Looking for a fun activity to do with your kids at the weekend? Many of the city's prime cultural venues run special workshops where children and parents can get creative together. From music and painting to nature and animation, these activities aim to spark young imaginations.

Children are invited to play musical instruments in Shanghai Concert Hall. Photos: Courtesy of the venues

Family concerts

Shanghai Concert Hall started holding monthly family concerts at the beginning of the year. The 90-minute mini concerts provide budding Mozarts with a basic introduction to classical music.

The previous 11 family concerts have introduced the piano, string instruments, brass wind instruments, woodwind instruments and percussion instruments. The family concerts take place in the venue's 305-seat auditorium with specially designed stage, costumes and interactive sessions.

"Obviously, Shanghai lacks professional theaters for kids to appreciate classical music and we feel obliged to provide primary music education for our children," project manager Wang Zuoyun told the Global Times.

Wang admitted that classical music can be difficult for young kids to appreciate, especially those who are not learning an instrument. The movements included in the family concerts are usually short and simple.

The musicians demonstrate how each instrument is played and invite kids to play them during the interactive sessions.

"No matter whether you're learning an instrument or not, the language of music is universal," Wang said. "Kids enjoy sharing their feelings about music."

The concerts are targeted at children over 5 years old.

The next family concert is scheduled for December 29 with the theme of celebrating the New Year. Local band Jeki will stage a performance for the young audience, including nursery rhymes from the US, Malaysia, Taiwan, Sichuan Province and Shanghai.

The band, which includes a soprano, a mezzo-soprano, an alto, a bass, a guitarist and a drummer, is known for covering songs from musicals like The Lion King and Oliver Twist.

Date: December 29, 2 pm

Venue: Shanghai Concert Hall

Address: 523 Yan'an Road East

Tickets: 100 yuan per person, 280 yuan for a family

Tel: 5386-6666

Kids participate in a Nature Fun workshop with their parents.

Nature fun

Located in one of the city's oldest creative zones, Red Town on Huaihai Road West, Minsheng Art Museum is the city's only public art institution that is financed by a banking institution.

The museum started to offer kids' programs two years ago and currently runs two regular workshops, namely Poplar Painting and Nature Fun.

Minsheng Art Museum launched the hands-on art sessions this year with Poplar Kids Republic bookstore. In each workshop, kids and their parents create paintings or handiworks together led by teachers from Poplar. The classes are usually themed around certain festivals and folk customs, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. Admission is free but limited to 20 families and participants must pay for the art supplies.

Nature Fun is a natural science workshop hosted by 34-year-old Taiwanese photographer and designer Huang Yifeng. After a dozen trips to Borneo, Huang was impressed by the beauty of the undeveloped landscape but was also shocked by the deforestation of the tropical rainforest. He founded Nature Fun, a nonprofit workshop, this year and started to travel between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland promoting the concept of environmental protection.

During the session, Huang tells kids stories about his experience in Borneo and helps them create artworks using natural materials, for example fallen leaves.

"Kids are fascinated by the stories," Tracy Yu, director of media and public education at the museum, told the Global Times. "Sometimes we have to add one more session in the morning because there are so many applicants for the workshop."

Nature Fun has become a very important part of the museum's public education program and is well-received by kids and parents alike, Yu said.

The workshop is for kids aged between 5 to 10 years old. Parents should send their kids' names and contacts to naturefun@126.com to make a reservation. The next Nature Fun workshop is scheduled on December 21.

Date: December 21, 1 pm

Venue: Minsheng Art Musuem

Address: Bldg F, 570 Huaihai Road West

Admission: Free

Tel: 6282-8729

Movie art

Opened in June this year, Shanghai Film Museum hosts regular movie-themed workshops for young kids. In partnership with Great Art Education, the museum offers a weekly painting workshop inspired by classic Chinese animations.

The upcoming workshop on Sunday is themed on the Chinese animated movie Xue Haizi (Little Snowman), which was released in 1980 by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Children will create their own snowman with cotton, paper and fabrics. "Kids are curious about the old Chinese animations, especially those made with a different animation style," Zhang Xi, the press officer of the museum told the Global Times. The workshops introduce a different movie and a different style of drawing at each session. The workshop is free of charge but materials cost 30 yuan ($4.92).

Aside from animation screenings and art workshops, parents and kids can also visit the museum to get an overview of the movie industry and China's film history.

The four-story museum in Xuhui district is located at the original site of the Shanghai Film Studio (now Shanghai Film Group Corporation, SFG), founded in 1949. The 10,000-square-meter exhibition space displays over 300,000 items from SFG's own collection, including film clips, old props, costumes and equipment.

Date: December 8, 1:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Film Museum

Address: 595 Caoxi Road North

Admission: Free for kids, adults pay 60 yuan per person to get into the museum

Tel: 6426-8666