Culturekidsmanchester

Today is another special day - it's Grandparents Day!

Our age-friendly group will be running creative activities alongside our usual PLAYTIME activities so there's soooo much to do.

Drop in Friday 14 August anytime between 1pm and 4pm to join in.

You don't have to be a Grandparent to join in though- everyone is welcome.

It's Baby Day!

1-4pm
Free | Drop-in | no need to book
Grand Hall
The Whitworth Art Gallery

Join us in the gorgeous, calming surroundings of our Grand Hall for this extra special day dedicated to you and your babies 👶

We'll have our beautiful collection of sensory objects out that are created especially for non-walking babies and their grown-ups to explore together.

Baby Day offers a calm, welcoming, restful space for babies and carers to spend time together through sensory play.

There's no structure to these sessions making them stress-free.

⏰ We know, from our own experiences of having babies, that it is hard to get out of the house on time with a baby. Whether it's a poo-nami just as you're setting off or multiple stops to feed on the way! We’ve made things easier by having no start time and a giant 3 hour window of play so you never feel like you're late or missing out.

You can drop in to this special session anytime between 1pm and 4pm and stay for as little or as long as you like. So, if your baby is asleep when you arrive, take some time for you. Have a wander round our world-class exhibitions, our park or have a calm cuppa in our cafe in the trees. No pressure to join in until you and your baby are ready.

🆓 There’s no need to book & it’s absolutely free to attend.

🚾 A Family Toilet with space to take your buggy in (these are the little things that are important)

🛺 There's loads of space to park your buggies.

🧷 We’ve got spare nappies & wipes should you need (we've all been there!)

🖼️ There's great art, a beautiful cafe, a gorgeous shop and a park for a walk too. 

☁️ Many of our parents tell us they feel renewed and restored after a visit. The Whitworth really is a special place and if you've not visited us yet then give us a try.

🌳 The Whitworth is on Oxford Rd in Manchester, opposite the MRI. For travel guidance visit the Whitworth's website.

This is just for non-walking babies. If you have toddlers or older children then PLAYTIME is for you - Wed Thur and Fri 1-4pm throughout the summer holidays.

Thanks to Sarah Evelyn Marsh for creating our beautiful sensory baby collection & Lucy Sugden-Smith & for the great photos.

Wednesday 5 August is National Play Day 🥳

Not only do we have our usual PLAYTIME activities taking place outdoors and around the gallery but we have EVEN MORE.

As well as Stitch School in Gallery 3, Weaving Studio in the Clore Garden Studio and PLAY Garden in the Art Garden....

WE ALSO HAVE South Korean dancing 11-11:45am and 2-2:45pm and South Asian Dancing at 12-12:45pm and 1-1:45pm.

There's literally nowhere better to spend National Play Day than the Whitworth Art Gallery today.

The gallery is jam packed with stunning artworks, there's also a beautiful cafe in the trees, a great shop and a gorgeous park and playground for even more play.

You can easily spend a whole day here and the best bit... entry to the gallery and all activities are completely FREE.

There's no need to book, just drop in anytime between 11am and 3pm.

Some little moments from PLAYTIME so far - full of colour, stitching, weaving, building, imagining and families making the gallery their own. It’s been lovely to see so many hands adding to the growing artworks and exploring the spaces together.

PLAYTIME continues throughout the summer holidays, with free family activities inspired by the Hyundai Translocal Series: Entangled and Woven exhibition.

Join us Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 1–4pm, to take part in Stitch School, add to our giant loom in the Weaving Studio, play outdoors in the PLAY Garden, and explore Everyday Art School during gallery opening hours.

There are also special events still to come, including National Play Day, Grandparents Day, Baby Day and Sensory Day. Find the full programme via the link in bio.

Thanks to for the gorgeous pics 📸

TheWhitworth

So here it is... PLAYTIME 2026 🧵🪡🧶

Here's a little snippet of what we have in store for you!!!

Make sure you join us on Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays throughout the summer hols to create, play, stitch, weave, build and explore across the Gallery and gardens. 🧵🌿

PLAYTIME is free, drop-in and open to everyone, with activities on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 1-4pm, unless otherwise stated. ✨

🧵 Stitch School - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Take a seat at our shared embroidery table and add your stitch to a growing artwork.

🌈 Weaving Studio - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Add ribbons and threads to our giant loom and help create a colourful collective piece.

🌿 PLAY Garden - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Step outside to build, explore and imagine as you bring the artworks around the Gallery to life through play.

🎨 Everyday Art School - Tue-Sun, 10am-5pm
Enjoy our loose parts play area, Whitworth Minecraft arcade machines, and time to sketch, draw and explore.

✨ Special events

🎶 National Play Day
Wednesday 5 August, 11am-3pm
Celebrate South Asian and South Korean cultures through joyful music and dance.

👶 Baby Day
Saturday 8 August, 1-4pm
A day especially designed for non-walking babies and their grown-ups.

🧶 Grandparents Day
Friday 14 August, 1-4pm
Creative weaving activities led by our Age Friendly groups.

🌟 Sensory Day
Sunday 23 August, 10:30am-12:30pm
Multi-sensory open-ended play for families with additional needs.

All activities are free and drop-in. For more information visit www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

We can’t wait to play, make and weave with you this summer. 🧶

This year’s PLAYTIME activities are inspired by the exhibition Hyundai Translocal Series: Entangled and Woven. The exhibition is co-organised with the Cheongju Craft Biennale 2025, in collaboration with the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, and presented in partnership with Hyundai Motor Company.

We had a little run out with some of our new weaving resources on Friday to test them out and now we are super excited to share it with you all next week 😃

Will you be joining us for this year's PLAYTIME?

From Wednesday 22 July - Friday 28 August, we invite you to create, play, stitch, weave, build and explore with us across our Gallery and gardens. 🧵🌿

PLAYTIME is free, drop-in and open to everyone, with activities on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 1-4pm, unless otherwise stated. ✨

🧵 Stitch School - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Take a seat at our shared embroidery table and add your stitch to a growing artwork.

🌈 Weaving Studio - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Add ribbons and threads to our giant loom and help create a colourful collective piece.

🌿 PLAY Garden - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Step outside to build, explore and imagine as you bring the artworks around the Gallery to life through play.

🎨 Everyday Art School - Tue-Sun, 10am-5pm
Enjoy our loose parts play area, Whitworth Minecraft arcade machines, and time to sketch, draw and explore.

✨ Special events

🎶 National Play Day
Wednesday 5 August, 11am-3pm
Celebrate South Asian and South Korean cultures through joyful music and dance.

👶 Baby Day
Saturday 8 August, 1-4pm
A day especially designed for non-walking babies and their grown-ups.

🧶 Grandparents Day
Friday 14 August, 1-4pm
Creative weaving activities led by our Age Friendly groups.

🌟 Sensory Day
Sunday 23 August, 10:30am-12:30pm
Multi-sensory open-ended play for families with additional needs.

All activities are free and drop-in. For more information visit www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

We can’t wait to play, make and weave with you this summer. 🧶

This year’s PLAYTIME activities are inspired by the exhibition Hyundai Translocal Series: Entangled and Woven. The exhibition is co-organised with the Cheongju Craft Biennale 2025, in collaboration with the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, and presented in partnership with Hyundai Motor Company.

Photos by Ray Chan 📷

Summer PLAYTIME is back at the Whitworth! ☀️

From Wednesday 22 July - Friday 28 August, families are invited to create, play, stitch, weave, build and explore across the Gallery and gardens. 🧵🌿

PLAYTIME is free, drop-in and open to everyone, with activities on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 1-4pm, unless otherwise stated. ✨

🧵 Stitch School - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Take a seat at our shared embroidery table and add your stitch to a growing artwork.

🌈 Weaving Studio - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Add ribbons and threads to our giant loom and help create a colourful collective piece.

🌿 PLAY Garden - Wed, Thu, Fri, 1-4pm
Step outside to build, explore and imagine as you bring the artworks around the Gallery to life through play.

🎨 Everyday Art School - Tue-Sun, 10am-5pm
Enjoy our loose parts play area, Whitworth Minecraft arcade machines, and time to sketch, draw and explore.

✨ Special events

🎶 National Play Day
Wednesday 5 August, 11am-3pm
Celebrate South Asian and South Korean cultures through joyful music and dance.

👶 Baby Day
Saturday 8 August, 1-4pm
A day especially designed for non-walking babies and their grown-ups.

🧶 Grandparents Day
Friday 14 August, 1-4pm
Creative weaving activities led by our Age Friendly groups.

🌟 Sensory Day
Sunday 23 August, 10:30am-12:30pm
Multi-sensory open-ended play for families with additional needs.

All activities are free and drop-in. For more information visit www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

We can’t wait to play, make and weave with you this summer. 🧶

This year’s PLAYTIME activities are inspired by the exhibition Hyundai Translocal Series: Entangled and Woven. The exhibition is co-organised with the Cheongju Craft Biennale 2025, in collaboration with the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, and presented in partnership with Hyundai Motor Company.

🚧 Mezzanine PLAY Space closed for a refresh 🚧

Our much-loved Mezzanine PLAY Space will be closed from today until Tuesday 21 July while we give it a little refresh.

We know many of our regular visitors enjoy spending time in the space, so thank you for your patience while we make a few improvements behind the scenes.

We'll be reopening the space on Tuesday 21 July, ready for the start of our summer PLAYTIME programme.

We can't wait to welcome you back soon! ✨

It's Art Baby this Friday

Friday 3 July
10:30am - 2:30pm
Free | Drop-in | no need to book

Join us in the gorgeous, calming surroundings of our gallery and spend some quality time with your baby.

We'll have our beautiful collection of sensory objects out that are created especially for non-walking babies and their grown-ups to explore together.

Art Baby days offer a calm, welcoming, restful space for babies and carers to spend time together through sensory play.

There's no structure to these sessions making them stress-free.

⏰ We know, from our own experiences of having babies, that it is hard to get out of the house on time with a baby. Whether it's a poo-nami just as you're setting off or multiple stops to feed on the way! We’ve made things easier by having no start time and a giant 4 hour window of play so you never feel like you're late or missing out.

You can drop in to our sessions anytime between 10:30am & 2:30pm and stay for as little or as long as you like. So, if your baby is asleep when you arrive, take some time for you. Have a wander round our world-class exhibitions, our park or have a calm cuppa in our cafe in the trees. No pressure to join in until you and your baby are ready.

🆓 There’s no need to book & it’s absolutely free to attend.

🚾 A Family Toilet with space to take your buggy in (these are the little things that are important)

🛺 There's loads of space to park your buggies.

🧷 We’ve got spare nappies & wipes should you need (we've all been there!)

🖼️ There's great art, a beautiful cafe, a gorgeous shop and a park for a walk too. 

☁️ Many of our parents tell us they feel renewed and restored after a visit. The Whitworth really is a special place and if you've not visited us yet then give us a try.

🌳 The Whitworth is on Oxford Rd in Manchester, opposite the MRI. Nearest parking is Cecil Street car park 5 mins walk from the gallery. For other travel guidance visit the Whitworth's website.

This is just for non-walking babies. If you have toddlers then our PLAY Day on Fri 12 Jun is for you instead.

Thanks to Sarah Evelyn Marsh for creating our beautiful sensory baby collection & Lucy Sugden-Smith for the beautiful photos.

The flyers have arrived which can only mean one thing....

PLAYTIME is coming!!!!!

And for it's seventh year!!!! We're all beavering away to make PLAYTIME 2026 bigger and better than ever!!!!

This summer we'll be bringing you playful, large scale weaving and embroidery interventions popping up throughout our galleries and outdoor spaces. 

All our activities are available Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 1-4pm throughout the holidays unless otherwise stated. 

 

Stitch School 

Take a seat at our shared embroidery table and add your stitch to a growing artwork. 

 

Weaving Studio 

Add ribbons and threads to our giant loom and help create a colourful collective piece. 

 

PLAY Garden 

Step outside and build, explore and imagine as you bring the artworks around the Gallery to life through play 

We've also got a few extra events for you:

Special Events 

National Play Day  

Wednesday 5 August | 11am–3pm 

Celebrate South Asian and South Korean cultures through joyful music and dance. 

 

Grandparents Day 

Friday 14 August | 1-4pm  

Creative weaving activities led by our Age Friendly groups 

 

Baby Day 

Saturday 8 August | 1-4pm  

A day especially designed for non-walking babies and their grown-ups.  

 

Sensory Day 

Sunday 23 August | 10:30am-12:30pm 

Weaving inspired multi-sensory open-ended play for families with additional needs. 

 

Everyday Art School 

Available during all gallery opening hours  

Enjoy our loose parts play area, try out our two Whitworth Minecraft arcade machines, and take time to sketch, draw and explore. 

We cannot wait to see you there 😃