This October, Bristol Old Vic joins forces with cultural venues across Bristol City Centre, to provide a week of free activities for pre-school children and their families. This is to mark the launch of its new pushchair tour, which will be available throughout the year, providing a cross-venue offer for the littlest culture explorers.
Six venues are taking part: Royal West of England Academy (RWA), St George’s Bristol, Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Beacon, Brunel’s S.S Great Britain and MShed to bring you this half-term adventure.
Pick up a free trail booklet from any of the six participating venues and join Elephant in their search, along the streets of Bristol, for their friend Mr Giraffe. Most locations on the route are 10-15 minutes apart and routes have been chosen with pushchairs in mind (it won’t have you going over very many cobbles), meaning this trail is accessible for the whole family to get involved!
Follow the map in any order and at any pace you like (just check opening hours at each of the locations first, if you would like to go inside) and take part in a variety of activities taking place over the whole of half-term. Don’t forget to collect a special stamp at the reception of each venue!
Collect all six stamps for a full set to reunite Elephant with Mr Giraffe and earn your Heritage Explorer Certificate.
Take as long as you want to do this, a day, a week, or even a whole year!
Have a read of all the brilliant activities you can take part in at each of the venues below:
Brunel’s SS Great Britain
Calling all Young Inventors! On Tuesday 25th October between 10:00-15:00 you’re invited to SS Great Britain to play around with scrap materials and imagine your own invention. Will you design a ship or a tunnel like Brunel? Can you solve the challenge of getting an elephant across the ocean? Or design a bridge for a penguin? Free with admission to SS Great Britain.
(If you aren’t planning to visit Brunel’s pioneering invention, you can collect your stamp for free from the welcome desk).
Find out more before you visit: https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/
Bristol Old Vic
Join the fantastic story makers on Wednesday 26th October between 11:00 – 15:00 as they take you on a magical journey through the animal kingdom. By the end of the workshop, you will have created and performed a brand-new story together.
You can also head upstairs to the balcony where you can take part in some dressing up or colouring and crafts all day.
Find out more On Bristol Old Vic’s website: https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/half-term-storytelling-family-workshops
St Georges
Head to St Georges on Wednesday 26th Oct for an Animal Adventure Day packed full of fun activities. Put on your creative hat and make your very own George the Fox puppet, shake out your elephant ears and stay to hear a story (even better when you’re snuggling with your new fox puppet buddy, George). Afterwards you can pop on your own exploring shoes and head into the beautiful gardens of St Georges to see how many animals you can spot yourself (make sure you keep your eyes peeled for Mr Giraffe).
Phew! What hard work! Why don’t you rest your feet and enjoy a scrumptious cake in St George’s café? – We recommend checking out the new Childrens menu!
The puppet building workshop is free and you can drop in any time between 10:00 – 16:00 (no booking needed)
Storytelling for Little Ears is free with no booking needed between
12:30 – 12:45, 14:00 – 14:15 and 15:30 – 15:45
Find out more about your visit on St Georges Website: https://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/your-visit/
Royal West of England Academy (RWA)
Calling all Animal Artists (ages 2 – 4)!
Join RWA on Thursday 27th Oct between 10am and 3pm for some animal themed activities. Will you make a fuzzy Unicorn? A lion mask? Or perhaps even a paper peacock? Or just explore the materials by touch or smell. After making your creation you can adventure around theRWA building itself and try to find the animals hiding throughout the building.
After making an animal, why not snuggle up with your new friend and listen to a short story read to you by some very talented puppets at 11:00am or 14:00pm.
You can drop into these workshops anytime between 10:00-12:00 or 13:00-15:00 although we do advise you to book early to avoid disappointment.
Find out more about this event and RWA at https://www.rwa.org.uk/collections/events/products/animal-art-for-early-years-1
Animal Art for early years is free to join in and don’t forget to collect your trail stamp on the way out!
Bristol Beacon
What’s that sound? Why it’s The Marvelous Musical Elephant Parade, of course.
Join trombonist Raph and percussionist Harriet on Thursday 27th Oct 10:00 – 11:00 for a marvellous musical workshop for children under-fives and their parents and carers. Make your own junk percussion, design your own animal masks and join the melodious animal parade.
Packed full of singing, wiggling and animal dance moves, this free 45-minute workshop will delight young and big people alike.
Find out more about The Marvelous Musical Elephant Parade on Bristol Beacon’s website https://bristolbeacon.org/whats-on/
M Shed
After exploring the exhibits in the free museum and art gallery, you must be tired? Why not head to M Shed’s exquisite café, McCafé, and try out their delightful new menu? Don’t forget to collect your stamp from the welcome desk on your way out.
Thank you for finding Mr Giraffe!