Arts Centre Washington | Events for Families (feat. Chalk's 1960's Family Rave)

*This is a collaborative post

Arts Centre Washington is somewhere I'd heard of had not visited before. In my head, Washington is miles away from our home in Northumberland. They invited us down to feature one of their family-friendly events recently and when I spotted Chalk were hosting a 1960's family rave, I quickly booked us in (Chalk events nearly always sell out, I recommend following Chalk on Facebook to hear about future events).

We spent the morning at intu Metrocentre where Heidi spent her birthday money at Build a Bear and Arts Centre Washington was actually only 10 minutes South of the Metrocentre - not far at all. It is well signposted and has a free car park too. Bus No 2A, 4 and 8 will all drop you off right outside too. Visit Arts Centre Washington's website for directions.

We stepped inside and I was very impressed with the space. The whole area is very family friendly and there's even a colouring table by reception. We walked through and admired the gallery space before heading to the theatre where the event was held. 

Events at Arts Centre Washington are very reasonably priced with Chalk's 1960's rave being priced at £4 per ticket (under 3's free). Entry was prompt, quick and easy and we were greeted by a member of staff who pointed out all of the different stations. 

This event was our second Chalk event (read about their Robot event at the Discovery Museum here)  and I honestly could not recommend them enough. They are never too crowded, there is always fab attention to detail for both grown-ups and adults, there's always a tuck shop and the staff are super friendly. There were activities for babies too which we didn't take part in but here's what we got up to.....

Crafting our own Psychedelic headwear 

Heidi created a hat for her bear

Creating visual art with a projector

Making our own Peace and Love signs

Dancing to lots of classics such as 'I am the Walrus'

Balloons and bubbles included.....

We bought glow sticks for 75p and enjoyed using them on the dancefloor

.....and the dancefloor was invaded with giant inflatables at one point

We also had rainbows painted on our faces (at no extra charge)

We really had the best time  - an hour was just the right amount of time we thought before Harry (aged 10) started moaning that he was bored.

I was highly impressed with Arts Centre Washington as a family-friendly venue and would definitely recommend for future events. They have their own courtyard cafe which looked lovely, colouring tables for kids, community notice boards and book swaps, gallery spaces and studios where you can browse local businesses. All of this alongside their main stages and spaces for hire too.

Upcoming family events at Arts Centre Washington

• First Saturday of every month | Arts & Crafts for children | 10:30am - 12noon |  £3.50 per child, find out more here
• Saturdays | Washington Youth Theatre | 10am - 12noon | £5 per session (paid termly), find out more here
• Saturdays | Saturday Art Club | 1:30 - 3:30pm | £5 per session (paid termly), find out more here
• 6th May | Craft fair including the chance for kids to make their own windmill. Free entry (£2.50 to make a windmill), find out more here
• 3rd June | Craft fair. Free entry, find out more here
• 15th July | Morgan and West's Utterly Spiffing Spectacular Magic Show for kids | £6.50 per ticket, find out more and book here

The following classes are also available:

• Tap, Disco, Ballet, Cheerleading
• Tiny Tweeties Music Classes
• Singing Tuition and Voice Coaching
• Baby Yoga
• Find out more about regular classes here

Let me know if you've attended an event at Arts Centre Washington or if you've tried their cafe.