Culturekidsmanchester

May Half-Term at the Whitworth 🤎

The Joy of Colour
Thursday 28 & Friday 29 May, 10.30am–1pm
Free, drop-in
In partnership with .mcr

Join us this half-term for two mornings filled with colour, movement, making and play inspired by the joyful, pattern-filled worlds in Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s exhibition.

Led by Afrocats artists, families can move together through African and Caribbean-inspired dance and playful creative activities designed for children and grown-ups to enjoy together.

No booking needed, just drop in ✨

*Afrocats are a Manchester-based organisation creating joyful, welcoming spaces for children and families through creativity, movement and play. Their work celebrates culture, connection and imagination, with a particular focus on making creative experiences accessible, inclusive and rooted in community.

Free activities half term activities free family fun manchester free kids workshops

🌿🎨 Outdoor Art Club returns this Saturday! 🎨🌿

Join us for a relaxed morning of creative outdoor fun for families in the park.

📅 Saturday16 May
⏰ Drop in anytime between 10:30am – 1:30pm
💚 Free

What better way to spend your Saturday than playing in our park and spending quality time with your children, friends and family.

If your children love getting muddy and exploring outdoors in nature then these sessions are for you.

There's something for all the types of play; whether it's being immersed in pouring in our water play area, collecting, sorting and stirring in our mud kitchen/ potions area or whether it's getting stuck into the mud in our mud studio.

We have loads of areas set up in our Art Garden and Park. You can move around the areas in your own time and at your own pace. And we have our amazing Creative Practitioners and volunteers on hand to help if you need.

🌤🌧🌥☔🌈 These sessions take place outdoors come rain or shine so it’s recommended that you wear warm clothing, waterproofs, and wellies.

🥾👢🧥 If you don't have wellies or rainsuits then don't worry as we have loads to borrow of all sizes.

If you've not been to before then we also have a gorgeous cafe in the trees ☕, a great playground 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ and some brilliant art to explore inside 🖼.
Or why not bring your own picnic to enjoy in our Living Room.

We're located on Oxford Road just past the Manchester Museum and opposite the MRI hospital. The nearest parking is Cecil Street and there is on-street parking available on Denmark Road for 2 hours.

See you Saturday 👋

This Friday's PLAY Day will look (and sound) a little different.

This month we'll be joined by the brilliant Godfrey Pambalipe who is and amazing South African drummer and story teller.

You might have seen Godfrey at our half term Afrocats activities.
Godfrey will be bringing his drums and we'll be mixing these in amongst our usual loose-parts play items.

We love to experiment, explore and play at the Whitworth and so in the true sprit of our programme we are asking 'What happens if you mix African drumming with open play opportunities?

We don't know the answer yet but we're pretty certain it will be wonderful.

If you fancy joining us then come along this Friday.

📅 Friday 8 May
🏛 the Whitworth Art Gallery.
🕥 Drop in anytime between 10.30am–2.30pm
📍 No need to book – just turn up and play.

Join us for a joyful day of exploring, drumming, building, banging, imagining and creating – all designed especially for under 5s and their grown-ups.

Our gallery space transforms into a playful wonderland filled with:
🧱 Giant tubes & pipes
📦 Big boxes & crates
🔄 Reels, tyres & open-ended materials galore!

⏰️ We know how hard it is to get out on time with young children so we’ve created a giant 4 hour window where you can arrive whenever you like within those 4 hours. No stress. No feeling like you’re late or missing out.

🧺 We’ve also got you covered with buggy parks, nappies and wipes.

☕️ and a gorgeous cafe, a beautiful shop and great art 👌

We’re located just opposite the MRI on Oxford Road. Nearest car park Cecil Street. Check out all other travel option via website ‘Visit’ section.

It’s PLAY Day this Friday! 

📅 Friday 8 May
🏛 the Whitworth Art Gallery.
🕥 Drop in anytime between 10.30am–2.30pm
📍 No need to book – just turn up and play.

Join us for a joyful day of exploring, building, imagining and creating – all designed especially for under 5s and their grown-ups.

Our gallery space transforms into a playful wonderland filled with:
🧱 Giant tubes & pipes
📦 Big boxes & crates
🔄 Reels, tyres & open-ended materials galore!

⏰️ We know how hard it is to get out on time with young children so we’ve created a giant 4 hour window where you can arrive whenever you like within those 4 hours. No stress. No feeling like you’re late or missing out.

🧺 We’ve also got you covered with buggy parks, nappies and wipes.

☕️ and a gorgeous cafe, a beautiful shop and great art 👌

We’re located just opposite the MRI on Oxford Road. Nearest car park Cecil Street. Check out all other travel option via website ‘Visit’ section.

CreativePlay Under5s WhitworthPLAY

It's Art Baby this Friday

Friday 1 May
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 new 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 8 May is for you instead.

Thanks to for creating our beautiful sensory baby collection & for the beautiful photos.

Here’s what’s coming up in our Early Years & Family Programme in May 👇

👶 Art Baby
Gentle sensory play in our beautiful gallery spaces for non-walking babies and their grown-ups.
📅 Fri 1 May | 10.30am–2.30pm | Free, drop-in

🍃 Eco Art
playful and inspiring art workshop for children aged 7–12, set within Whitworth Park.
📆 Saturday 2 May | 1-3pm | Free, booking essential

🎲 PLAY Days
Open-ended play session for under-fives + families with tubes, crates, tyres & more!
📅 Fri 8 May | 10.30am–2.30pm | Free, drop-in

🌿 Outdoor Art Club
Play-based workshop for families to explore nature, creativity & the outdoors.
📅 Sat 16 May | 10.30am–1.30pm | Free, drop-in

💙 May Half Term
This May half term celebrate the joy of colour through playful dance and making activities inspired by the pattern-filled worlds in Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s exhibition. 
📆 Thursday 28 & Friday 29 May | 10:30am - 1pm | Free, drop-in

🖼 Sensory Morning
Multi-sensory calming & creative workshop for families with children with additional needs.
📆 Sun 31 May | 10:30am-12:30pm | Free, drop-in

🕝 All these workshops are free and there's no need to book, just come along.

Visit the Whitworth website via our bio to learn more.

FamilyFun Play mcrfamilyfun

We’re back and it’s a very different day to last week! We’ve replaced the sun with a sprinkle of rain but it’s not stopping our families 😀

The giant shapes are looking 👌 with a new layer of colour and pattern. Last week we stuck to pinks, reds, oranges and yellows so that this week we could add the slightly darker shades - greens, blues, purples and of course a bit more pink 😉

This is a great tip that we highly recommend so that you don’t just end up with brown paintings 🌈

Upstairs we’ve got the embroidery banners going on with soooooo many families enjoying the fact it’s indoors (!) but also the chance to slow down. Both children and adults are really enjoying the sewing and the sticking and coming up with some amazing banners sharing some of their identity and their favourite things on their works.

It’s been really brilliant seeing you all enjoying the gallery and getting creative. So thank you to all those who joined us.

We’ll be back with more brilliant activities during May half term (date, times and details all on our website in the school holidays section) and we might see some of you at our regular term time sessions.

Thanks to our artists and and to all our amazing volunteers.

Here are just a few of the many gorgeous textile banners that were made in last week's family activities led by the very clever .

Gemma will be back this Wednesday 15 April from 1-4pm doing the same again so make sure you don't miss out.

Alongside the textiles we will be painting our giant shapes in the Garden Studio and Art Garden (if the weather allows!). If you didn't see what we were up to last week then check out a couple of our previous posts so see what you'll be up to if you come along.

Please do join us. It's absolutely free and with no need to book it's absolutely stress free. Just pop along anytime between 1pm and 4pm and stay for as little or as long as you like.

We've got some absolutely stunning exhibitions on at the moment including Delaine Le Bas (which our activities are inspired by) and Beneath the Great Wave displaying some of the best of Japanese prints.

We have a beautiful cafe in the trees, a great shop and a huge park with playground to exploreso loads to make a day of it.

Today the sun showed up for us, and we made the most of every bit of it 🌞

Outside, we had these huge collaborative shapes laid out for painting, and it was amazing to watch them come to life. People painted side by side, layering over each other’s marks, adding little details, responding, playing… it became this shared, ever-changing artwork full of connection and spontaneity.

Inside, things slowed down a little with our textile activity. Using thread, buttons, beads, stickers, gems, and sticky shapes, everyone created small pieces exploring identity and belonging.

Both activities were inspired by Delaine Le Bas’ incredible exhibition currently on display.

If you missed us today then don't worry we're doing it all again next week:

📅 Wednesday 15 April
⏰ 1–4pm (drop in)
🎟️ Free for everyone

Let’s hope the weather is just as kind to us again 🌤️

Join us this Easter for 'Festival of Belonging'.
Vibrant, family-friendly acitivities inspired by Delaine Le Bas: Un-Fair-Ground currently on display (pictured)

🗓 Wednesdays 8 & 15 April
🕐 1–4pm
🎟 Free, drop-in

Get creative together as we explore colour, identity and community.

Take part in a joyful outdoor collaborative painting in our Garden Studio and Art Garden with artist Bukky Baldwin.

Get creative by sticking and stitching together shared stories and symbols in a co-created textile artwork in our galleries with artist Gemma Lees.

⏰ We know, from our own experiences, how hard it is to get out of the house with the kids so we’ve made things easier by having no start time. You can drop in anytime between 1pm and 4pm and stay for as little or as long as you like.

🆓 We've made it no-stress with no need to book and it’s absolutely free to attend.

🛺 There's space to park any buggies or scooters.

🧷 We’ve got spare nappies and wipes should you need.

🖼️ There's great ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ art to see, a beautiful cafe overlooking the trees for a treat, and a gorgeous shop to browse.

🛝 We're set in a beautiful park for a walk and there's a brilliant adventure playground too.

🥪 Why not bring along a packed lunch and enjoy eating together in our Living Room (or Park if it's nice weather) to get your energy up before you start getting creative.

🌳 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.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Sensory Mornings returns this Sunday 29 March and with a brand new creative take-away activity.

🏡 at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.
🆓 Free, drop in any time between 10:30am - 12:30pm

These sessions are specifically for families with children with additional needs. The whole family are welcome.

Sarah from will be facilitating the morning with the new 'Nest' collection which are beautiful multi-sensory art objects. Immerse yourself in squishy, soft and gorgeously smelly shapes with an safe and enabling environment.

Sarah will also have a new 'takeaway' activity so you can make and create something to take home.

Sensory Mornings are play- based and self-guided which means Sarah is on hand to guide but not lead. The space is set out so families can move around playing and exploring at their own pace and in your their own time.

You can drop in anytime between 10:30am and 12:30pm and stay for as little or as long as you like.

Sensory Mornings are free to attend and take place in our Everyday Art School on the Mezzanine Level. The space is big and can be a bit echoey. We do have a number of ear-defenders to borrow and also a Quiet Room should you feel you need.

sen sendactivities