Join

Family and adult learning activities

Family and adult learning activities at Mackintosh at the Willow offer different ways to engage with and discover the stories of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife Margaret Macdonald and their patron, the Edwardian businesswoman Kate Cranston. We run regular adult art workshops, public talks, special seasonal events and a popular family activity programme during the school holidays.

May events

The Glasgow Style – Adult Art Workshop: Make a silver beaded necklace with Laura Murray

Saturday 17 May, 10.30am–4pm

Tickets: £80

Learn how to create a beaded silver necklace with tutor Laura Murray, inspired by the colour palette of Margaret Macdonald’s Salon de Luxe gesso panel. The workshop begins with a tour of our historic building, followed by the jewellery workshop and a break for scones, cream and jam with tea or coffee. All materials, food and drink are included with the ticket price of £80.

Part of The Glasgow Style: Saturday Art Workshops for Adults in 2025.

In our adult workshops, you can learn techniques associated with the iconic Glasgow Style. All workshops include a guided tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, professional tuition, and refreshments in our historic tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A person sits at a table and makes a silver beaded necklace

The Dug Out – Public Talk: A talk about the past, present, and potential futures of Sauchiehall Street with Norry Wilson of Lost Glasgow

Sunday 18 May, 1–2.30pm

Tickets: £7

In this talk, Norry Wilson of Lost Glasgow will present an illustrated history of Sauchiehall Street, the ‘alley of willows’.

Norry last spoke at our venue in 2019, and this new talk will consider the developments on Sauchiehall Street over the last six years.

Journalist and social historian Norry Wilson has been fascinated with his home city. He first fell down the vintage photography rabbit hole while working on the Evening Times. Think of him as the ‘Raider of the Lost Archives’. Now, after 10 years, and with over 300k online followers on his Lost Glasgow site, he continues to tickle the city’s collective memory muscle, teasing out old stories, forgotten facts, and the lost histories hidden in the photographic record of old Glasgow.

Part of The Dug Out: Sunday afternoon talks for the public in 2025.

Dig deeper into the inspirations and history surrounding the original Willow Tea Rooms building with our series of talks for the public. An expert leads all talks in their field and includes a chance to ask questions in one of our historical tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A room is filled with people listening to a talk

The Scots Kitchen – Family Baking Session: Bake fruit scones with Jaz Spears

Saturday 31 May, 11.30am–1.30pm

Tickets: £7

Bring your family along to bake and decorate historical Scottish sweet treats to take home!

In this session, our Head of Pastry, Jazmine Spears, will teach you and your family how to make fruit scones. While your sweet treats are baking, we will take you on a family-friendly tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building!

Part of The Scots Kitchen: Saturday Morning Baking Sessions for Families in 2025.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12, but all are welcome. Places are limited, and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children must have a booked paid place, but adults accompanying a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

Two boys, one wearing a chef's hat, next to a female adult, do some baking at a table.

June events

The Glasgow Style – Adult Art Workshop: Make stained glass with Matthew Donnelly

Saturday 7 June, 10.30am–4pm

Tickets: £120 per person

Learn how to create a stained-glass window hanger with tutor Matthew Donnelly, inspired by Glasgow Style artists such as W G Morton and J & W Guthrie. The workshop begins with a tour of our historic building, followed by the workshop, and a break for scones, cream and jam, with tea or coffee. All materials, food and drink are included in the ticket price of £120.

Part of The Glasgow Style: Saturday Art Workshops for Adults in 2025

Learn techniques associated with the iconic Glasgow Style in our workshops for adults. All workshops include a guided tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, professional tuition, and refreshments in our historic tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A group of people sit or stand around a circular table, working on small coloured panels of glass.

The Scots Kitchen – Family Baking Session: Bake strawberry tarts with Jaz Spears

Saturday 28 June, 11.30am–1.30pm

Tickets: £7

Bring your family along to bake and decorate historical Scottish sweet treats to take home!

In this session, our Head of Pastry, Jazmine Spears, will teach you and your family how to make strawberry tarts. While your sweet treats are baking, we will take you on a family-friendly tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building!

Part of The Scots Kitchen: Saturday Morning Baking Sessions for Families in 2025.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12, but all are welcome. Places are limited, and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children must have a booked paid place, but adults accompanying a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A woman puts some cocoa into a bowl with a boy wearing a chef's hat next to her.

July events

The Dug Out – Public Talk: A talk about Rossetti’s Willowwood and the Mackintoshes

Sunday 6 July, 1–2.30pm

Tickets: £7

Are you curious about the decoration of the Salon de Luxe? In this talk Dr Robyne Calvert will discuss the inspiration behind the Salon de Luxe interiors, examining the source of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh’s gesso panel: Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Willowwood sonnets. The talk will also reveal how Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed Rossetti’s narrative throughout the room.

Dr Robyne Calvert, a cultural historian, teaches across the University of Glasgow’s College of Arts & Humanities. A Mackintosh expert, her book The Mack: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of Art (Yale University Press) won the 2024 Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion for Architecture, sponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain.

Part of The Dug Out: Sunday afternoon talks for the public in 2025.

Dig deeper into the inspirations and history surrounding the original Willow Tea Rooms building with our series of talks for the public. An expert leads all talks in their field and includes a chance to ask questions in one of our historical tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A detail of a gesso panel in Mackintosh at the Willow, showing the figure of a woman and some willow trees.

Summer Holiday Family Activity: The Glasgow Style for Families Make a stained glass window hanger

Tuesday 8 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Tuesday 15 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Tuesday 22 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Tuesday 29 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Tickets: £7 

Throughout July, come and learn techniques inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and The Glasgow Style, at a child-friendly level. Each workshop will end with an object to take home.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12 years old, but all are welcome. Places are limited and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children and any adults wishing to make an object must have a booked paid place, but adults who solely accompany a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

A young girl sits at a table covered in magazines and uses scissors to cut a piece of paper.

Summer Holiday Family Activity: The Glasgow Style for Families Make a mosaic mirror

Wednesday 9 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Wednesday 16 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Wednesday 23 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Wednesday 30 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Tickets: £7

Throughout July, come and learn techniques inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and The Glasgow Style, at a child-friendly level. Each workshop will end with an object to take home.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12 years old, but all are welcome. Places are limited and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children and any adults wishing to make an object must have a booked paid place, but adults who solely accompany a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

A young boy sits at a table and selects small squares of coloured glass to stick on to a mosaic tile.

Summer Holiday Family Activity: The Glasgow Style for Families Make an embossed copper badge

Thursday 10 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Thursday 17 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Thursday 24 July, 2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Thursday 31 July,  2–3.30pm: Book your tickets online

Tickets: £7

Throughout July, come and learn techniques inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and The Glasgow Style, at a child-friendly level. Each workshop will end with an object to take home.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12 years old, but all are welcome. Places are limited and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children and any adults wishing to make an object must have a booked paid place, but adults who solely accompany a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Two young girls and a woman sit at a table and do a crafting activity.

The Scots Kitchen: Family Baking Session – Bake coconut macaroons with Jaz Spears

Saturday 12 July, 11.30am–1.30pm

Tickets: £7

Bring your family along to bake and decorate historical Scottish sweet treats to take home!

In this session, our Head of Pastry, Jazmine Spears, will teach you and your family how to make coconut macaroons. While your sweet treats are baking, we will take you on a family-friendly tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building! 

Part of The Scots Kitchen: Saturday Morning Baking Sessions for Families in 2025.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12, but all are welcome. Places are limited, and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children must have a booked paid place, but adults accompanying a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

Hands roll out pastry and cut it using pastry cutters. The table is littered with baking utensils.

The Glasgow Style – Adult Art Workshop: Make an embossed copper box with Bryony Knox

Saturday 19 July, 10.30am–4pm

Tickets: £80 per person

Learn how to create an embossed copper box with tutor Bryony Knox, inspired by Glasgow Style artists such as Margaret Gilmour or Frances Macdonald. The workshop begins with a tour of our historic building, followed by the embossing workshop, and a break for scones, cream, and jam with tea or coffee. All materials, food and drink are included with the ticket price of £80.

Part of The Glasgow Style: Saturday Art Workshops for Adults in 2025

Learn techniques associated with the iconic Glasgow Style in our workshops for adults. All workshops include a guided tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, professional tuition, and refreshments in our historic tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A small square of copper, with a Mackintosh-style design embossed upon it, rests on a work table. A mobile phone, a notebook, rounded wooden tools and a teacake stand nearby!

August events

The Scots Kitchen: Family Baking Session – Create a cranachan

Saturday 2 August, 11.30am–1.30pm

Tickets: £7

Bring your family along to bake and decorate historical Scottish sweet treats to take home!

In this session our Head of Pastry, Jazmine Spears, will teach you and your family how to create a cranachan. While your sweet treats are setting, we will take you on a family-friendly tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building!

Part of The Scots Kitchen: Saturday Morning Baking Sessions for Families in 2025.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12, but all are welcome. Places are limited, and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children must have a booked paid place, but adults accompanying a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A child's hands cut a piece of butter to weigh on weighing scales which sit on a table next to a bowl of flour.

The Glasgow Style – Adult Art Workshop: Make a floral watercolour with Kayleigh McCallum

Saturday 9 August, 10.30am–4pm

Tickets: £85 per person

Learn how to create a floral painting in watercolours with tutor Kayleigh McCallum, inspired by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s botanical paintings. The workshop begins with a tour of our historic building, followed by the watercolour workshop, and a break for soup and a sandwich with tea or coffee. All materials, food and drink are included with the ticket price of £85.

Part of The Glasgow Style: Saturday Art Workshops for Adults in 2025

Learn techniques associated with the iconic Glasgow Style in our workshops for adults. All workshops include a guided tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, professional tuition, and refreshments in our historic tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A piece of paper lies on a table, with brush strokes of different pastel shades of watercolour paint. Cut flowers and a paint box lie nearby on the table.

September events

The Scots Kitchen: Family Baking Session – Bake chocolate marshmallow teacakes

Saturday 20 September, 11.30am–1.30pm

Tickets: £7

Bring your family along to bake and decorate historical Scottish sweet treats to take home!

In this session our Head of Pastry, Jazmine Spears, will teach you and your family how to bake chocolate marshmallow teacakes.

While your sweet treats are baking, we will take you on a family-friendly tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building!

Part of The Scots Kitchen: Saturday Morning Baking Sessions for Families in 2025.

Workshops are suitable for children aged 5–12, but all are welcome. Places are limited, and booking is essential. All children must be accompanied by an adult. All children must have a booked paid place, but adults accompanying a child do not need to book paid places.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

Four hands knead pastry together in a bowl. A set of weighing scales covered in flour sits to the side.

The Dug Out – Public Talk: The colours of tea with Dr Yupin Chung

Sunday 28 September, 1–2.30pm

Tickets: £7

From one plant, tea makers can create different categories of tea. In this talk, Yupin will explore the colours of tea, followed by a unique tea tasting. Enjoy the delicate flavours of teas enhanced by the sweetness of Scotland’s famous soft water.

Dr Yupin Chung is a curator, art historian and Chair of The Seven Strings – Tea Connoisseur Society based in Glasgow. Drawing on historical sources and her own extensive experiences as she journeyed throughout China, Yupin not only provides piquant impressions of a beauty now departed but also gives practical information for the enjoyment of fine teas and of the attractive ceramic accessories that enrich the experience of brewing and drinking varied teas. In her research areas she specialises in oriental design influences in the Western world, the visual culture of tea and the Scottish tea merchants.

Part of The Dug Out: Sunday afternoon talks for the public in 2025.

Dig deeper into the inspirations and history surrounding the original Willow Tea Rooms building with our series of talks for the public. An expert leads all talks in their field and includes a chance to ask questions in one of our historical tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact us on obraid@nts.org.uk or 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

A small cup of tea sits beside a mossy rock.

October events

The Glasgow Style – Adult Art Workshop: Make a hand-bound book with Toben Lewis

Saturday 18 October, 10.30am–4pm

Tickets: £95 per person

Learn how to create a hand-bound book with tutor Toben Lewis, inspired by Glasgow Style artists such as Talwin Morris and Ethel Larcombe. The workshop begins with a tour of our historic building, followed by the bookbinding workshop, and a break for soup and a sandwich with tea or coffee. All materials, food and drink are included in the ticket price of £95.

Part of The Glasgow Style: Saturday Art Workshops for Adults in 2025

Learn techniques associated with the iconic Glasgow Style in our workshops for adults. All workshops include a guided tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, professional tuition, and refreshments in our historic tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

Two hands push down firmly onto a spreadeagled, blank-paged book. Rulers, pencils and tape are scattered across the workbench.

November events

The Glasgow Style – Adult Art Workshop: Make an embossed copper box with Bryony Knox

Saturday 15 November, 10.30am–4pm

Tickets: £80 per person

An extra date due to popular demand! Learn how to create an embossed copper box with tutor Bryony Knox, inspired by Glasgow Style artists such as Margaret Gilmour or Frances Macdonald. The workshop begins with a tour of our historic building, followed by the embossing workshop, and a break for scones, cream, and jam with tea or coffee. All materials, food and drink are included with the ticket price of £80.

Part of The Glasgow Style: Saturday Art Workshops for Adults in 2025

Learn techniques associated with the iconic Glasgow Style in our workshops for adults. All workshops include a guided tour of the original Willow Tea Rooms building, professional tuition, and refreshments in our historic tea rooms.

To enquire further, please contact obraid@nts.org.uk on 0141 204 1903.

Learn about accessibility options

Book your ticket online

Women sit round a circular table, using pencils and small tools to draw embossed designs onto small copper panels.