We took our toddler pottery painting in Gosforth, but his masterpiece never made it home

Gifted collaboration: Our visit to Canny Crafty was kindly gifted as part of a collaboration. All opinions are my own.

There are only so many trips to soft play a mother can take before the prospect of another ball pit starts to lose its appeal. I’ve spent enough afternoons drinking cold coffee while keeping one eye on Cyrus and the other on the clock to know that a change of scenery is sometimes necessary.

So, when we were invited to try pottery painting at Canny Crafty in Gosforth, Newcastle, I was rather pleased. It sounded like a civilised way to spend a Tuesday. Cyrus could get creative, I could sit down for a while, and we might even come away with something worth putting on a shelf.

As it turned out, Cyrus had his own ideas about what constituted a work of art.

One ceramic bunny was about to find out.

Canny Crafty is a family-run pottery painting studio in Gosforth where you choose a ceramic piece, pick your colours and get painting. You don’t need to know anything about art, which suited me perfectly. My own artistic abilities haven’t progressed much beyond the occasional stick person.

At the time of our visit, pottery pieces ranged from around £5 to £25, depending on what you wanted to paint. There were plenty of options, but Cyrus was particularly interested in the ceramic bunnies waiting on the table.

The owner explained how everything worked, and we settled down with our brushes and paints. It was straightforward enough for a toddler to enjoy without needing constant instructions, although I was prepared to step in if things became too adventurous.

I liked that there wasn’t any pressure to produce something perfect. Cyrus could choose his colours, make his own decisions and get on with it. For a child who could lose interest in a craft activity before I’d finished setting it up, that was a promising start.

Cyrus spotted the brushes almost immediately and went straight for one of the biggest. Apparently, there was no need to start small.

He inspected his bunny, dipped his brush into the paint and began decorating it with considerable enthusiasm. I watched, wondering whether we might manage a few carefully painted ears or perhaps a little pattern on its back.

Then he discovered red and khaki.

I’m not sure what inspired that particular combination, but he seemed very pleased with it. The paint went on the bunny, the table, his apron and, at one point, his hair. How he managed to paint his own head while sitting down remains something of a mystery.

Every so often, he’d stop to inspect his work before adding another generous brushstroke. He was concentrating so hard that I didn’t have the heart to suggest a different colour, although I did wonder whether the poor bunny would ever recover.

There was no question of him getting bored. He was far too busy improving his masterpiece.

I’m not especially precious about mess, although I prefer paint to remain somewhere in the vicinity of the paper or pottery. But I’ve noticed how easily parents can take over when children are making something.

We suggest colours, straighten crooked lines and demonstrate the correct way to hold a brush. Before long, the child’s project starts looking suspiciously like something we’ve made ourselves.

I could have encouraged Cyrus to use a smaller brush or shown him how to paint neatly around the bunny’s ears. I could certainly have suggested a more conventional colour scheme.

Instead, I left him alone.

He was enjoying himself, and it didn’t matter whether his bunny looked anything like the examples around us. He wanted to see what happened when he mixed colours and spread paint across the ceramic surface.

For once, I wasn’t worrying about the finished result. I was just watching him have a good time.

What surprised me most was how long Cyrus stayed interested. At home, I could spend twenty minutes preparing an activity only for him to abandon it after three minutes in favour of an empty cardboard box.

At Canny Crafty, he kept going. He tried different colours, worked out how to cover the awkward parts of his bunny and occasionally glanced at what other families were doing before returning to his own creation.

Pottery painting can help young children practise hand-eye coordination, concentration and fine motor skills. Holding a brush, dipping it into paint and deciding where to put the next mark all require a little thought and control.

Of course, Cyrus wasn’t interested in any of that. He was far more concerned with making sure his bunny received another coat of red paint.

And I was quite happy to let him.

By the end of our visit, the bunny was certainly distinctive. It had patches of red, generous helpings of khaki and enough fingerprints to make it obvious who had painted it.

Cyrus was pleased with himself, and I was looking forward to seeing how it would turn out once it had been glazed and fired.

Unfortunately, we never collected it.

We were heading off on holiday, and somewhere between packing suitcases and getting ourselves organised, collecting a ceramic bunny fell off the list.

It’s a shame, because I would have liked to keep it. Not because it was particularly beautiful, but because Cyrus had spent so much time working on it. I can still picture him sitting at the table, brush in hand, concentrating on getting the paint exactly where he wanted it.

At least I have the memory of the afternoon, even if the bunny never made it onto a shelf.

For us, it was a welcome change from the usual round of toddler activities. Cyrus enjoyed choosing his colours, experimenting with the paint and being allowed to make something without me constantly telling him what to do.

I enjoyed it too. There was something rather pleasant about sitting together at a table, getting involved in the same activity and not having to chase him around a soft play centre.

I’d recommend dressing your toddler in something that can survive a few splashes and resisting the temptation to correct their work. If they want to paint a bunny red and khaki, let them. It’s their bunny, after all.

And if you’re planning to go away shortly afterwards, do remember to arrange collection of your finished pottery. Take it from someone who didn’t.

Would I recommend Canny Crafty? Yes. It’s a good option for parents and grandparents looking for creative things to do with toddlers in Gosforth and Newcastle, particularly when another afternoon at soft play doesn’t appeal.

Cyrus enjoyed himself, the staff made us feel welcome, and I appreciated having an activity we could do together without needing to organise much beforehand.

We didn’t bring home a ceramic masterpiece, although judging by the amount of paint Cyrus managed to use, I’m not entirely sure where we would have displayed it.

Still, it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, and I’d happily take him pottery painting again.

Next time, though, I’ll remember to collect the bunny.

Have you tried pottery painting with your children? Did you come home with something worth displaying, or did your little artist have rather different ideas about the finished result?

Occasional stories, experiments, discoveries and rabbit holes from Saffron & Cyrus.

Disclosure: Our visit to Canny Crafty was gifted as part of a collaboration. This review reflects our own experience. Prices and availability may have changed since we visited.