There is tons of creative fun for little hands and feet in relaxed and engaging art session.

Mini Makers - Messy Play at The Herbert Art Gallery

• Dates: 12 September, 3 October, 7 November, 5 December 2024 
• Times: 10.30am - 12pm & 1.30pm – 3.00pm 
• Venue: Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, CV1 5QP
• Price: Drop in | £2.50 per child, including babies | Pay on the door
• Suitable for: For ages 0-4.

There is tons of creative fun for little hands and feet in this relaxed and engaging art session. Babies and toddlers will have the opportunity to explore various materials across the sessions including paint, glitter, paste, sand, clay, slimy spaghetti, chalk and much more! These sessions will also expose them to early mark making, enabling them to develop good concentration, muscle control and encourage their imaginations.

 12 September – Fluttering Wings and Tiny Things:
Explore nature's wonders! Create colourful butterfly prints and jump into tuft trays filled with paper frogs, lily pads, and more. Discover hidden mini beasts, and take-home pockets full of seeds after crafting beautiful bird houses.

3 October – Forest Friends:
Venture through the forest! Make footprints of digging badgers, wandering deer, and sly foxes.  Construct forest artworks using branches, leaves, and pinecones from our Herbert gardens and build up the forest by crafting trees with cardboard rolls, coloured tape, paint sticks, and green tissue paper. Little ones will create rain soundscapes with large rainmakers, adding to the immersive forest experience.

7 November – Messy Poppy Play:
Join us for a messy play session where we'll create poppies using cupcake cases and handprints. Enjoy making shiny gold and silver painted medals and exploring trays filled with red rice, mud, and shredded paper. We'll be honouring Remembrance Day through these engaging activities.

5 December – Festive Winter Wonderland:
Experience the magic of winter with festive activities! Dance along the path to the North Pole, leaving big black footprints. Craft shimmering star decorations and sprinkle colourful delights on biscuits. Dive into snow-filled tuft trays, create charming festive cards by hand, and print your own wrapping paper to take home.

Thursday 8 January – Ice Age Messy Play

Get ready for a frosty fun adventure! Join us to create magical painted streams of colour and explore tuft trays full of icy wonders and incredible ice sculptures. Splash water, splash with paint dabbers, and use pipettes to make your mark! Discover the world of ice with soft cotton balls and stomp through colourful paint puddles like mighty Ice Age giants!  

Thursday 5 February – Magic & Mischief 

Step into a world of enchantment and mythical creatures! Play in sensory trays as you mix magical potions, make a shimmering tin-foil moon and print fairy creatures with your hands. Fly through paint, then create dragon and unicorn footprints and watch as volcanoes erupt! Craft your own fiery volcano, and dive into mud, clay, and all kinds of wonderful mess!  

Thursday 5 March – World Book Day Special, The Tiger Who Came to Tea

You are invited to the most terrific tiger tea party this spring! Pounce through paint, leaving tiger-shaped footprints around the studio. Pour colourful petals into mint tea, ice and decorate rich tea biscuits, then create and take home your own stripey tiger mask. Join us for our annual World Book Day celebration with a retelling of The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr in our unique Sensory Stories and Rhymes sessions. 

Thursday 16 April – April Showers

It's raining, it's pouring, but Mini Makers is never boring!  Discover the fun of rain-based activities as we explore the colour blue with trays full of dyed rice, shredded paper, and hundreds of cotton wool balls, letting your little ones pretend they're floating in a rain cloud. Plus, get creative and experiment with mark-making using our water spray bottles, paint dabbers, pipettes, and puddle paint jumping.