There’s plenty to do at the area’s museums.
Oriental themed family workshops and activities celebrating the Chinese Year of the Horse are being staged at Coalport China Museum in Shropshire’s Ironbridge Gorge during the February school half-term.
For one day only, Thursday 20th February, this will include a visit by one of the Heavy Horses from Blists Hill Victorian Town, Casey, and a chance to draw her live during a morning and afternoon session. All materials will be provided and the activity is subject to weather conditions.
Go along on Monday 17th February and join drop-in workshops to paint your own personalised Chinese Zodiac animal on a mug, while from Tuesday to Friday, 18th – 21st February, try your hand at sculpting a Zodiac animal from clay. You can also paint a delicate china flower or join in some paper based activities.
A small display of Coalport China featuring horse themed designs drawn from the Museum’s collection will also be showcased to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
The half-term workshops at Coalport China Museum will be held from 11am until 1pm and 2pm until 4pm; ceramic activities carry an additional fee from £4, plus a postage charge from £3, if you want to have your creation sent home after firing.
There’s also the chance to design and build a pneumatic rocket from craft materials and discover the fun of flying at Enginuity, near Ironbridge.
From Saturday 15th until Sunday 23rd February families can join drop-in workshops between 10.30am and 3.45pm where paper, card and plastic nose cones will be used to create model rockets of around 30cm in length. The rockets can then be ‘fired’ through a selection of suspended targets from Enginuity’s pneumatic (air powered) launcher.
Families will also be able to join in a range of other fun activities and see a display of flight-related exhibits. Activities will vary from day-to-day and some additional costs will apply.
You can also let your imagination run wild this half-term at informal, Art Nouveau themed tile decorating workshops at Jackfield Tile Museum. Create your own designs inspired by the Museum’s beautiful tile collection at these fun drop in sessions, which will take place on Saturday 15th February and again from Monday 17th to Saturday 22nd February.
The Victorian tube lining technique will be used to decorate the tiles, which are priced from £5 per tile (p&p extra to have your tile sent home after firing) plus the Museum admission fee. Workshops start from 10am, but allowing up to 1½ hours to decorate your tile, last admission is at 3.15pm.
For further information, contact the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433 424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).