Crafty Fun at The Wilson this Summer
Last Wednesday I took the little ones to Wednesday Crafty Fun at the The Wilson Museum. It was a last minute, rainy day idea and luckily we didn’t need to pre-book (always handy).
We arrived at 10.30am, giving us time to park the wet buggy (for which there was plenty of space), ditch wet umbrellas and dripping rain coats, and then pop to the reception desk to purchase our tickets. £2.20 per child for 2 hours. (Sessions running every Wednesday during the summer holidays)
The session was busy, with lots of families showing up at the same time as us.
There were two art tables and plenty of room for everyone, with every child having a place to stand at either of the two art tables.
We were all welcomed to the group by the leader and given instructions on the two creative ideas available. There were lots of staff on hand to help or to offer more materials and all the kids got a disposable apron.
My two (twin girls aged 4½) immediately got stuck-in with the screen-printing, using the painting roller and coming up with some great print ideas. Afterwards they were invited to ‘’splat’’ their prints in the messy corner - which obviously they loved! The second craft idea was to use water colours or pens and paint the stuffed animals positioned in glass boxes on the table. All the kids, the youngest (aged around 3) and the oldest (aged roughly 10) seemed to really love this one and the levels of concentration was amazing.
At one stage I joined in and we did a joint family bunny rabbit portrait. My daughter had such a great time she even drew a picture of one of the lovely ladies helping at the event and gave it to her as a thank you. We lasted almost the full 2 hours before cleaning up. A study step was provided for little ones and plenty of soap and paper towels - my girls were covered from head to toe!.
Working up a healthy appetite we headed to the upstairs part of the cafe - which has recently introduced a fab play area (pictured), with of plenty of board games, colouring, My Little Ponies and some other bits and bobs for the little ones to help themselves to while you enjoy a cuppa. The menu includes all-day brunch options, we enjoyed the beans on toast for £3.50 and eggs on toast for £4, big enough for two kids to share easily. They also offer children’s lunch bags and some pasta options for kids too. After lunch we headed to the stay-and-play area where we spent a nice hour dressing up, making tea and doing the puzzles.
It's easy to get around the Wilson, there is a spacious lift on every floor with wide doors for prams, clean toilets on every floor and lots of friendly, helpful staff. There is also a great trail to follow and various colouring stations around too. All in all a fab, in-expensive day out - all under one-roof.
Cheryl, August 2017
