Looking for exciting things to do to entertain the kids over the Easter holidays? With a thriving vibrant and artistic community, Bristol is an ideal city for finding fun and creative ways to spend time with the family.
Favourite family hotspots in Bristol include visiting the animals at Windmill City Farm in Bedminster or St Werburghs City Farm just off Stokes Croft, having a go on the rock slide next to Clifton Suspension Bridge, visiting the Bristol Aquarium, exploring We The Curious science museum, and wandering around Brunel's SS Great Britain.
However, sometimes it's fun to do something a bit more unusual or off the beaten track- especially with local people that are an expert in their field. Thinking back to my childhood, some of my most poignant moments have been when meeting creative people from different backgrounds. Hobbies like baking, sewing, knitting, and writing all developed from people I met as a child and was in awe of, and I cherish those passions in my adulthood.
Bristol is an incredible place to visit with the family (especially now the weather is warmer and balloon season is incoming). This family-friendly city has entertainment for kids of all ages, great places to eat, many magical spots for a family photo, and hundreds of incredible creators, makers, and shakers that would love to share their skills and knowledge with you.
So if you are looking for Easter activities to inspire, delight, amuse and amaze, here's a selection of kid-friendly experiences happening this Easter holiday season from Saturday, April 9 until Sunday, April 24:
- Make a Gromit with Aardman Animations
- Bike rental, picnic, and fun family day out by bike on the Strawberry Line
- Get to know graffiti with Graft graffiti workshop
- Upfest stories and street art walk
- Make your own soy dessert candles
- Intro to foraging wild & medicinal foods
- 4-day adventure family survival & bushcraft camp
- Become a fossil hunter
- Family printing workshop
- Print & Paint Kids Club
- Baby-friendly drawing and printing workshop
- Parent and child mindful meditation
- 4 Elements graffiti workshop
- Giant games and puzzles play day with Play Wooden
- Modern acrobatics and circus show with Revel Puck Circus
Sounds fun? Find out more about these experiences below!
1. Make a Gromit with Aardman Animations: Thursday, April 21
We're going to start with the big dog! Create Bristol’s favourite pup in this one-time special event with Aardman Animations. Your host, a professional model maker from the Aardman team, will lead you through this clay workshop and teach you how to get that iconic Aardman finish on your very own Gromit model. At the end you’ll be given a box to take your new friend home with you and refreshments and biscuits will be available throughout.
📍Location: Filwood Community Centre, BS4 1JP
🎟 Book make a Gromit with Aardman Animations here
2. Bike rental and fun family day out by bike on the Strawberry Line: Available every day
This traffic-free cycle adventure will take you and your family (up to 5 people) past orchards, woodlands, valleys, wetlands and a nature reserve as you head towards cheddar. As well as your bike rental for the day, a quaint picnic lunch will be included as well as a guide for a stunning cycle route on level ground.
📍Location: Great Western Railway, Bristol, BS49 4AJ
🎟 View all Strawberry Line cycle adventures here
3. Get to know graffiti with Graft graffiti workshop: Saturday, April 9
Get to grips with Bristol's most famous art export: graffiti. Learn the history of graffiti and street-art origins before designing your own ‘tag’ (logo) and being introduced to stencil graffiti. This workshop will teach you how to do street art on both board and canvas, so you'll be able to take your masterpiece home with you after. This is a great way to appreciate Bristol's unusual art scene and cultural heritage, whilst doing a craft activity that is out of the ordinary.
📍Location: The Island, Bristol, BS1 2BE
4. Upfest stories and street art walk: Every Saturday and Sunday: April 9 - April 23
Join Europe’s largest street art festival, Upfest, in Bedminster for a guided tour of the painted streets of BS3. Your host will share the stories and secrets behind familiar murals whilst discovering hidden gems along the way. This is a great experience to inspire young minds, enable them to discover meanings behind art, and appreciate Bristol's creative side. You will also be given a Posca paint pen and limited edition sketchbook to take your inspiration home with you.
📍Location: Tobacco factory Cafe Bar, Bristol, BS3 1TF
5. Make your own soy dessert candles: Every Saturday and Sunday: April 9 - April 24
Create cute Korean style dessert candles that look good enough to eat. You’ll create an extremely deceptive sponge cake candle and macaron tealights with lots of meltable fruit and chocolate decorations. This workshop can come to your home, or you can meet Kristal and her two cats at her place on Christmas Steps. Bonus part of this location? You're just a stone's throw away from a board game cafe and the brilliant Ah Toots bakery!
📍Location: The Three Kings Court, Bristol, BS1 5AY
🎟 Book make your own soy dessert candles here
6. Intro to foraging wild & medicinal foods: Sunday, April 10 and Saturday, April 16 + Sunday, April 17
Did you know that you can eat sticky weed? This foraging experience is a great way to introduce kids to the edible plants that grow around us and spring really is the perfect time to go foraging. The UK is home to so many pretty edible plants and flowers (perfect for a fairy picnic perhaps?). The things you’ll learn in this experience will make every family walk an interesting foodie adventure!
📍Location: Sir John's Lane, Bristol, BS7 9NP
🎟 Book intro to foraging wild & medicinal foods here
7. 4-day adventure family survival & bushcraft camp: Monday, April 11 - Thursday, April 14
This one is certainly a wild adventure! This is like camping, but better. Learn the basics of bushcraft including building shelters, filtering water, learning to fence, learning navigation skills like compass and map reading, and discovering foraging in this 4-day adventure where you sleep out in the wild and learn how to survive as a family!
📍Location: May Hill Cottage, Longhope, GL17 0NP
🎟 Book 4-day family survival & bushcraft camp here
8. Become a fossil hunter: Wednesday, April 13
Got a dinosaur fan in the family? They will be OBSESSED with this experience. The amount of imagination that fossil hunting can inspire is endless, and there's nothing better than a good hunt for something to keep the kids entertained for hours. Join Wildlife Detective Ed Drewitt and become expert fossil detectives. Comb the beach for ancient fossilised seashells, fish teeth, scales, and even fossilised poo! Learn about the land of pre-historic Bristol, and about Bristol’s very own dinosaur that roamed it.
📍Location: Passage Road, Aust, BS35 4BG
🎟 Book become a fossil hunter here
9. Family printing workshop: Tuesday, April 19
Ink print a special tote bag and make your own pieces of unique artwork with professional printmaker Kate for this Easter break crafty activity on North Street. North Street is a hot spot for murals and street art, so you can wander Bedminster before the workshop and get some ideas for some amazing creative print work to take home!
📍Location: Creative Space, Bristol, BS3 1HJ
🎟 Book family printing workshop here
10. Print & Paint Kids Club: Tuesday, April 19
Kids can get to grips with the art of printing and paint in this hands-on experience. Each session will cover a different art form: block printing with inks and rollers, watercolour painting, marbling, acrylic painting, fabric painting and printing.
📍Location: Creative Space, Bristol, BS3 1HJ
🎟 Book Paint & Print Kids Club here
11. Baby-friendly drawing and printing workshop: Wednesday, April 20
Calling all new parents looking for fun things to do in Bristol! This workshop has been made for parents with babies, so you can get creative in a relaxed atmosphere with other parents in the same boat. You’ll learn the art of drypoint printing, discover new printing techniques, be supplied with plenty of tea and biscuits, have loads of opportunities to share stories and make friends with fellow parents of young kids, and then have a folder of artwork to take home with you.
📍Location: 23 Beaconsfield Road, Bristol, BS4 2JE
🎟 Book Baby-friendly drawing and printing workshop here
12. Parent and child mindful meditation: Friday, April 22
At a blissful studio in Chew Valley’s countryside, this gentle bonding experience with your child is a great way to slow down and appreciate the here and now- something that’s rare in the busy day-to-day of life. Learning how to meditate, be in touch with one's feelings, and using that skill to regulate and communicate emotions is an invaluable skill that kids can take through their entire life to promote mental and emotional resilience.
📍Location: Ridgeway House, Bristol, BS40 8AX
🎟 Book parent and child mindful meditation workshop here
13. 4 Elements graffiti workshop: Saturday, April 23
Learn how to spray paint, cut stencils, learn lettering styles, design your own ‘tag’ and learn both freehand and stencil techniques. In this kid-friendly graffiti workshop, you’ll collaboratively paint a mural with the rest of the group, which will be dismantled so you can bring your own piece home with you.
📍Location: St. Werburghs Community Centre, Bristol, BS2 9TJ
🎟 Book 4 Elements graffiti workshop here
14. Giant games and puzzles play day with Play Wooden: Wednesday, April 13
Giant puzzles, brainteasers, games, and toys handmade by ethical wooden games collective Play Wooden will be at Filwood Community Centre this Easter. These games encourage collaboration and creative play and they are an awesome way for kids to meet new friends and use their noggin in a fun way! From only £7, this is a budget-friendly way to keep the nippers entertained for hours.
📍Location: Filwood Community Centre, Bristol, BS41JP
🎟 Book giant games and puzzles play day here
15. Revel Puck Circus' modern acrobatics and circus show: Thursday, April 7 - Sunday, April 10
Roll up! Roll up! The circus has had a modern makeover and it's a little less 1892 and a little more 2022! Join Revel Puck Circus for a new, contemporary take on an absolute classic where ordinary people become extraordinary! At this big top, you'll find incredible acrobatic artists, trapeze artists, a flying chainsaw, and much more!
📍Location: Revel Puck Big Top, Bristol, BS2 9HS
🎟 Book the Revel Puck Circus here
