Discover the magic of Cape Town with new INTERACTIVE GUIDEBOOK FOR KIDS

Discovering, or rediscovering Cape Town's most beloved destinations has just become a whole lot more fun for families, with the release of an interactive book for children.

Packed with activities and interesting facts, Kids' Cape Town Guidebook & Activities covers six popular sites: Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, Cape Point, Robben Island, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and the V&A Waterfront.

It promises to bring each destination to life with child-focused trivia and educational activities, such as puzzles, mazes, crosswords, secret codes and spot-the-difference. 

The book also offers practical advice like what to pack and what to expect at each location.

Sara-Jayne Makwala King chats to the authors, Jeanne Bonnema and Emma Cleworth.

Bonnema says the idea was sparked years ago, when the dedicated mom created activity books for her own kids on their travels.

"I loved travelling, but didn't want to be held back, so I used to make activity books for my children. If I was going to a Greek island for instance, I'd find out all the history and make them colouring books... take them to the local museums and they'd know what was going on, make maps of where they were going..."

And she knew bringing the idea of a book to fruition specifically for Cape Town, would work better with two brains than one, Bonnema says of her collaboration with long-time friend Cleworth.

They started off by looking at the statistics for the top six or seven destinations in Cape Town, and went from there.

The mission kicked off with a visit to Kirstenbosch Garden, says Bonnema - 'we packed a picnic and got a guide and went to have a look'.

The pair toyed with the idea of also including the Cape Winelands in the book, but realised they would have to stop at six destinations.

"We wanted there to be a checklist and we wanted it to be a lot of fun, with activities in the book AND in the place."

The book is geared towards the 6-10 age group, that 'pre-phone' time when kids are full of curiosity and questions for parents about the places they visit, says Cleworth.

It's for everybody, the authors say - from locals enjoying being tourists in their own city to international visitors and Joburgers down for the holidays.

The book also provides the opportunity for grandparents to structure quality time with the little ones.

Visit the website or Facebook page to see more detail.

To listen to Jeanne Bonnema and Emma Cleworth in conversation with Sara-Jayne Makwala King on CapeTalk's Weekend Breakfast, click on the audio link below: