Families who hop over to Manchester’s Elizabeth Gaskell’s House with their little bunnies during the Easter holidays will find lots of egg-cellent creative craft activities to take part in at one of Manchester’s most Family Friendly visitor attractions. With the garden full of snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils it’s one of the most picturesque times to visit the home of Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell and to be inspired by the world that inspired her.
Visitors can explore the whole house, with lots of hands on and fun ways to discover how life would have been in Victorian times. This will include spending time in the Servants’ Hall where you’ll be able to make a Victorian card or Easter bonnet (perhaps just like the ones Elizabeth described in her novels!). There will be lot of colourful materials and accessories to pick from so that you can let your imagination go wild!
And when you’ve finished crafting you’ll find more to do with the Family Garden Trail to follow on fine spring days and the Cranford Cat trail indoors, should there be an April shower. Both activities have been developed with younger visitors and their families in mind. The Family Garden Trail is activated by QR codes located around the garden, vegetable patch and pergola that reveal fun facts about the language of flowers, garden wildlife, climate change and more.
If you take the Cranford Cat Trail you’ll get to find out more about Elizabeth’s favourite pet and writing companion, Cranford the cat, and meet some of her feline friends around the house.
It only opened last year, but the first floor permanent exhibition is already a family favourite. It invites you to experience Elizabeth’s life through play thanks to an interactive dressing table, Victorian trunk of dressing up outfits and a game of Top Trumps that introduces some of Elizabeth’s famous friends. From Sunday 2 April this will be joined by a brand new exhibition in the temporary exhibition space called A Tale of Manchester Life – Elizabeth Gaskell’s Manchester.
Easter activities at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House will be taking place from 11am to 4.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 2 to 16 April (excluding Sunday 9 April). Entry is £7.00 for adults and free for children under 16, when accompanied by an adult.
All Family Friendly activities are included within the ticket price. Tickets are valid for 12 months from purchase and can be pre-booked via www.ticketsource.co.uk/
