.

STUMPED

La Manga in Murcia, Spain, is famous for its tennis and school-holiday football courses, but it also offers that very Spanish sport . . . cricket. It runs a five-day programme led by professional coaches (this year, ex-Middlesex man Ian Hutchinson), using two artificial-grass cricket pitches, as well as four full-length practice nets. The academy, with 90 minutes’ coaching per day, costs £119 for children aged 7-12 and £136 for those aged 13-15. Seasons in Style (01244 202000, www.seasonsinstyle.co.uk ) offers seven nights’ B&B at the Hyatt Regency La Manga, including flights from Gatwick, from £1,170pp (£340 per child aged 2-11 sharing).

Or try Sovereign Luxury Holidays (0870 366 1626, www.sovereign.com ), which has free child places on certain dates over the summer, or Barwell Leisure (0870 049 3095, www.barwell. co.uk ), an old hand at La Manga.

SADDLED

For budding equestrians, Devil’s Glen (00 353-404 40637, www.devilsglen.ie ) is a self-catering stables complex that will take children aged from four upwards. It is situated in the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin, with trails through the pine, laurel, larch, birch and oak forests. The glen itself is studded with strange installations by various artists, which make for an amusing and sometimes magical experience. Devil’s Glen charges from £595 per week per cottage (sleeps six), or £486 for a two-bed apartment, during the summer. Riding/tuition is extra: a 60-minute lesson or beginner’s trek costs £21. You’ll need a car to get around; Stena Line (0870 570 7070, www.stenaline.com ) operates car-ferry services from Fishguard to Rosslare, and Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, with fares from £80 each way for a car and driver (extra adult £15, child £5).

Inntravel (01653 617906, www.inntravel.co.uk ) has an excellent riding centre at Les Juliannes in the Tarn Valley, France, with mounts from beginner-friendly docile Shetland ponies to large horses, all friendly, with excellent temperaments and well schooled. Tacking up and hosing down are all part of the day’s riding, so there is plenty of equine bonding. You stay at a 17th-century farmhouse, two minutes’ walk from the centre. It costs £465 per adult (£435 for children aged 12-15), including seven nights’ half-board accommodation and wine with meals, and 10 hours’ riding; prices for younger children on request.

Also try Real Holidays (020 7359 3938, www.realholidays.co.uk ), which has an excellent equestrian centre at La Casella in Umbria.

NUTMEGGED

For the footie-focused, the Forte Village in Sardinia has a professionally run soccer academy, teaching everything from basic skills to match strategy. For the nonplayers in the family, the place has comprehensive leisure facilities, plenty of restaurants and bars, a beach, pools and kids’ clubs. Citalia (0870 909 7554, www.citalia.com ) offers seven nights at the four-star Il Villaggio hotel from £1,314 per adult (£800 per child aged 2-11), half-board, including flights from Gatwick. The football academy costs £82 per week for 90 minutes’ coaching a day, plus a morning and evening match.

Keycamp (0870 700 0750, www.keycamp.co.uk ) and Eurocamp (0870 366 7552, www.eurocamp.co.uk ) each run a free Soccer Station coaching course at two of their French holiday parks, and Siblu (0870 242 7777, www.siblu.com ) offers coaching at seven of its French parks – five days costs an extra £30 on top of the holiday price. Also try Cosmos (0870 264 6099, www.cosmos-holidays.co.uk ) and Club Med (0845 367 6767, www.clubmed.co.uk ).

DEUCED

Mark Warner (0870 770 4227, www.markwarner.co.uk ) is excellent on sports at most of its centres, but Lakitira, on the island of Kos, is the place for racket play, having notched up a “top resort” award from Ace Tennis Magazine. There are two standards of coaching on the 11 courts, the basic one being for ages 4-12 with four one-hour group lessons for £40. There is also an Academy Course for improving players, which is four 90-minute group lessons, plus a 45-minute private lesson and a speciality shot clinic, all for £100. A week at the resort costs from £1,128 per adult (£1,078 per child under 13), all inclusive, with flights from Gatwick.

Others to try are Jonathan Markson Tennis for Portugal (020 7603 2422, www.marksontennis.com ), or the snappily named Affordable Tennis Lessons in the Sun (00 34-966 774 263, www.affordable-tennis-holidays-in-the-sun.com ) for Spain.

SLICED AND DICED

I can recommend the children’s fish cookery course at Rick Stein’s school in Padstow (01841 532700, www.rickstein.com ). It costs £67 per half-day. The morning is for 8-to 10-year-olds, the afternoon 11-to 14-year-olds. My daughter made brilliant sushi, fish and chips and a Thai scallop salad. There are courses on August 8, 13 and 23, although more are likely to be added.

The course is nonresidential, but Stein has a variety of options, including Rick Stein’s Cafe, rooms from £90 per room, B&B (number as above). The nonStein Althea House (01841 532579, www.altheahouse.co.uk ) has three stylish and comfortable rooms, from £42pp per night B&B.

For a longer immersion in the culinary arts, try Responsible Travel’s (01273 600030, www.responsibletravel.com ) cookery school at Fontana del Papa, a 16th-century farmhouse at Tolfa, an hour north of Rome. It began running successful kids’ healthy-eating courses last year, and they include small-group cookery lessons, tours of cheesemakers, olive-oil producers and local markets, as well as frequent gelati breaks. Cookery holidays start from £1,060pp for a week, excluding flights (to Rome), but including accommodation, cookery lessons, excursions, all meals, wine and airport transfers. Generally, with two paying adults, children aged up to 9 sharing their room are free, and 9-14 are half-price.

If you want to push the gravy boat out, the ultra-posh Villa San Michele, in Florence (0845 077 2222, www.orient-express.com ), offers a four-day, three-night children’s cookery course for 8-14s, from £1,961 for half-board for two parents and one child; flights cost extra. Check with the hotel for dates.

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