Music Boxes does exactly what it says on the tin – only the tins are gigantic shipping containers and the music-related experiences are designed firmly with children in mind. The boxes are stacked in a neat circle in the middle of the plaza overlooked by the BBC’s new offices at MediaCityUK.

Tickets are distributed according to the age of the children attending, with a series of colour-coded ‘pathways’ to follow. Each pathway includes sessions in two of the Music Boxes.

In the centre of the corral are a number of fun, music-related contraptions to play with while the youngsters are waiting for the bell to ring and inform them their next show is about to begin.

Mum accompanied our three-year-old as she sat in front of a screen showing the Zingzillas with a noisy contraption in her hand (not that different to being at home) and then took part in a Super Duper Hero workshop led by energetic ukulele player Jake Rodrigues.

This time-lapse video shows the creation of Music Boxes installation designed by BDP (via videonewsagency)

I took our six-year-old into a laptop workshop where he was able to make his own video for a song by Cornershop (cool!) and then into a session with The Light Orchestra, who use small cardboard boxes to play music by disturbing beams of light (amazing).

There are other boxes to explore too, including one providing the chance for little hands to lead the BBC Philharmonic. Our sessions were capped with a main stage performance by Jake Rodrigues, this time accompanied by lots of the Super Duper Heroes he’d trained earlier.

Best of all, this is one of the Manchester International Festival events designed to persuade the masses that the arts can and should be accessible to all.

And what that means, mum and dad, is that the tickets are free! Get there if you can, it’s a really fun way to spend a few hours.

» Music Boxes tickets are free, but fully booked. However, a limited amount of day tickets are available from the event box office on a first-come basis, please arrive 15 minutes before start time. See www.mif.co.uk for event times.

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