Activities for Children and Young People this October Half Term

Inspire And Enthrall The Children With Something Different at South Hill Park

It’s time to start planning entertainment and activities for the kids over the holiday period – and as always South Hill Park has plenty to offer!

First up is the amazingly priced (just £5 per person) South Hill Park Arts Centre and Wilde Theatre Open Day (Mon 28 Oct), with start times of 10 and 11am – and 2,3 and 4pm, and a maximum 20 people per tour.  This is a fantastic two-hour opportunity for visitors of all ages to see the life behind the scenes throughout the venue, See the visual art studios in action, watch a demonstration in the new printmaking studio – and go backstage in the Wilde Theatre, discovering what it takes to be a stage manager, finding out how costumes are designed and created, and more about set design.

Theatre

Recommended for both adults and children aged nine and upwards, South Hill Park’s own powerful adaptation of Charles Dickens’ haunting tale Great Expectations  (Wed 23 – Sun 27 Oct) will keep audiences on the edge of their seat throughout!  This is a truly inventive and atmospheric interpretation of Dicken’s classic text which everyone is sure to enjoy.  Tickets £22, Family up to 6 (2 adults) £14.25 each.

To bring Halloween up close and personal, if you have a child or grandchild aged 11yrs+, you can invite them to accompany you to South Hill Park’s atmospheric Cellar Bar for a hair-raising and highly original evening – Library of Screams (Sat 2 Nov, 7.30pm).  For just £11 per person (tween to  adult), give them a taste of classic spine-tinglers from the golden age of Horror as curious tales of the macabre and mysterious are given a new lease of blood! The grotesque librarian Nathaniel Caldicott shares tales of the macabre and mysterious, including brand new adaptations of timeless and terrifying sagas such as The Beast with Five Fingers and Caterpillars.

Cinema

If you and the family missed out on the brilliant The Lion King live-action re-make first time round, you need to book your seats now (tickets £9.50, Family 2+2 £22)  at the South Hill Park cinema – there are daytime screenings on Fri 25, Sat 26, Sun 27, Wed 30 and Thurs 31 Oct.

Art and Craft Workshops

The South Hill Park children’s Arts & Crafts Workshops have long been super-popular with the parents and carers of boys and girls throughout the area – and there are a number of stimulating classes to look forward to over the Half Term break.

The cost of each morning course includes all materials, and in the case of clay workshops, the children’s creations will be professionally glazed and fired – ready for collection approximately three weeks after the class.  Book now – these unique workshops are very popular – to avoid disappointment.

Parent & Child Play with Clay, with Karen Marks

Age 5-8 years;  Mon 28 Oct, 10am-12.00 noon, Cost £38

Adult and child work together, exploring and learning about creating pottery items – using simple hand-building techniques.  The children will respond to the perceptive tuition, by making and decorating their own ceramic piece.

Art Factory, with Victoria Spearing (award-winning set designer)

Age 4-11 years; Thur 31 Oct, Sat 7 Dec, 10.00am-12 noon

Victoria, South Hill Park’s multi-talented set designer, presides over by this stimulating and highly fulfilling morning discovering printing and badge-making… with lots of carefully made items to take home to show the family!

Play with Clay, with Karen Marks

Age 8-12 years; Fri 1 Nov, 10.00am-12 noon

Students work with clay, using a series of hand-building techniques.  By the end of the workshop students will have produced a stylish decorated item, of which they can be proud.