It’s a busy Brussels weekend ahead of Easter and the various (and differently timed) school holiday breaks. Clocks spring forward early on Sunday morning, meaning we’ll lose an hour’s sleep and may struggle with the timings of appointments for a day or two.
If you can make it out into the spring sunshine, there’s plenty on this weekend to keep your kids occupied.
Playtime
BarBaboes, GC Elzenhof in Ixelles – Saturday, 10:00 to 12:00
The Café-O-Lait indoor play sessions at the Elzenhof community centre in Ixelles have been rebranded as BarBaboes, with parent-child workshops for kids up to six years old on a Saturday morning.
Children are still free to play as they like from 10:00 while parents get a coffee, but there is also a Dutch-speaking rhyming and verse workshop for children up to four years at 10:10 and 11:10am as well as a paper flower workshop for four to six years.
Credit: BarBaboes
Although Elzenhof is a Dutch-speaking organisation, English and French are spoken and all are welcome. There is no entrance fee.
Find more information here.
Speelzondag, GC De Kroon in Sainte-Agathe-Berchem – Sunday, 14:00 to 17:00
There’s a Sunday play afternoon for children up to 12 years of age at Sainte-Agathe-Berchem’s De Kroon centre from 14:00. Expect an obstacle course, a bouncy castle, a Dutch-speaking storytelling session, face-painting and craft activities.
Credit: GC De Kroon
Soup and pancakes will be available from the canteen. This is a free event.
Find more information here.
Classical music for the very young
Baby concert at two venues in Woluwe Saint-Pierre – Sunday, 11:00 and 14:30
Bach for babies up to two years old will be provided by Maya Grünebach on violin and Constance Schwarzer on the accordion for a 40-minute session at two venues on Sunday.
They first play Villa François Gray at 11:00 and then have a second show at La Maison Bleue at 14:30.
Credit: Bébé Concert
Parents are encouraged to bring a picnic mat, warm quilt or cuddly toy to keep their baby happy. Tickets are €7 per person or €20 per family.
Find more information here.
Brussels Muzieque at Collège Saint-Michel in Etterbeek – Sunday, 15:00
There’s also a 45-minute family concert in Etterbeek at 15:00 on Sunday. Monika Mlynarczyk, who plays viola at La Monnaie opera house, music educator and pianist Marta Jakubiec and cellist Eduardo Tonietto will be aiming for an interactive musical adventure where children and parents are encouraged to listen and move to the music.
Tickets are €15 for adults and €10 for children.
Find more information here.
Painting and drawing
Beginners's watercolour workshop, Train World, Schaerbeek – Sunday, 10:00 and 13:30
Train World is holding a beginners’ watercolour workshop to learn how to paint trains. It is open to children over seven years of age and adults. This Sunday’s edition takes place in the museum’s Great Ticket Hall and is an initiation in watercolour drawing.
Credit: Train World
The workshops are run in Dutch at 10:00 and in French at 13:30. Children pay €5 and adults €18, which includes materials and a visit to the museum.
Find more information here.
Parent-child art workshops, Green Brush, Watermael-Boitsfort – Sunday, 10:30 and 13:00
Green Brush, an English-speaking art studio in Watermael-Boitsfort, has parent-child art workshops for children of five years and up – although they say that they do sometimes open up activities to smaller children. No experience is required. The workshops cost €30 for one parent and one child with €10 extra for another family member. They take place on Sunday at 10.30 and 13:00.
Find more information here.
Painting afternoon, La Tricoterie, Saint-Gilles – Sunday, 14:30
La Tricoterie, a cultural centre in Saint-Gilles, holds a regular Sunday painting afternoon around a big table up at 14:30. Beginners are welcome, materials are supplied, and anyone over the age of 9 can join. It costs €25 a session for an adult, €15 for under 15 years and €250 for 10 sessions.
Find more information here.
Sport
Bouldering, Stone Age, Woluwe Saint-Lambert – Saturday and Sunday
The Stone Age climbing hall in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert opens its new bouldering room this weekend. Bouldering involves climbing a low-rise wall without a rope and following a series of coloured handholds. There’s an opening celebration at 15:00 on Saturday, continuing with a brunch from 10:00 on Sunday.
Credit: Stone Age
Adults pay €15 for a session and there’s a €13 charge for 13 to 25 year olds and €10 for under 12. There’s a small extra charge for insurance and to hire kit or climbing shoes.
Find more information here.
Kidical Mass bike parades, most Sundays until late autumn
The Brussels family bike parades are back, this time with two separate events for families to take out children on their bikes and cycle slowly around part of the city, usually with an escort. They’re a great way to meet your cycling neighbours.
Credit: Kidical Mass
Both events this Sunday start at 15:00, with one starting in Forest and the other in Watermael-Boitsfort. Don’t worry if you miss these ones; there are plenty more every weekend in different communes with an extra big edition for car-free day on 10 May.
Find more information here.
