S o, you want to introduce small children to art. Why not ease yourselves in? No white walls. No string barriers. No alarms. No beady-eyed gallery attendants. Just a whole lot of green space in which to charge about and come across awe-inspiring art while you’re at it. There are several outdoor sculpture parks offering free-range art exploration in the UK, but one above all beckons. That’s right, it’s time for this toddler’s first trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).

Admittedly, my timing is a smidge off. When we head there, it’s mid-February, and don’t we know it. As we pull into the car park, the sky is a grisly blanket of greyish white. The drizzle starts soon after we open our doors, and doesn’t stop. As I’m pushing the buggy uphill, struggling to get a grip as my boots slip in the mud, I briefly wonder whether I should have saved this series for summer.…