Easter 2019: Top activities taking place across the Midlands and Shropshire

Whether you want to take part in an Easter egg hunt, learn how to make the chocolatey treat, or meet the Easter bunny in person, there are plenty of family-friendly activities happening across the Midlands and Shropshire:

Is there an event we've missed? Email webdesk@expressandstar.co.uk and let us know.

Warwick Castle

Head to Warwick Castle this Easter to experience the brand new Falconer's Quest.

The new show, the UK's biggest bird of prey show, will see up to 70 species take to the skies from April 6.

Visitors can watch aerial acrobatics from birds including the harrier hawk, barn owl, Andean condor, the bald eagle and more.

While visiting the attraction you can also explore the depths of the dungeons, walk through the Horrible Histories maze, and experience daily shows and activities.

Tickets start from £14.

For more information, click here.

Canalside Farm, Stafford

Canalside Farm will be holding a series of Easter Workshops over the school holidays.

The workshops will run on the from April 15 to 18, and will range from nest building to outdoor craft activities. The workshops will start at 10am and run for approximately 2 hours.

There will also be a traditional Easter Egg Hunt on the April 18, where the children will be given a series of clues to find the eggs around the farm, with a chocolate Easter Egg for them to feast on at the end.

If all of those activities make you hungry, then the Farm’s Café will be open, serving home-made food including a dedicated children’s menu.

Tickets start from just £5 per child depending on the activity, which will include all the necessary materials and the children will be able to take home their creations.

For more information, click here.

West Midlands Safari Park, Bewdley

Something egg-citing is taking place at West Midlands Safari Park this Easter.

From April 13 to 28 visitors can enjoy the attraction's Easter Eggstravaganza with a range of Easter activities for the whole family, all included in the standard admission price.

Bring your little Eggsplorers along to take part in an exciting Easter Trail. Follow the trail of gigantic Easter eggs around Park and earn a chocolatey treat.

While you're there, explore the drive-through safari and it's various ones before walking through penguin cove, Land of the Living Dinosaurs, Ice Age, or enjoying the sea lion show.

Tickets start from £19.

For more information, click here.

Birmingham Sea Life Centre

Take a dive into the deep at Birmingham Sea Life Centre this Easter and become the newest recruits of the Jawsome Rangers and fulfil the mission of finding the missing shark teeth.

Guests will be tasked with helping Professor Finn locate the large Play-Doh model shark teeth in the tanks. This latest activity from the attraction marks an exciting collaboration with Play-Doh, offering guests exclusive hands on creative play for hours of fun.

Along the way, guests will discover facts about the different species of sharks and will have the chance to learn more about the Sea Life sharks and rays.

This Easter, Jawsome Rangers will also get the chance to follow an Easter activity trail to find a variety of species of shark eggs.

There will be letters lurking on each egg hidden around the centre – scramble the letters to spell out a secret word.

Once the secret word has been found and the Easter egg hunt is complete, guests will receive a special Easter reward to take home.

At the end of the trail Professor Finn will also greet the new Jawsome Rangers and share some of his expert knowledge of the fascinating sharks.

Once the trainee rangers have qualified they’ll get a special Play-Doh gift to take home and then they’ll move into the activity zone featuring a create-your-own shark model made out of Play-Doh.

Tickets start from £9.95.

For more information, click here.

Alton Towers

Alton Towers Resort is offering families a fun-packed escape this Easter thanks to the Alton Towers Season Pass and arrival of several new attractions that will get tots to teens hopping with excitement.

From April 13, families with little ones can meet the Teletubbies who will be performing a brand new live show, exclusive to guests at CBeebies Land.

The twice-daily performances in Big Fun Showtime will see children and families join Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po in a musical extravaganza, the Teletubbies Big Band Live Show.

Ready with their musical instruments, the Teletubbies will transport families over the hills and far away to the iconic Teletubbyland, where they’ll get to play-along as they enjoy an interactive music and dance filled performance.

Guests will also have the chance to ‘meet and greet’ the Teletubbies each day following the performances before they wave Tubby Bye-Bye.

CBeebies Land has also welcomed Peter Rabbit and friends. Families can now experience the new Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop ride, featuring the mischievous bunny Peter Rabbit and his friends Benjamin and Lily.

Playful Benjamin Bunny has hidden from his friends in Mr McGregor’s garden, and young guests are invited to join Peter and Lily as they explore the garden and solve puzzles to try to uncover his hiding place.

For families with teen adventure seekers, the Alton Towers Dungeon awaits. The live actor led experience takes guests on a hilariously hideous journey through Staffordshire’s darkest history, they’ll be screaming with laughter whilst being sentenced by the Bishop of Stafford, before being condemned to a traitors’ boat ride down the Black River.

In these dark chambers they will try to survive the plague and endure humiliation, as well as pain, at the hand of the Torturer. They’ll pay a visit to the local tavern, known to be one of Dick Turpin’s hideouts, where he may even shoot by before coming face-to-face with the infamous ghost of Molly Leigh as they visit the Witch of Burslem’s cottage.

From April 12, guests will also be able to experience Stargazing Pods, the latest themed accommodation at the Resort offering a tranquil night under the stars. Set around a picturesque village green the minimalistic themed pods are perfect for families, couples and friends. In the evening as the night sky emerges seek out one of the telescopes to see the stars above.

Plus, the Resort is currently offering a Kids Play Free deal on their other world-renowned other accommodation when you book a stay in April 2019 before April 28.

Tickets start from £33.

For more information, click here.

Drayton Manor

Create fun family memories all holiday this Easter at Drayton Manor.

Take part in the Easter egg trail across the park before enjoying live shows and rides throughout the day.

Come and meet Thomas and Friends on the Island of Sodor. Thomas and many of his friends including James, Percy, Rosie, Flynn and Toby are waiting to welcome you into Thomas Land to discover attractions such as James and the Red Balloon and Jeremy Jet's Flying Academy to Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster and Cranky's Drop Tower.

For older thrill seekers, there's attractions to enjoy such as Shockwave, Apocalypse, Air Race and more.

There is also a 15 acre zoo featuring more than 100 animals from across the world including endangered species.

Tickets start from £8.

For more information, click here.

Ironbridge Gorge Museums

Create something new during the Easter break at the Ironbridge Gorge Museums.

Throughout the school holidays at Blists Hill Victorian Town, from March 30 to April 15, visit the town’s Print Shop and learn how the development of the printing press changed the world, then head to the Good’s Shed and have a go at designing and printing a poster to take home.

There will also be lots of other fun activities at Blists Hill keeping families entertained. Join the Town’s Ranger to see chicks’ eggs being kept warm in the incubator and discover how to see inside the eggs. If you are lucky watch the eggs hatch and maybe hold a baby chick.

Then find out how chocolate eggs are made by the experts in the cottage next to the Sweet Shop and follow a family trail around the Town and woodlands searching for the hidden Easter bunnies.

In addition, special events over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend only from March 30 to April 2 include the unusual Victorian pastime of egg dancing and an Easter bonnet parade.

The highlight of the Easter programme will be a visit by the Man Engine, the largest mechanical puppet ever constructed in Britain, on April 14, when it will be the ‘star’ of spectacular daytime and evening events.

Get creative at Enginuity, near Ironbridge and join workshops which use pneumatic power and craft materials to make fun bunnies that pop out of their burrows and eggs that crack open to reveal the goodies inside. Afterwards play with the interactive exhibits at Enginuity and follow a self-led family trail to find the hidden Easter bunnies.

Go along to Coalport China Museum and join family workshops to paint or sculpt chicks and bunnies. Young artists can decorate a money box, fridge magnet or paper plate with baby animals using quick drying paint.

In addition, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, you can also try your hand at sculpting with air-drying clay to make a nest with a baby chick or a young rabbit in a burrow. Afterwards explore the museum’s many galleries following an Easter themed family trail.

Over at Jackfield Tile Museum you can create your own Easter themed designs at family drop-in tile decorating workshops from April 2 to 13. Motifs can be as colourful and original as your imagination allows, perhaps an Easter bunny, baby chick, chocolate egg or a bouquet of spring flowers.

The Victorian tube lining technique will be used to decorate the tiles.Once you’ve piped on the design you can add colourful glazes, then leave your tile at the museum where it will be fired in a kiln and posted to your home; or you can collect it from Jackfield if you live nearby.

Tickets start from £16.50.

For more information, click here.

Cadbury World, Birmingham

From April 19 to 22 take part in the Easter Eggstravaganza at Cadbruy World.

Enjoy an exclusive stage show starring Mr Cadbury's Parrot, take part in the Easter Egg trail around the attraction, and enter the Easter bonnet competition for your chance to win special prizes.

While you're there, compliment your visit with an afternoon tea experience in he Cadbury Cafe. You can also enjoy magical character dining experiences perfect for little ones.

The attraction is home to a series of interactive exhibits and shows tat take your through the history and process of making chocolate that will leave you with a sweet tooth.

Tickets start from £12.21.

For more information, click here.

Black Country Living Museum, Dudley

The Black Country Living Museum has an egg-citing programme of fun designed to keep the whole family occupied during the Easter holidays.

From April 13 to 28, gather clues by scrambling along the Easter egg trail, with a sweet surprise at the end.

Learn about lost Easter traditions through lively historic characters, test your skills with cracking traditional street games, and get creative with some hands-on Easter crafts.

When you’re finished, jump on a trolleybus ride down to the Museum’s canal-side village where you’ll be able to test your times tables at the Victorian school and watch a short film at the Lime Light Cinema.

If you’re feeling peckish, enjoy some traditional fish and chips from Hobbs and Sons.

Tickets start from £9.45.

For more information, click here.

Weston Park

New for 2019, head to Weston Park on April 21 and 22 for the Easter Motorfest.

Offering a spectacular day of motoring heritage ideal for enthusiasts, families and day trippers, this event will feature an exciting display of vintage, classic and modern classic vehicles.

There will also be classic motorcycles, trade and autojumble stalls, children’s entertainment, modern car dealership stands, craft tents, quality food, drink, ice cream and responsible bars.

The show will also include a classic commercial theme featuring an exclusive display of commercial vehicles.

There will be a full vehicle concourse and awards ceremony overseen by leading commentator and vehicle enthusiast Les Clayton.

Awards will be presented for a range of vehicle age groups and will culminate in the Club of the Show, Pride of Ownership and Car of the Show awards. Each participating vehicle exhibitor will also receive a complementary commemorative plaque.

On April 1, you can also tuck into an Easter afternoon tea in the Victorian Orangery with classic sandwiches, mini hot cross buns and creme egg cheesecake.

Following tea guests are welcome to tour the historic rooms of the House and take a look at the vintage cars on display at Motorfest.

Tickets start from £5 for Motorfest and £27.50 for afternoon tea.

For more information, click here.

New Square Shopping Centre, West Bromwich

This Easter school holiday, families are invited to embrace flower power at New Square Shopping Centre in West Bromwich, with a day devoted to green-fingered fun on April 18.

Mini gardeners will be welcomed into a temporary indoor garden, complete with grass, bright floral displays, bunting and colourful wheelbarrows.

They’ll then be able to take a seat at a ‘spring station’, where they’ll have the chance to get creative by decorating their own welly boot plant pot.

Once decorated, one of a team of gardeners will help children fill their pots with soil and plant seeds, before they can take them home and watch their flowers bloom.

For more information, click here.

Kenilworth Castle

Join the hunt for dragon eggs on a legendary quest this Easter holiday at Kenilworth Castle.

Crack the clues as you and your family follow the trail around the castle from April 13 to 28.

Intrepid adventurers who track down the dragon egg will get a certificate to prove it, and there’ll be a chocolate treat too.

Tickets start from £1.

For more information, click here.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

A mammoth adventure is coming to Birmingham Botanical Gardens this Easter.

From April 6 to 28 visitors can experience Ice Age: The Lost Kingdom, the first animatronic Ice Age experience in Birmingham.

Making its debut in Birmingham, this prehistoric show will bring the sights and sounds of the Ice Age to life, with 40 majestic beasts on display.

Entertaining and educational, the show will let visitors wander among woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, giant sloths and a host of creatures that roamed the Earth more than 70,000 years ago.

The three-week show is being brought to the city by the team behind Magical Lantern Festival, which returned to Birmingham for the third consecutive year last Christmas.

There will also be a mini cinema marquee showing an educational Ice Age documentary, a fossil excavation pit for kids to unearth skeletons, and merchandise to take a slice of the prehistoric era home with them as well as street food stalls.

Tickets start from £11.50.

For more information, click here.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery

There are a series of family-friendly activities taking place at Wolverhampton Art Gallery for Easter.

On April 15 and 23, make your very own fantastic Easter Carnival Hat and decorate it with Easter eggs, bunnies and chicks, and beautiful springtime flowers.

Come along to our new sensory play sessions for babies and toddlers on April 16, where children are encouraged to play and explore in a safe, welcoming and creative space.

Learn pop art printing skills on April 17, before making your own cute and cuddly Easter creatures using felting techniques on April 18.

Discover how contemporary artists create atmospheric landscapes using painting skills in watercolour and acrylic combined with a variety of other mixed media techniques to create surface textures on April 24 at Landscape Painting Skills, before creating colourful countryside pictures on April 25.

Craft a miniature countryside or seaside scene in a box for safekeeping on April 26. Use a mixture of art materials and natural forms, including shells and pebbles.

Tickets start from £2.

For more information, click here.

University Centre Telford

Take part in the University of Wolverhampton's STEM Team event this Easter.

Participants will be able to design, make and test their own rockets. They will be launched outside with an air pressure launcher at the event set to take place on April 24.

There will be a talk on real life space rockets, looking at forces and gravity and also a competition for who can make their rocket go highest.

This event is free to attend.

For more information, click here.

Brierley Hill Civic Hall

Come on a magical journey with Bibbidi Bopbidi Boo meeting all of your favourite characters along the way.

At Brierley Hill Civic Hall's Easter Sing Along Extravaganza on April 10, you will meet lots of singing and dancing and the snow sisters will even make it snow for you.

Tickets cost £8.

For more information, click here.

Hawkstone Park Follies, Shrewsbury

Head to Hawkstone Park Follies to take part in their Easter Egg Quest from April 13 to 28.

Find all of the hidden eggs at the attraction and win yourself a chocolatey prize.

As well as an Egg Quest included for every paying child, there will be some free family fun crafts in the Glass House Classroom.

Tickets start from £5.75.

For more information, click here.

Rodbaston Animal Zone

The Animal Zone at South Staffordshire College's Rodbaston Campus is set to host an Easter Quest for the whole family.

From April 13 to 28 visitors are invited to take part in lamb feeding sessions, animal encounters, keeper talks, Easter crafts and the Queen Bee Trail.

The attractions is home to more than 750 animals, and includes an outdoor picnic and play area, and an indoor tea room selling a range of refreshments.

Tickets start from £5.

For more information, click here.

British Ironwork Centre, Oswestry

Head to the British Ironwork Centre to hunt for golden eggs at the magical Easter Bunny Grotto.

From April 17 to 26 visitors can search for the special eggs in exchange for chocolatey treats the the Easter Bunny's burrow.

Not only that, but the Easter bunny will have a special golden ticket for you to claim a fabulous stack of Easter pancakes to enjoy in the Café.

Tickets start from £6.50.

For more information, click here.

National Forest Adventure Farm, Tatenhill

The National Forest Adventure Farm will open its doors for its popular Easter Eggstravaganza event from April 13 to 28.

The two-week Easter spectacular will include a rare glimpse of the farm’s 67 acres of National Forest woodland. Families will take the Easter Eggspress tractor ride to the woodland and follow the trail to meet the Easter Bunny who has 10,000 chocolate treats to give away.

There will also be the opportunity to meet and possibly see a live birth of some of the 335 new lambs due to be born in the Lambing Live Tent during April. Children can also help bottle feed the lambs in the animal barn.

With a new Animal Egg Treasure Hunt where guests are invited to search the farm for clues and match up all the animal eggs with their owners. From dinosaurs to frogs and ducks it will be a chance to find out more about the many animals around the world that lay eggs.

Live actors also take part dressed as woodland creatures to entertain and help along the way.

Tickets start from £7.19.

For more information, click here.

Turtle Bay, Birmingham

This Easter there’s something for everyone at Turtle Bay.

The Caribbean restaurant and bar has launched an exclusive new cocktail for grown ups to enjoy as well as free kite making kits available for the kids too.

Rum Rabbit Rum is the latest alcoholic concoction that will be hopping its way onto the cocktail menu for the Easter period, from April 8 to 22 including a mix of Pussers rum, white cacao and coconut milk.

The signature drink will also include a scoop of chocolate ice cream and will be topped off with a piece of brownie and a Caribbean dumpling dipped in rum caramel sauce. Even the rim of the glass is dipped in rum caramel making it the ultimate Easter treat, with a Caribbean twist.

A popular tradition in the Caribbean over the Easter period is to gather as a family and fly kites together. To celebrate this and so everyone can get involved in this fun pastime, children will receive a free kite making kit so they can put their creative skills to the test.

This offer will begin on April 8 and run until all kite kits are gone.

For more information, click here.

Thinktank, Birmingham

Step inside Thinktank’s new 4K Planetarium and adventure through the solar system from April 13.

Thinktank’s Planetarium is the only one in the West Midlands and uses the latest video technology to create a truly immersive experience.

Also, at Thinktank the Smethwick Engine Steaming Day on April 17 lets you see the power of the world’s oldest working steam engine first-hand.

Built and designed in Birmingham by James Watt, the Smethwick Engine was the first engine to use a combination of the expansive force of steam and a vacuum at the same time.

2019 marks the bicentenary year of James Watt’s death, so this event offers an important glimpse in the past in this anniversary year.

Elsewhere at Thinktank, enjoy the spring days in the outdoor science garden with over 30 interactive hands-on exhibits.

Tickets start from £9.75.

For more information, click here.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Dr. Dashing and Nurse Nice will see you now, or rather, on April 13.

The duo will be conducting art tests to find out whether you are cute, or too cute. Inspired by current Arts Council Collection exhibition Too Cute! Sweet is about to get Sinister, curated by artist and filmmaker Rachel Maclean, visitors of all ages will enjoy this fun cute diagnosis.

Easter activities will continue to keep you entertained throughout the holiday with craft sessions inspired by: Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing throughout the week.

There is also an autism and SEN-friendly workshop exploring Leonardo da Vinci's life and work on April 15.

This family fun activity involves music and drama and has been tailored to meet the needs of children on the autistic spectrum or with other special needs by taking a friendly and relaxed approach.

There’s lots more to explore at BMAG including the Mini Museum for under fives, the Ancient Egypt Gallery, the Staffordshire Hoard display and a chance to relax and enjoy some refreshments in the award-winning Edwardian Tearooms.

This attraction is free to visit.

For more information, click here.