National Playday at The Hepworth Wakefield

Is there anything better than a day of fun and play? The Hepworth Wakefield invites you to celebrate National Playday with a whole host of fantastic summer activities for visitors of all ages!

Events throughout the day are operating on a drop-in basis so you can sample each activity and pick your favourite.

In The Hepworth Wakefield Garden you can experiment with different materials inspired by that most captivating of subjects – water. Discover the way its textures and flow appear throughout Barbara Hepworth’s artworks and use that as a starting point for your own artistic exploration. The gallery’s colourful grounds are beckoning visitors to join in with Garden Play too, where families and friends can stack, build, draw and much more, outside in the open air. Don’t forget to pick to an activity sketchbook to learn more about the birds, plants and other creatures in the garden. 

Next up, in the Clore Learning Studios, you’ll find the Sculpture Port. After a play and discovery session in the garden, visitors can step into a giant map of the grounds and fill it with drawings!

Visit the exhibitions and then, feeling inspired by the variety of art on display, you can find the Art Pod to make your very own artwork. Explore & Draw stations will help you to take a really close look at the exhibition objects  – drawing materials and looking tools will be available to borrow, to really engage with the artworks.

If you’re worried about the weather, The Hepworth Wakefield has thought of that too. There will be lots of fantastic indoor activities if it rains, and you can always pick up an Explore & Draw kit at the welcome desk. As for refreshments, the picnic area will be open, while the café serves a special menu for children.

Activities in the garden are free for everyone, while all other sessions are free with an exhibition ticket. Exhibition tickets are free for Wakefield District residents and under 18s, while non-Wakefield residents can get 50% off a standard adult ticket when visiting with a child during the Wakefield school holidays. Take a look at the website to learn more and book your tickets.