A summer of free creative workshops for children starts at Portsmouth Central Library next week, covering everything from pirate shanties to crocodile castanets. The Thursday afternoon sessions, aimed at children aged four and over, run from 23 July through 27 August between 2pm and 3pm.
The six-week programme opens with a Jungle Beats craft session on 23 July, followed by a pirate-themed workshop called Shiver me timbers! on 30 July where children can dress up and sing sea shanties. On 6 August they can make crocodile castanets from recycled materials, though booking is essential for that date. A make-and-take musical instrument workshop follows on 13 August, and 20 August brings a Colour the music! retro decoration session which also requires advance booking. The final event on 27 August combines a storytime reading of Julia Donaldson’s The Singing Mermaid with mermaid and circus themed craft activities.
The Central Library programme is one part of a city-wide summer activity push running across all nine Portsmouth library branches, including Alderman Lacey, Beddow, Carnegie, Cosham, North End, Paulsgrove, and Southsea. Regular term-time events for younger children are already a fixture at Central Library, with Rhyme Time on Wednesday and Saturday mornings and Story Time on Tuesdays.
Families can turn up to most sessions without booking, but the two events on 6 August and 20 August require reserving a spot. Full details are on the library service website, and information on what other branches are offering is also available there.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
