Join us for A Great Bristol Elephant Adventure this October Half Term!
24 Oct 2022
This October, Bristol Old Vic joins forces with cultural venues across Bristol City Centre, to provide a week of free activities for pre-school children and their families. This is to mark the launch of our new Pushchair Tour, which will be available throughout the year, providing a cross-venue offer for our littlest culture explorers.
Six venues are taking part: Royal West of England Academy (RWA), St George’s Bristol, Bristol Old Vic, Bristol Beacon, Brunel’s SS Great Britain and M Shed to bring you this half-term adventure.
Pick up a free trail booklet from any of the six participating venues and join Elephant in their search, along the streets of Bristol for their friend Mr Giraffe. Most locations on the route are 10-15 mins apart and routes have been chosen with pushchairs in mind (we won’t have you going over very many cobbles), meaning this trail is accessible for the whole family to get involved!
Follow the map in any order and at any pace you like (just check opening hours at each of the locations first, if you would like to go inside) and take part in a variety of activities taking place over the whole of half-term. Don’t forget to collect a special stamp at the reception of each venue!
Collect all 6 stamps for a full set to reunite Elephant with Mr Giraffe and earn your Heritage Explorer Certificate.
Take as long as you want to do this – a day, a week, or even a whole year!
Here’s what a few of our partners have said:
“St George’s Bristol is excited to be part of this innovative project, engaging early years audiences and their families in the heritage of our venue and city. We are particularly inspired by the collaboration with our friends from across the cultural scene, whose partnership is helping us strengthen the whole artistic offer for Bristol’s youngest audiences.”
Catherine Freda, Head of Learning & Participation, St George’s
“We are excited to introduce more young families to our Free Family Activity Space at the RWA art gallery, and to be working collaboratively with other Bristol cultural venues to grow the offer for Early Years across the city”.
Helen Jacobs, Head of Learning & Engagement, RWA
“Bristol Beacon is absolutely thrilled to be joining with our cultural venue friends from across the city on this Pushchair map tour. Through this scheme, and hopefully more to come, we look to engage our littlest audiences and introduce them to our city and its creative offerings. Through this scheme, and the accompanying interactive activities, collectively we spread the message that there is something playful and inclusive for everyone in our buildings, whatever your age.”
Julia Roderick, Community Engagement Manager, Bristol Beacon
Have a read of all the brilliant activities you can take part in at each of the venues below:
Brunel’s SS Great Britain
Calling all Young Inventors! On Tue 25 Oct between 10am–3pm you’re invited to SS Great Britain to play around with scrap materials and imagine your own invention.
Will you design a ship or a tunnel like Brunel? Can you solve the challenge of getting an elephant across the ocean? Or design a bridge for a penguin? Free with admission to SS Great Britain.
(If you aren’t planning to visit Brunel’s pioneering invention, you can collect your stamp for free from the welcome desk).
Find out more before you visit: ssgreatbritain.org
Bristol Old Vic
Join our fantastic story makers on Wed 26 Oct between 11am–3pm as they take you on a magical journey through the animal kingdom. By the end of the workshop, you will have created and performed a brand-new story together. You can also head upstairs to the balcony where you can take part in some dressing up or colouring and crafts all day. Find out more: bristololdvic.org.uk
St George’s
Head to St George’s on Wed 26 Oct for an Animal Adventure Day packed full of fun activities. Put on your creative hat and make your very own George the Fox puppet, shake out your elephant ears and stay to hear a story (even better when you’re snuggling with your new fox puppet buddy, George). Afterwards you can pop on your own exploring shoes and head into the beautiful gardens of St George’s to see how many animals you can spot yourself (make sure you keep your eyes peeled for Mr Giraffe). Phew! What hard work! Why don’t you rest your feet and enjoy a scrumptious cake in St George’s café? – We recommend checking out the new Children’s Menu!
The puppet building workshop is free and you can drop in any time between 10am–4pm (no booking needed)
Storytelling for Little Ears is free with no booking needed between 12.30–12.45pm, 2–2.15pm and 3.30–3.45pm
Find out more about your visit on St George’s Website: stgeorgesbristol.co.uk
Royal West of England Academy (RWA)
Calling all Animal Artists!
Join RWA on Thu 27 Oct between 10am–3pm for some animal-themed activities. Will you make a fuzzy unicorn? A lion mask? Or perhaps even a paper peacock? Or just explore the materials by touch or smell. After making your creation you can adventure around the RWA building itself and try to find the animals hiding throughout the building. (Ages 2–4)
After making an animal, why not snuggle up with your new friend and listen to a short story read to you by some very talented puppets at 11am or 2pm. You can drop into these workshops anytime between 10am–12pm or 1–3pm although we do advise you to book early to avoid disappointment. Find out more about this event and RWA at rwa.org.uk
Animal Art for early years is free to join in and don’t forget to collect your trail stamp on the way out!
Bristol Beacon
What’s that sound?? Why it’s The Marvelous Musical Elephant Parade, of course.
Join trombonist Raph and percussionist Harriet on Thu 27 Oct 10–11am for a marvellous musical workshop for children under 5 and their parents and carers. Make your own junk percussion, design your own animal masks and join the melodious animal parade.
Packed full of singing, wiggling and animal dance moves, this free 45-min workshop will delight young and big people alike.
Find out more on Bristol Beacon’s website bristolbeacon.org
M Shed
After exploring the exhibits in the free museum and art gallery, you must be tired. Why not head to M Shed’s café, McCafé, and try out their delightful new menu? Don’t forget to collect your stamp from the welcome desk on your way out.
Thank you for finding Mr Giraffe!
