Get making during our Holiday Fun: Make session with a variety of free creative activities at Firstsite this February.

Most suitable for those aged 4 – 11 yrs, but all ages welcome.

Drop-in anytime between 10am – 2:30pm from Tuesday to Saturday to take part.

No need to book for our Make sessions.

Adults required to stay.

Session Activities

Sat  28 Mar: Sculptural Spring Daffodils! – Roseanna Chew and Freya Gascoyne                

Using recycled papers, cardboard, wool and lolly-pop sticks join us to create colourful daffodils and various other flowers to celebrate the springtime!

Tue 31 Mar: Two Day Tiny Town – Beat the Street Special! – Iris Dina Gunnarsdottir

A fun, hands-on workshop inspired by the Beat the Street! This special workshop takes place over two days and is a collaborative creation—everyone who joins will add their own unique buildings and details to a growing cityscape. Watch the city come to life as each participant contributes, making it bigger, brighter, and more imaginative together!

Let's Beat the Street

Wed 1 Apr: Two Day Tiny Town – Beat the Street Special! – Tom Armstrong

A fun, hands-on workshop inspired by the Beat the Street! This special workshop takes place over two days and is a collaborative creation—everyone who joins will add their own unique buildings and details to a growing cityscape. Watch the city come to life as each participant contributes, making it bigger, brighter, and more imaginative together!

Let's Beat the Street

Thu 2 Apr: Animal Instruments – CLIP

Join us in the mosaic space where you will have the chance to make animal-themed electric instruments using your imagination and our Makey Makey kits. Once you have made your instrument, you can use it to make music and beats in the app Koala Sampler! Perhaps you’ll draw a giraffe and DJ with the spots, or make a musical sculpture of your dream pet. We will also have sound bingo sheets you can take to explore the sounds around you!

Fri 3 Apr: Recycled Egg Carton Mayhem! – Lavina Doluner

Get creative with recycling. We’ll be celebrating our local native wildlife by making wonderful woodland animal portraits and Easter egg holders using waste cardboard collected by local businesses and the Colchester City Council recycling team.

Sat 4 Apr:  Wonderful Windows and Secret Doors – Nicola Burrell                                

Create your own interactive house or building picture; with windows and doors which open to reveal surprises and things that people do all day inside, at home, in school, in the library, shops or offices. We will be using cardboard, pencils and pens to create a layered artwork full of surprises. 

Tue 7 Apr: The Reborn Forest – Tristan Howe

Spring is a time for new life. In this drawing workshop, we will create “Bonsai” trees growing out of old, broken, or unusual objects. We will use bright patterns and lines to fill our page and create a huge collective display of spring growth.

Wed 8 Apr: Sculptural Sketchbooks – Sara Barker

Come and make a sketchbook using materials you can see in the Rebecca Riess exhibition. You will be shown how to create a simple accordion paper fold and attach card on either end. This provides a sturdy base for you to collage onto – exploring how to use waste materials such as scrap paper, wire, plastic and fabric to create exciting surfaces. When your book is completed, why not use it to sketch your favourite Rebecca Reiss art works!

Thu 9 Apr: Chaos on White House – Mary Pullen Deacon

Inspired by Sue Webster’s Chaos paintings we’ll let loose and go all the way! Using a paper house template we’ll then cover our house in – whatever we choose! Graffiti. Colour splodges. Neat bricks. And ‘build’ it. You can then take your own Chaos on White House home or leave it to add to our Tiny Town installation.

Fri 10 Apr: Floral Flags – Beck Norris and Angenita Teekens                                      

Come along and make your very own plant based print to turn into a fun flag or a unqiue piece of art for your home.

In this workshop we capture the joys of spring using the power of plants to stain, decorate and create –
exploring the natural world through the senses!

Sat 11 Apr: Magical Spaces – Lucia Hardy

Come and celebrate the closing weekend of the Colchester Arts Society 80^th anniversary exhibition with artist Lucia Hardy who will lead you through a series of creative activities exploring abstract landscapes, buildings and reflections, using oil pastels, charcoal, collage and construction techniques.

Our Holiday Fun activities are for families facing economic challenges or who require additional support during the school holidays, including those that qualify for benefits-based free school meals.

Holiday Fun is designed in partnership with African Families in the UK, Bangladeshi Women’s Association Essex, and Level Best Enterprises.

Find out more about Holiday Fun.

How to get to Firstsite

Please note there is no parking available at Firstsite, however there are car parks nearby, and Colchester Town Centre is well serviced by public transport. How to get here

Explore more of Holiday Fun

Children can take part in our movement activities and enjoy a free hot meal for all the family too – find out more and book here

Holiday Fun is designed in partnership with African Families in the UK, Bangladeshi Women’s Association Essex, and Level Best Enterprises.

Delivered in partnership with

Supported by

More details on our  Mar-April timetable will be provided in March.