Family Fun Activities at Kingshill House

Recently we hosted some wonderful half-term family activities at Kingshill House Creative Centre called Share and Play. The House was full of young creatives drawing, crafting, listening and learning. We had storytelling by our resident storyteller Bill Church, which was great fun to see the kids and adults enjoy. Also, we hosted a monster trail, where each sneaky monster hiding around the House had a letter to find which made a secret word. Some of the monsters asked the kiddies to complete a task, such as making a fortune teller. And you can find out how to make your own fortune teller at home with the instructions below. 

In the art room, we had lots of lovely activities such as making paper-chain friends, finger-printing faces, and a funky 3D hand creation all supplied by the super-amazing book by Marion Deuchars Art Play. If you’ve not come across it before, it is a great resource packed full of great activities for young creatives. We will be taking more inspiration from this book later in our programme.

We also had make your own clay snail which was great to see all the brilliant creations, including local MP @siobhan.baillie and her family. Siobhan made a great reel of her visit which you can check out here, thanks Siobhan for making it down!
And of course, our bar was open for coffee, squash, and delicious sausage rolls, brownies, and cupcakes from our local baker Sticky Fingers. Our bar will be open more frequently now so you can enjoy barista coffee whilst attending a class at Kingshill House.

Our next family creative activity at the House is Art Play Saturday 24 June, 10:30am-12pm by Stroud-based artist Ruth Batham. Designed to get the creative juices flowing you can make your own space character - real or imaginary or a mix of both - from collaged paper. Beginning working in 2D, they will also be able to add to your character in 3D using googly eyes, split pins, and concertina limbs. They will also have the chance to have their character photographed in a collaborative, group piece of art before taking them home. 
Find more details and reserve your spot here. 

At the same time, we are hosting a 2-hour Maternal Journal workshop with artist Athene Grieg for anyone in pregnancy, birth and parenthood. For carers, you could attend the Art Play workshop with older kids, whilst the other carer joins the Maternal Journal workshop either solo or with babes-in-arms. 
In this session, Athene will introduce what creative journaling is, guide you through a journal activity and hold space for sharing with each other in a relaxed and supportive environment.

And after the session, a picnic will be hosted in the garden for everyone who has ever attended a Maternal Journal session, come join us!

Here's why journaling is so amazing, “We're expected to casually stroll into motherhood and parenthood while trying to get our heads around a million new ways to do things and keep our new emotions in check. 
Holding it all together, preferably with a smile, can be kind of exhausting. 
Journaling is well-known for its positive benefits on mental health and well-being. It also plays a big part in the history of women's creativity.”

• Babies under 1 are welcome to join us.
• All materials and light refreshments are provided.
• You don't need to be 'creative'!
• We will work on paper but feel free to bring a journal.

We have a whole host of family activities at Kingshill House including our monthly Let’s Create sessions in the garden which see a lot of young people of all ages get stuck into creative imagination. Think unstructured, loose parts, googly eyes, lots of tape, glue, paint, a little bit mad and plenty of fun. Come along, second-Saturday of the month, more details can be found here. ​

We also have family theatre coming up including Sherlock Holmes and a miscellany of other larger-than-life characters in a wonderfully original one-man show! What connects a father's disappearance with an audacious robbery committed in the dead of night? And what has become of the great Agra Treasure? 

​Suitable for 11 years+
Friday 16 June, 7:30 pm. Bar open from 6:30 pm. £16.

Further still we have Impromptu Shakespeare coming to Kingshill House for a day of hilarious Shakespearean comedy on Saturday 29 July, 11:30am-12:30pm. Not only are they performing their theatre production, but beforehand there is a special family workshop taking place - with limited spaces! The workshop will be fun and silly, with some really insightful educational bits too. Suitable for anyone who has started doing some Shakespeare at school or home (around 11+ but this can vary). 
£7 per young person (accompanying adult is free). Check out the production here. 

All of this is made possible by the generous support from The National Lottery players and the Community Fund, helping us deliver our Made for Sharing Project.