I’ve blogged before about how much I love The Craft Box in Penzance (there’s also one in Helston) but it needs another shout out thanks to recent additions. It’s fun for all the family, a great place to make a personal gift and there’s always tasty treats. Recently owner April has added a cute play area for little ones and she has also started running weekly story sessions.
I was a bit bummed when I saw they only run on Wednesdays as I work Monday-Wednesday but she very kindly put on an extra Thursday session a couple of weeks ago. What a darling! And it was one of our favourites: Guess How Much I Love You. It was the first book I read with Jenson and he loves the character toys so we had to head down and paint a rabbit. I might have also dressed him in his little nutbrown hare dungarees for the occasion.
It’s a great set-up, with April reading to the children and getting them involved and engaged before moving on to painting. The children sit at benches and can pick what colours they want to paint with. I think Jenson was the youngest one there (I recommend age two and above, especially if you’ve got a fidget bum with a short attention span!) so I picked the colours and he helped me paint. He does some colouring at home but hadn’t painted before so it was a fun change. The paintbrush might have gone in his mouth a few times but I quickly fished it out and I wasn’t too worried as it’s water-based – also handy for cleaning up after!
We went with pastel colours for springtime and also stuck some stars on to leave some cute white stars on the rabbit at the end. Jenson sat well for most of it (the biscuits helped!) but soon went off to play, leaving me to have some painting fun of my own.
The rabbit was ready to collect the next day and looks great. Now I just need to find a safe home for him where everyone can see him. #proudmama
The sessions are usually for eight children with a parent and cost just £8 per child. That covers the story, an animal to paint (including studio fee and glazing), biscuit and squash – you’re there for about an hour. It’s not something we can afford every week but it’s worth the money for a treat. I definitely recommend popping down over the Easter Holidays.