Teenage kicks...

From VR to 'mind-blowing' optical illusions... here's the best new entertainment hotspots in capital

- BY LARISSA NOLAN

WE'RE past the halfway point of the school summer holidays and boredom is setting in.

The annual sun getaway abroad is behind many of us and most parents have to work full-time.

Kids can do summer camps, but teens can be tricky - and costly - to keep entertained.

These spirited youngsters want to do stuff on their own, which is handy; but it’s also nice to join them occasionally, when time allows.

Surprisingly, one of the best places for family activities to suit teens is Dublin city centre. With a number of new attractions, it’s become a teen-friendly capital.

It’s now home to some brand-new top entertainment options. These attractions - all opened this year - have positioned Dublin as a great city for family fun.

I went out with my son Luc, 15, and his pals, to try them out. Here's what we thought of them.

LITTLE MUSEUM OF DUBLIN

The capital's quirkiest museum has just reopened after a €4million renovation that took a year to complete.

It's a new-look, modernised refit that brings the museum - located in a Georgian mansion on iconic St Stephen's Green - into the 21st century.

However, it has retained its ethos as a "hospitable, historic and humorous welcome to Dublin."

Visitors are first brought into a special screening room for a fully immersive introduction video, which features a cheeky Molly Malone.

The tour is a crash course in Dublin history, carried out with wit, wisdom, eccentricity and charm.

It’s an educational and entertaining activity for teens - a bit wacky and never boring. The tour is less than an hour, moves at pace and is easy to grasp, with soundbites like how Dublin went from "Irish village to Viking town to English city to proud European capital".

There's plenty of humour, and the teens were delighted by effervescent young guide Saul, a world-famous Irish dancer who treated us to a jig around the room.