Family Fun: Loose Parts Play

Loose Parts Play is back at Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum on Wednesday 3 February, one of four sessions running from 4 November 2026 to 3 March 2027. It's a relaxed morning for pre-school children aged two to five and their grown-ups, built around a pile of versatile materials: big boxes, pipes, planks, crates, reels and tyres. There's no set structure and no rules — just curiosity-led play, with volunteers on hand to support. The other dates in the run are 4 November, 2 December and 3 March, all on Wednesdays at 10:30am.

It's a simple premise that lets the kids take the lead. Instead of a planned activity, they get a room full of open-ended stuff to build, rearrange and imagine with, and the adults are there to join in. The sessions are free, so it's an easy one to drop into with your little ones on a weekday morning.

The venue is Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum on Schoolhill, AB10 1FQ. The gallery itself was designed in the neo-classical style by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie and opened in 1885, and it holds one of the finest collections in the country, spanning more than 700 years of work by artists, designers and makers. It was extended in the 1920s with the Cowdray Hall concert venue, the interior Remembrance Hall and the exterior Cenotaph, all by the original architect, and later underwent a major redevelopment between 2015 and 2019 led by Hoskins Architects with support from Aberdeen City Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. In 2020, it was named Art Fund Museum of the Year, the most prestigious museum prize in the world.

So, if you've got a pre-schooler who likes to build and a Wednesday morning free, you'll find them at the gallery. The sessions run at 10:30am on 4 November, 2 December, 3 February and 3 March, and they're free to attend.