Easter is round the corner and you may be trying to decide what to do with the children for the two weeks. Well, Daily Info has you covered with our breakdown of the best shows, films and activities to take part in.
Princess vs. Dinosaurs
A pair of Princesses land in Oxford this Easter holiday. First up there's the North Wall's Princess Smartypants (Tue 15th & Wed 16th Apr), a madcap show from Wardrobe Ensemble wherein the titular figure fights to retain her independence. This is swiftly followed by The Worst Princess (Thu 17th to Sat 19th Apr) at the Oxford Playhouse, a dragon-tastic show brimming with comedy, puppets and pop anthems.
Down the road from the Playhouse, the Burton Taylor has two shows touring to its intimate studio space. Three Little Pig Tails (Sat 12th Apr) is a fun retelling of the classic story, relocated to Paris and filled with puppetry, live music and laughs, whilst Claytime (Sat 19th Apr) is a play about clay, with the audience getting involved in the creation of it as it takes form in front of them.
The final show to highlight is The Dinosaur That Pooped (Mon 7th Apr) at the New Theatre. A musical take on the popular children's book series from Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, it's a production infused with the poppy beats influenced by the duo's much-loved band, McFly.
Getting Your Activity On
There's a pair of workshops that my well scratch your youngling's creative itch. Creation Theatre's wonderful School of Creativity runs throughout the year and this Easter will be running both a week-long course to create a play in a week, and day workshops on the likes of musicals, slapstick and Shakespeare. These are perfect for budding thespians and newbies to the world of theatre.
Alternatively Witney's Pottery Place is running a Taylor Swift Pottery Painting evening (Thu 10th Apr) for all Swifties looking to pay homage to their beloved pop icon.
The Place to Be
Come rain or shine museums are the place to be. And some of our favourite venues are running special events throughout the Easter break. The Museum of Oxford are running a family friendly disco (Fam Jam), a workshop introduction to acting (Step Into the Spotlight), a musical journey through Spring with Oxford Opera (Springtime Stories and Songs), and, naturally, a day of Easter crafts (Oxford Egg-stravaganza).
Down the road at the Story Museum, there’s another edition of their popular Story Explorers course (Tue 8th to Thu 10th Apr), with this edition covering time travel, tackling the past, future and alternate realities. Of course, if you want to stay more firmly in the past the Museum of Natural History has an Eggstraordinary Easter Eggventure Family Trail, a wonderful free activity running throughout the two week break.
You may want to head out to a nearby town and check out one of their museums. Henley’s River & Rowing Museum are running daily craft events and you can take in their exhibition, The Space Vault, exploring Oxford’s part of UK space exploration. Banbury Museum also has fun crafts to do each day and you can make the likes of a mouse house, a bunny garland and an Easter bonnet. And, finally, there’s Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury and their hands-on science exhibition, Light Fantastic, where children can experiment with lenses, mirrors, reflections and lightning.
House in the Country
Alternatively you could head out of the city to one of the surround countries or gardens. As well as centuries of history to explore, Blenheim Palace have activities like an egg rail, face painting, meet-and-greets with the Easter Bunny and Circus shows. Over at Waddesdon Manor you can have an Easter Adventures and take in their trail around the grounds, with the promise of a chocolate egg at the end.
Other gardens worth visiting include the Harcourt Arboretum and, in particular, their Springtime Family Day (Wed 16th Apr), or Waterperry Gardens with their Big Easter Bunny Hunt to find the missing carrots hidden around the site. And then there’s Cogges Manor with their Easter fun, with fairy doors hidden around the farm, newly hatched chicks to be met, and eggs to be found hidden in the barn.
The Great Outdoors
And for even more of the great outdoors, you can take one of the fabulous farms near Oxford. High Lodge Farm (near Abingdon) is running their annual Easter Adventure Trail, with a trail, woodland games and a giant sandpit. On the other side of Abingdon there’s Millets Farm Centre and their Farmer Carters Puzzling Courtyard – with games, quizzes and go-karting.
The fabulous team at Earth Trust have events during the two weeks, with their Little Acorns activity sessions running on the 7th, 8th, 14th & 15th April. They’re also running an Orienteering Adventure at Wallingford Castle Meadows (Thu 10th Apr) and a Family Nature Day at their main site (Wed 16th Apr). And over at Beale Wildlife Park there’s a bouncy castle, bunny hampers to be made, junk modelling workshops and more.
And if you want one more outdoorsie activity, why not take part in this year's Wildlife Trusts fundraiser, Hedgehog Walk, and walk 3kms to help raise money for this great organisation.
The Silver Screen
Cinemas are always an option for good time spent with the family. The big release this April is A Minecraft Movie, based on the insanely popular video game. Stars that’ll be on hand to help adults through this include Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Danielle Brooks and Matt Berry. Or you can give Disney’s new take on Snow White a try (although be warned it has proved somewhat divisive).
Something more rewarding is Flow, the winner of this year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Or you can head to the Vue for re-releases of Babe and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit.