Gimme 5 Summer Activities in the Midlands

Gimme 5 Family Friendly Activities!

Some are free and others are reasonably priced. All are designed for families

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is open again. It sits on the University of Birmingham Campus and this summer has a week of family activities. Many of the activities are free or low cost. Some are drop in and others must be booked. Take a look at their website for more details.

https://barber.org.uk/learning/for-families/

The Big Wild Pyjama Party is back at Sandwell Valley's RSPB reserve. This is a very popular event so book soon for the evening of 3rd August. Various prices dependent on whether you are a member.

https://events.rspb.org.uk/events/72695

Have a go leather craft activities are available for just 1.50 per child throughout the summer at Walsall Leather Museum. Sessions are drop in. Details here https://go.walsall.gov.uk/events?category=All&venue=221&search_param=&field_event_dates_value_1=All&page=2

Wildside Activity Centre in Wolverhampton are offering various narrowboat trips for families during the summer. The Three Little Pigs themed trip is on Thursday 8th August and is 20 for one adult and one child. https://www.wildsideac.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/On-the-Water-with-Wildside-this-summer-2024.pdf

Throughout August Wolverhampton Art Gallery have a range of football themed craft activities. The events range from make your own football shirt to create a football table. Activities can be booked online: https://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/family-friendly-activities/

Comments

Michael Morpurgo's Farm Boy @ Lichfield Garrick

The author Michael Morpurgo is a brilliant story teller and his Farm Boy story is no exception. This production has at its core a story that hooks you in and keeps you captivated. A grandfather and his grandson talk you through stories from their family that intertwine with the history of World War One and life on a farm. This play had parts that made me smile and chuckle but more parts that gave me goosebumps and a ripple of emotion. When grandfather made a confession and called on his grandson to help him, I was hooked waiting to hear the burden that he had born for his entire life. No spoilers though, come and see the play for yourself. The music in Farm Boy is an original score written by Matt Marks. It enhanced the story telling evoking memories and pictures in my mind. This combined with the strength of the story is clearly the reason the show has been at the Edinburgh Fringe and 'off Broadway' in New York. Throughout the show, there are just two actors on the stage: Gran

Beauty and the Beast @ Lichfield Garrick

“That was so funny I nearly wet myself!” Such was my 11 year old daughter’s review of the Lichfield Garrick’s 2023 Christmas Panto - Beauty and the Beast. Truth be told, although I hopefully have more bladder control than that, I was in pretty close agreement with her. I’m not sure which part of the show was the most hilarious. It may have been the obligatory slapstick gunge and slide routine making pudding in the Beast’s castle kitchen. However, Figgy the animated (and socially borderline) Greek statue was in hot pursuit. Had I been the unsuspecting gentleman who sat on the front row I may have found the audience participation rather less comedic (he loved it really!!!). What I do know though is that by the end of the evening my sides hurt, I’d become seriously dehydrated and my daughter and I were ready for the festive Christmas season to begin! You may wonder how Beauty and the Beast could pass for panto? However, Sam Rabone’s annual Pantomime dame, reappearing as Belle’s hideously

Review of Gangsta Granny by Heartbreak Productions.

In 10 years time, my children won’t specifically remember the occasions that I picked them up from school, cooked our favourite pasta dish or watched their swimming lesson. But they will remember some of things that we did that were out of the ordinary. They will remember some of the memories that we made together. As we headed out of the door on Friday evening, I knew we were making memories. I was just hoping it wasn’t going to be because the whole family had got soaked to the skin sitting in a park on a Friday night watching a play. We had a flask full of hot chocolate, a box of malteasers and some large umbrellas borrowed from a neighbour. We were heading to a Heartbreak Productions outdoor show in Walsall Arboretum. It was pretty exciting heading out in the evening and walking through an empty park to get to the bandstand where the show was being staged. When I told Little Lady what we were going to see, she was extremely excited. In fact, we all were because

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