Venice with kids? Top Things to do:
Venetian mask decoration course ABC

Duration: 1 hour   -   Participant: 1 to 18   -   Price: from 39 to 49   -   Reservation: not required

If you are looking for fun things to do in Venice with kids, forget about monuments and museums. Try something more hands-on: our ABC course of mask decoration. This workshop for the whole family is a different kind of experience. Our workshop is fun for everyone, whatever their age, even if you find yourself in Venice with teenagers, who are hard to satisfy! Thanks to the wide variety of decorative techniques available, children from four years old can do it on their own while adults are free to explore their creative side and experiment with different types of sophisticated, professional decoration.

The ABC course in 4 steps:

1- Choose one mask and a decorative style from the many available.

There are more than 60 models of blank Venetian masks available to be painted and decorated. All our masks are genuine Venetian masks handmade from real paper-mache. You get to choose from all the categories: Venetian carnival masks, Commedia dell'Arte masks, animal masks, etc.

The decorative techniques we teach are also genuine. They're easy to learn but they are never banal. They are the very same used by professionals. Everybody can get the effect he or she wants without stress, eventually with a little help from the instructor. You can change your mind about how your mask should look before the end.


2 – Decorate the mask in a free and creative way.

One reason why our ABCs course is among the top fun things to do in Venice with kids is that it's totally flexible. Our instructors guide kids and adults as they work independently. Nobody ever gets stuck or frustrated because you can make the mask look however you like.

And because the kids are working on their own, the adults have a little free time to express themselves, too. This course is very flexible. Combine the decorative styles in all sorts of ways to realize unique possibilities!

3 – Choose the finishing Use acrylic tempera, beeswax, and water-based glaze for the finishing along with metallic colors, trim, and feathers for the final touch. All materials are non-toxic and safe. 4 – Take home your decorated mask! At the end of the course, masks are dry and ready to be wrapped for transport. Together with the masks, each group receives a copy of our book “Venetian masks”, a book available in four languages about the rich history of Venetian carnival masks and the techniques used to make them. If you have to do Venice in a day with kids, really there's nothing better than this surprisingly good course. You get history, art, and something new - all in an experience that stimulates children and keeps them occupied and frees adults to explore their creative side, too.

Booking:

The ABCs mask decorating mini-course is not private so no deposit and NO RESERVATION is required. You will pay (cash) on the spot before starting the workshop.

In this time of the year (Carnival 2020) the workshop is available from during the following days and times:

Monday         10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)
Tuesday        10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)
Wednesday    10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)
Thursday       10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)
Friday           10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)
Saturday       10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)
Sunday         10 am - 12:30   and  2:30 pm - 5 pm (last admission)

You can pop in anytime during the admission times.

Languages:

Our ABC course is a hands-on course and language is not a problem. Instructors can speak little English and are professional decorators with over 25 years of experience making genuine Venetian masks at our master workshop. They will walk you through each step of the decoration process. People from all over the world, regardless of their language and age, enjoy our course, and come away happy and surprised at their artistic ability.

Price per person: