Samantha and Ashley Ward Picture: CLARE HOMER Ref: 76828-63CHILDREN are brushing up on their art skills at the Richard Jefferies Museum.

They have been painting mugs and plates as part of the Easter holiday programme at the museum.

The Richard Jefferies Museum holds an activity programme for children in Swindon during school holidays.

Six children, aged between five and 11, attended the art workshop yesterday.

To get ideas for their work, they read stories by Richard Jefferies, who writes about the natural environment.

They also looked at stories by popular authors like Roald Dahl for a flash of creative inspiration.

Helen Flinders, an artist and events officer at the museum, thinks the activities give children a chance to explore their creative side.

She said: "It's a good experience to work with artists and to use different materials that may not be available at home or at school."

Firstly, the children used special pens to mark the outline of the design and then they filled it in using glass paint.

Parents stay to give their children encouragement and often got stuck in to the work too if there are enough spare materials.

These events are very popular with children during the school holidays.

Helen said: "We see the same faces all the time. Once they have been to one event they come back because they enjoy it so much."

She added: "It's always nice to watch the children feed ideas off each other."

Those who took part in the afternoon's activities got to take their plate and mug home with them as a souvenir.