ARE WE NEARLY THERE?

Everything that follows is of restricted growth, the kind of minimalist attractions that make a toddler feel like Gulliver among the Lilliputians instead of (as usually happens with children among adults) like Gulliver among the Brobdingnagians.

Music in Miniature, Albion Road, Robin Hood's Bay, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22 4SH (01947 880512). As a hobby, music teacher Patricia Labistour began making 1/12-scale models of musical instruments. Now she has 400, the result of 15 years work. Arranged in 50 dioramic (three-dimensional) settings, they illustrate the history of music-making, from cavemen with harps made of animal bones to a recording studio in outer space (where there are no neighbours to annoy). Music lovers who come range from children to adult education classes. Open daily 11 am to 5pm. Entrance: pounds 1 (Children 50p).

Queen Mary's Dolls' House, Windsor Castle, Berks SL4 1NJ (01753 831118). Also built to 1/12-scale but in this case by 1,000 craftspersons. The doll's house was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens for Queen Mary in the 1920s. Open daily 10am-4pm (10am-3pm from November) except when Castle is in use for adult functions. Admission includes full-size State Apartments etc. pounds 9.50 (pounds 5.50 child)

Legoland Windsor, Winkfield Road, Windsor, Berks (0990 626375). The Miniland section consists of scenes from Europe, constructed of 20,000,000 Lego bricks; they depict minuscule Romeo climbing a wall to get at his diminutive Juliet. On a larger scale and of more substantial materials, there are cars children can learn to drive. Open 10am-6pm daily until 29 September, then weekends and half-term until the end of the season on 27 October. Adult pounds 15 (pounds 12 child).

The Borrowers' Village, Birmingham Botanical Garden, Westbourne Road, Edgbaston (0121 4541860). Open 9am-7pm (Sunday 10am-8pm). pounds 3.50 (pounds 3.80 on Sundays. pounds 1.90 child).

Bekonscot Model Village, Warwick Road, Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2PL (01494 672919). The grand-daddy of small-town planning, this flung open its miniature doors in 1929. The tiny time-warp features houses, castle, cricket match and minuscule maze, as well as a gauge 1 railway. Closes at end of October, opens in February. pounds 3.20 (child pounds 1.60).

Mullacott Miniature Ponies, Mulacott, Ilfracombe, Devon (01271 866877). A large herd, from minimalist equine creatures to really heavy horses. There are rides - on saddle or in dray. Open daily until end of October. pounds 3.95 (pounds 2.75).

Dolls' House Fair and Teddy Bear Fair, Alexandra Palace, Wood Green, London N22 4AY on 9 and 10 November. Two separate events, organised by the publishers of Teddy Bear Scene and The Dolls' House Handbook, held primarily for (allegedly) grown-up collectors but children of eight and upwards are welcome, too. All details from EMF Publishing, 7 Ferringham, Ferring, West Sussex BN12 5ND (01903 506626).