A day out in Gateshead with a 1-3 year old

Saltwell Park

Start here, and give it as long as it holds. This is 55 acres of Victorian park in the heart of Gateshead, with a dedicated toddler playground that has a sand pit — which for a one- or two-year-old can easily absorb the best part of an hour on its own. There is a separate playground for older children if you have a three-year-old pushing at the edges of what the toddler area offers, plus a maze, a pets corner with animals, and a lake where pedalos, rowing boats and inflatables can be hired in summer.

The park is free, parking is free, and there is a cafe serving food and drinks as well as plenty of picnic space. A full visit here runs to around three hours. With a toddler, treat that as a ceiling rather than a target: leave while they are still enjoying it.

• Sand pit first, while they are fresh
• Pets corner as a reward for walking somewhere
• Picnic blanket as a reset if the playground gets too busy

Upside Down House Metrocentre

A short hop across town to the Metrocentre, at the Yellow Mall Entrance on the north west side. This is a single 20-minute visit inside a house where everything is upside down, with a music zone and a Sir Ridley Scott movie room among the rooms exclusive to this site. Twenty minutes is exactly right for this age group — long enough to be strange and funny, short enough that nobody melts down.

Children aged three and under go free. Booking a time slot online is worth doing at weekends and in school holidays, when pre-booked visitors are prioritised over walk-ins. There is no re-entry, so go in together and go in once. Metrocentre Rail Station is nearest for the train; the Yellow Mall Car Park is closest if you drive.

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Down to the quayside for the middle of the day. Baltic is free, occupies four floors of a converted warehouse, and has a kitchen on site for lunch. What makes it work with a toddler is the sensory room, with toys, projections and lights — a genuinely useful place to decompress after a morning out. There is also a learning lounge with educational games, a library, a shop, and two viewing decks over the Quayside that buy you a few minutes of pointing at boats and bridges.

Exhibitions, guided tours and activities run Wednesday to Sunday, with creative workshops programmed regularly and a quayside tour on Saturdays in summer. A typical visit is about 90 minutes, which is plenty once lunch is folded in.

Vue Cinema Gateshead

Hold this one back. The cinema sits at Trinity Square, a short journey from the quayside, and it is the answer if the weather has closed in on the park or if you need one more indoor hour. Big Shorts screenings are built for toddlers and preschoolers, Mighty Mornings are the family screenings at reduced prices, and access is step-free throughout. There are nine screens, reclining seats in some of them, and a concessions stand.

If the day is going badly, cut Upside Down House — it is the easiest 20 minutes to lose, and the Metrocentre detour with it. If the morning is going beautifully, stay at Saltwell Park and go straight to Baltic for lunch. If it rains from the start, swap the order in your head: Baltic for the sensory room and the kitchen, then a Big Shorts screening, with the park reduced to whatever you can manage between showers.