By Kate Hodges
04th April 2019
EVENT Easter Fun
The Easter holidays are the starting pistol for events across the UK, particularly those held outdoors. Immerse yourself in nature (and catch the Spring migration) at an RSPB reserve – the society is holding events country-wide, including wild challenges, seabird walks, bluebell walks and egg-stravaganzas. There are bigger birds to be found at WWT centres across the country; Look out for the giant ducks hiding in the trees and reeds and win a tasty prize!
English Heritage venues across the country are holding Easter Adventure Quests – family egg hunts with a difference – you’ll search high and low for dragon’s eggs. Or head to Stonehenge to find what it feels like to raise a 4 tonne stone and to find out about flint snapping and bronze casting. There are more Easter Egg Hunts at National Trust properties and National Trust Scotland properties for the whole of April, explore woodlands, gardens or nature trails while searching for clues.
Kew Gardens’ colourful new Chihuly at Kew exhibition features spectacular glass art pieces, and there will be rainbow-coloured family fun to match. On the other side of London, Walthamstow continues to celebrate its Borough of Culture status with Atomic 50: Time Travels in Tin, an immersive installation that transforms a disused school building in Leyton into a ‘ghost factory’! Spooky! And it’s the final few weeks of the brilliant Pirate’s Life For Me exhibition at the Museum of Childhood – coincide a visit with one of the excellent workshops or storytelling sessions at the venue.
In Wales, bookworms should wriggle along to Cardiff’s Children’s Literature Festival or to the Slate Museum for Easter trails and crafts.
DO Pure Shores
Why not spend some of your Easter break making the coast even more beautiful? The Surfers Against Sewage Big Spring Beach Clean is the largest and most effective volunteer beach cleaning project in the UK, if not Europe. It’s impactful, inclusive and fun! Join a gang near you to clear up your patch of coast (find one near you here), or organise your own tidy (there’s a step-by-step guide here). More generally, get into the #minibeachclean mindset – find more about regular action you can take here
DO and MAKE On Your Patch
The Easter holiday is a great opportunity to do some longer-term outdoor projects with your family. We’re planning to make our garden even more fun. Find inspiration to make your own hanging chairs and swings here and here. We also love the creative ideas for your outdoor space here – using crops to make mini mazes, letting kids paint fences, and repurposing items to make planters. Find more planter ideas here, recycle desks, colanders and even toilets. Or why not make 2019 the year of the bean pole teepee?
EVENT Game On
Between April 6–14, London’s Somerset House will be buzzing with the very latest games – those played indoors, outdoors, and even completely in your head – at Now Play This. This year’s theme is community; expect everything from quiet reflections you can sit with to colourful installations that get people playing together. See prototype games, play by running across courtyards or through London, and interact with friends and families in new and wonderful ways. The event somehow promises to combine cutting-edge awesomeness with retro magic – a perfect combination! Ticketed.
EVENT Arty Party
Every year, the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne holds a Children and Young People’s exhibition, which this year features works from twelve women artists alongside work from nearly 2000 children and young people. Join the fun at the opening party 3pm–6pm Thursday to celebrate and be the first to view the work, or head there over the Easter holidays. Free.
