9 Creative Classes in Manchester You Should Try

In this story:

1. Rug tufting in Salford (£110–140pp, 4 hours)
2. Soy candle making in Manchester (£50pp)
3. Eco resin plant pot in Salford (£35pp)
4. Sip and paint in Manchester (£30–40pp)
5. Aromatherapy bath products in Manchester (£55pp)
6. Chocolate truffle making in Manchester (£45pp, 1.5 hours)
7. Wheel throwing at New Dawn Pottery, Ancoats (£36–39pp)
8. Glass blowing in Manchester (£45pp)
9. Beginner's crochet in Bolton (£29pp)
How to pick the right one

If you're ready to dive into creativity in 2026, we've got plenty of fun things to do in Manchester that will fire up your imagination! Whether you're planning a special family experience or a unique date night in the city, we've got just the thing for you.

Manchester has a surprisingly dense creative-class scene, and creative classes across Greater Manchester are one of the best ways to spend a free afternoon in the city. Across ClassBento's 4.9-star marketplace (158,000+ reviews), there are 9 hands-on workshops below, from a £29 crochet session in Bolton to a half-day rug-tufting class at Islington Mill in Salford. Each one runs regularly, is beginner-friendly, and ends with something you've made yourself.

Classes are numbered but not ranked — skip to "How to pick the right one" further down if you already have an idea of what you're after.

1. Rug tufting in Salford (£110–140pp, 4 hours)

Close up of someone making a rug using a tufting gun in a Manchester workshop.

Tufting has earned its place as one of the most satisfying creative crafts you can learn in a single session. Manchester Tufting Workshops runs their half-day classes at Islington Mill — a ten-minute taxi from the city centre — using professional electric tufting guns. In four hours you design and tuft a custom 45×45cm rug with up to six yarn colours, glued and backed with non-slip felt during the session so you walk out the door with it the same day.

The teacher founded Manchester Tufting Workshops in 2020 after studying visual arts at the University of Salford, with six-plus years of experience on both electric and pneumatic tufting equipment. Groups of up to eight, or private bookings. The half day tufting workshop in Manchester (£110–140pp depending on group size) sits at the premium end of this list; that reflects the full afternoon, the quality of the equipment and the size of what you take home.

2. Soy candle making in Manchester (£50pp)

Guillaume moved from Normandy to Manchester and channelled a background in learning and development into teaching people how to make candles — and it shows in how the class runs. At a Ma Lumière session you work through 25 fragrance oils, pick two scents to blend, and pour two soy candles. Prosecco and soft drinks are laid on throughout.

Worth knowing: the candles need to cure overnight and are posted to you afterwards rather than taken on the day. The scented soy candle making class in Manchester (£50pp) runs with a minimum of five guests and has free parking on-site — one of the more practical details that actually matters.

3. Eco resin plant pot in Salford (£35pp)

Someone pouring two brightly coloured resins to make a pot in a Manchester craft class.

Chelsie Southern's eco plant pot making workshop in Manchester (£35pp, 5.0 from 79 reviews) is one of the most reliably cheerful ways to spend a couple of hours. You swirl vivid eco-resin colours into a pot for a plant you already own, or one you'll inevitably buy on the way home. Beginner-friendly, sociable, and the cheapest craft class on this list after crochet. Up to 30 guests, which makes it a good option if you're booking for a group.

4. Sip and paint in Manchester (£30–40pp)

A teacher guides a student in a painting class.

Sunita Asal Art runs sip-and-paint sessions for up to 40 people — one of the bigger capacities on this list, which makes it the go-to if you want a creative activity that works for a party or a team. The class is intentionally relaxed: step-by-step guidance, a drink in hand, no pressure to produce a masterpiece. The sip and paint class in Manchester (£30–40pp, 4.8 from 126 reviews) is the easiest entry point if you've never done anything creative in a class setting before.

5. Aromatherapy bath products in Manchester (£55pp)

People measure and smell oils in a beauty Manchester class.

Lizzy has been running Cedar workshops since 2018, teaching candle making and natural skincare to Manchester crafters; in 2023 she completed a diploma in product formulation and launched Cedar Apothecary as the dedicated skincare arm. The aromatherapy bath products workshop in Manchester covers three products in a single session: an invigorating exfoliating gel, a moisturising body butter, and bath salts — each personalised with essential oils and dried botanicals you choose on the day. Prosecco is included.

This is the most sensory class here — useful if you want to switch off completely for a few hours.

6. Chocolate truffle making in Manchester (£45pp, 1.5 hours)

Led by the Chocolate Collective, this beginner-friendly class covers tempering, ganache-making and hand-rolling from scratch. You work with 58% dark Belgian chocolate throughout, and leave with 15–20 handmade truffles packed in a gift bag. The chocolate truffle making class in Manchester (£45pp, 1.5 hours, 4.8 from 73 reviews, up to 25 guests) is one of the more sociable options here — the format suits groups as well as solo bookings, and the 90-minute length makes it easy to slot into a day without it taking over.

7. Wheel throwing at New Dawn Pottery, Ancoats (£36–39pp)

New Dawn Pottery studio in Ancoats takes up to four potters at a time — intentionally small, which means the teaching is hands-on rather than demonstrative. The beginners wheel throwing taster class in Manchester (£36–39pp, 5.0 from 132 reviews on the BYOB version) is the right place to start if you've always been curious about pottery but aren't sure it's for you. Ancoats is worth building a day around — there are good places to eat and drink a short walk from the studio (see our guide to visiting Manchester's creative neighbourhoods).

8. Glass blowing in Manchester (£45pp)

This is the one to book for the wow-factor. The glass blowing experience: glass colour spheres in Manchester (£45pp, 5.0 from 54 reviews) keeps groups tiny — up to five — so you get proper time with the glassblower and the heat of the furnace. You work with molten glass to make a colour sphere you take home; the process is simultaneously nerve-inducing and absorbing in the way that only working with something genuinely hot can be. The most unusual class on this list and the one most likely to get a reaction when you tell someone what you did at the weekend.

9. Beginner's crochet in Bolton (£29pp)

Bolton is 20 minutes from Manchester Piccadilly by train, which makes this easier to reach than it sounds. The beginner's guide to crochet in Manchester (£29pp, 4.9 from 204 reviews — the highest review count here) teaches the foundational stitches in a group of up to five. It's the most affordable class on this list, the most beginner-proof, and the one most likely to turn into a hobby you stick with. Take it as a standalone afternoon out or as a gentler warm-up before booking something more involved.

How to pick the right one

If you want…	Book…	From
A full afternoon with a big take-home	Rug tufting (Salford)	£110
Something relaxed and sociable	Sip and paint, or resin pot	£30
The most affordable option	Crochet (Bolton)	£29
The most unusual thing to try	Glass blowing	£45
To switch off completely	Candle making or bath products	£50
A bigger group (10+)	Sip and paint (up to 40), resin pot (up to 30), chocolate (enquire)	£30
A smaller, more personal session	Glass blowing (up to 5), crochet (up to 5), pottery (up to 4)	£29
Something to eat at the end	Chocolate truffles (Chocolate Collective)	£45

The price range across the nine is £29–£140. The mid-tier (pottery, glass blowing, resin, sip-and-paint) sits at £29–£50 and covers most situations. The tufting class is the outlier on price and on commitment — four hours is a proper half-day, and the rug you take home reflects it.

Browse the full range of craft workshops Manchester if none of the nine above fits — there's a much wider catalogue behind them.

If food is more your thing, our guide to Manchester activities for foodies covers the city's cooking classes and food experiences separately.