Families in the East Riding will likely be looking for some fun ways to engage the kids for the rest of the Easter holiday 2024.
There are the traditional activities on offer, including Easter egg hunts and opportunities to meet the Easter Bunny, but there is a huge range of other things to do to keep everyone happily occupied for an hour or two or even longer. There are sports programmes on offer, with many sessions provided for free.
If you fancy giving back, you can offer a helping hand to nature with a spring clean at a local reserve, or you can join in an Easter treasure trail that will help to fund work on East Yorkshire’s only heritage railway attraction.
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Whatever you fancy doing, come rain or shine this Easter, you are sure to find some inspiration from our list below.
Give nature a hand
Enjoy the countryside by joining in a spring clean at Oakhill Nature Reserve, Goole. This free event will be an opportunity to take part in the Great British Spring Clean, promoted by Keep Britain Tidy and be a part of the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental change.
Meet at Oakhill Nature Reserve near the car park, off Tom Pudding Way, Goole. There is no need to book in advance for this event - visit eastridingcoastandcountryside.co.uk/whats-on
Thursday, March 28, 10am to 1pm
Healthy holidays
A host of free, fun, creative activities for children and young people receiving benefits related free school meals is on offer across the East Riding. They include musical themed dance workshops, Easter crafts, a sports camp, outdoor adventure sessions and farm experiences.
New to Holiday Activities and Food in 2024 are goat walking in Hedon, music workshops in Beverley, Withernsea and Bridlington, football camps in Bridlington and multi-sports in Wilberfoss. For young people there is a new fitness programme taking place at nominated leisure centres, with activities including swimming, circuit classes and zorb football.
Information about the sessions – all are inclusive and some are SEND specific - is available through the Active East Riding website at activeeastridingHAF
Easter Adventure
East Yorkshire adventure play attraction, William’s Den, is offering William’s Easter Adventure, a full day out that includes a brand-new Easter show, chick-handling, biscuit-decorating, Easter Hunt and guided play with William’s Play Pioneers.
While Good Friday is a sellout, tickets are still available for the remainder of the event. Tickets are for a full day out with the Den opening at 9.30am and closing at 5pm every day.
Running until Sunday, April 7
Theatre for all the family
Get ready for the most egg-citing Easter egg hunt in town … but this won’t just involve hopping around in the back garden. Prepare to journey across land, air and sea in a bid to crack open the egg-scellent clues to complete your quest at Hull Truck Theatre’s A Great Easter Adventure.
The event features an arts and crafts session followed by an interactive play that uses whatever you have made. Designed for children aged three to six years old and their families.
Tuesday and Wednesday, April 2 and 3
Medieval jousting and more
Sewerby Hall and Gardens has a holiday packed with activities and events, including the legendary medieval jousting spectacular on Easter Sunday. There is Easter magic with Mr Bubbles, including music, games and face painting, Viking encounters with Rusticus, and crafts with Wildcats on a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party theme.
Families can meet some of Sewerby zoo’s donkeys, llamas and goats and make fruit kebabs to feed some of the zoo creatures. A Spring Family Fun Day is also being held on Thursday, March 28, with sport, play, workshops, giant inflatables, circus activities and face painting (£3 per person on top of general admission).
Various dates and times up until April 5
Lots to love at the library
A wide range of free activities for children and families are being held at East Riding Libraries, with the likes of sand art and Lego art on offer plus Spectac-u-labs events for science lovers. Visit eastridinglibraries.co.uk/halfterm
Heritage railway reopens
Yorkshire Wolds Railway, at Fimber, waves the green flag for its 2024 season, opening on Easter Sunday. Volunteer members have been hard at work all winter painting, sanding, building, servicing, tracklaying and everything in-between in readiness for welcoming visitors back to the only heritage railway in East Yorkshire.
On opening day, a treasure trail will be held for children who, for £1, will be given an entry form and a chocolate bunny or coin and have to find coloured ribbons which will be placed across the site. At the end of the day a draw will be made of the correct entries for an Easter egg – there will also be Easter-themed crafting in the coach.
Sunday, March 31, from 10am
Easter trail and farm treats
Side Oven Bakery, at Foston on the Wolds, is hosting a Good Friday Easter Trail in aid of the local school. The woodland walks around the farm will be open, along with the organic pick your own rhubarb patch.
The bakery shop will be open and the takeaway hatch will be serving freshly baked hot and cold refreshments and drinks.
Fitness and fun
Hull City Council’s Healthy Holidays programme includes hundreds of free activities for children and young people aged from five to 16. Each session also includes free, nutritious food.
Some of the sessions and activities available include:
- Sports camps
- Theatre
- Dance
- Arts and crafts
- Day trips
- Yoga
- Outdoor/nature activities
- Easter-themed fun
- Trampolining
- Skateboarding
- Healthy cooking sessions
A dedicated SEND programme including swimming, drumming workshops, art classes, boxing, cooking and more.
Visit healthyholidayshull.org to find activities listed – the site is divided into East, West and North Hull, to make it easy to find sessions near you.
Yorkshire Wolds by bus
A new bus service is launching on Easter Saturday, to give walkers and others access to the stunning landscapes and vibrant villages in the Yorkshire Wolds. The Wolds Explorer bus, operated by East Yorkshire Buses, has been developed and funded by East Riding Council using Government funding it was awarded from the Department for Transport for Bus Service Improvement.
Service 200, the Wolds Explorer, will run on Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays from Easter to the end of September between Pocklington and Thixendale, serving the villages of Millington, Huggate and Fridaythorpe along its route. There will be three services a day on Saturdays and two services a day on Sundays and Bank Holidays in each direction.
See the service 200 Wolds Explorer timetable on the East Yorkshire Buses website.
Show home Easter egg hunts
Local housebuilder, Barratt and David Wilson Homes Yorkshire East is inviting children to its developments in Brough, Beverley and Hessle to take part in its Easter egg hunts. Families are welcome at Harrier Chase in Brough, Minster View and Queens Court in Beverley, and Hesslewood Park and Fleet Green in Hessle, until Monday, April 8, when they can explore the show homes to find the egg-citing clues hidden by the Easter Bunny – with a chocolate treat if they come up with the correct Easter phrase.
Easter egg hunts and sales offices will be open from 10am to 5.30pm from Thursday to Monday during the Easter holidays.
Splash out for free
East Riding Council is offering free swimming sessions for all children aged 16 and under throughout the Easter holidays. As part of the council’s Help for Households campaign, all children aged 16 and under will be able to enjoy the benefits of swimming up until April 7 (not including Good Friday or Easter Monday).
The centres offering free swimming sessions are:
- Bridlington
- Beverley
- Driffield
- Francis Scaife, Pocklington
- Haltemprice
- Hornsea
- South Holderness
- Withernsea
Active Coast
The Active Communities team at East Riding Council have created an exciting and varied Active Coast programme of activities for the Easter holidays, at several locations along the east coast.
From indoor guided clay figure workshops to pirate themed outdoor crafts, indoor yoga to bootcamps, cricket sessions to group walks, seaweed pressing and soap making to fossil hunts and bushcraft, there is something for everyone. All the Active Coast activities are free; however some require booking in advance, due to limited places.
Golden Egg-venture
Ten-pin bowling fans can make a difference for those living with cancer this Easter by visiting Hollywood Bowl, Hull. Customers attending over the Easter weekend, from Good Friday to Easter Monday, will be able to take part in a line-up of activities and fun-filled games for the whole family.
This includes the Golden Egg-venture, where a Golden Egg will be hidden each day of the Easter holidays at Hollywood Bowl. For every guest who finds a Golden Egg and shares a photo on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok with #HWBGolden or #PSGolden, Hollywood Bowl Group will donate £10 to its official charity partner, Macmillan Cancer Support – the winning guests will also be entered into a draw for a chance to win an annual bowling pass.
Easter deals and discounts
St Stephen’s shopping centre in Hull has announced a range of events and offers to keep the kids entertained during the school holidays. From kids-eat-free deals to Easter egg hunts, there are plenty of ways to make the most of the Easter weekend and beyond.
The activities and offers at St Stephen’s throughout the Easter holidays, include:
- Prizes and discounts at Funstation – visitors will be able to take part in an Easter egg hunt to win exclusive prizes and anyone who spends more than £25 will take home a free Easter Bunny, until Friday, March 29.
- Deals on tickets at Reel Cinema – cinema goers can catch any film, including the brand-new Kung Fu Panda, for £3.99 each when buying two tickets online.
- A round for less at Lost City Golf – all online bookings until Sunday, April 7 will receive a 10 per cent discount and over the Easter weekend, little golfers can enjoy a craft corner and special chocolate treats.
