Doing something

The island's only indoor bouldering gym - low walls, thick mats, no ropes - in a basement on Rua Conde Carvalhal, taking children from about six.

• Indoors
• From 6
• Children from 8 €

A free story session every Saturday at 11:00 for children of four and up, with no booking and no ticket - the best recurring free thing for children on the island.

• Indoors
• Up to 14
• Children free

Surf lessons out of Machico, from the sheltered end of the island's surf coast, for children of eight and over who can swim.

• Outdoors
• From 8
• Children from 60 €

Funchal's riding club above São Gonçalo, where a child gets a real lesson - flat work or vaulting - rather than a led walk round a paddock.

• Outdoors
• From 6
• No price published

The Porto da Cruz surf school that takes children from the age of three, on the black-sand beach below the Hotel Vila Bela.

• Outdoors
• From 3
• Children from 50 €

Câmara de Lobos's indoor, bookish holiday scheme, run at the municipal library through July and August as the wet-weather counterpart to its sports camp.

• Indoors
• Ages 6-14
• No price published

The best-documented municipal summer camp on the island - six to fourteens, July and August, across two school sites in Câmara de Lobos.

• Partly covered
• Ages 6-14
• Children from 99 €

The one municipal summer camp on Madeira that says in writing that non-residents can enrol - six to thirteens, weekdays 09:00 to 17:25, lunch and insurance included.

• Outdoors
• Ages 6-13
• No price published

A guided coasteering session on the south coast - scrambling, swimming and jumping - taking children from eight, with hotel pick-up and all the neoprene included.

• Outdoors
• From 8
• Children from 75 €

A family-run stable at Santo da Serra whose children's Pony Experience - grooming, then a short led ride - lasts about thirty minutes and costs 89 €.

• Outdoors
• From 3
• Children from 89 €

Scrambling, swimming and jumping along the volcanic coast at Caniço, with snorkelling in the Garajau reserve and a finish at the lido.

• Outdoors
• From 8
• No price published

A ninety-minute to two-hour guided paddle out of Caniço de Baixo into the Garajau marine reserve, with snorkelling stops over the reef.

• Outdoors
• From 8
• No price published

A Caniço-based multi-activity outfit whose one gentle option for families is the flat Levada da Serra bike circuit, about 18-20 km with almost no climbing.

• Outdoors
• From 10
• No price published

A long-running Funchal adventure operator whose canyoning starts at nine and whose other harness activities start at seven - the lowest published ages on the island.

• Outdoors
• From 7
• No price published

Guided canyoning from Curral das Freiras with abseils, slides and jumps to fifteen metres, on a beginners' level that starts at age twelve.

• Outdoors
• From 12
• Children from 80 €

A guesthouse and federation-certified surf school in the middle of Porto da Cruz, teaching two-hour lessons on the village beach break.

• Outdoors
• From 10
• Children from 50 €

A twelve-hole minigolf course terraced down a public garden above the Lido, with a playground, inflatables and pedal cars beside it.

• Outdoors
• Ages 3-12
• Children from 3.5 €

Porto Santo's only nautical school, running surf, windsurf and paddle sessions off the calmest beach in the archipelago.

• Outdoors
• From 6
• No price published

An outdoor field in the ruins of an old hotel above Camacha, with gel blasters from age six, mini paintball from eight and the full game from fourteen.

• Outdoors
• From 6
• Children from 17 €

The Vila Baleira hire shop for bicycles, e-bikes, scooters and quads - how most families get around Porto Santo.

• Outdoors
• From 6
• Children from 3 €

Surf, bodyboard and stand-up paddle lessons from Porto da Cruz or the calmer Machico promenade, including private lessons for children.

• Outdoors
• From 6
• Children from 55 €

A twenty-year-old surf club teaching at Porto da Cruz and Machico that will collect the whole family from Funchal.

• Outdoors
• From 8
• Children from 55 €

A guided two-hour sea-kayak outing from Cais 8 on the Funchal seafront, priced for children from six and run four times a day.

• Outdoors
• From 6
• Children from 30 €

A free street-skate park of about 900 m² in Funchal's old town, next to the cable-car base station, with rails, a step-up, a pyramid and several funboxes.

• Outdoors
• From 5
• Children free