At a glance, the Sparks family resembles a stereotypical 1950s nuclear family. But as 30 children aged four to 12 and their parents gather outside the Hub’s main hall, we are treated to the etiquette of a formal introduction given a slapstick twist.

Today is the first of a series of Sparks family workshops which run throughout November and December. We’re at a party and they are our hosts.

Wearing red noses and exaggerated Fifties-style costumes, the Sparks greet each partygoer individually. Awaiting their introductions, the younger children seem anxious, the older ones eye the Sparks with a degree of hardened cynicism, and the adults exchange somewhat bewildered looks.

The Edinburgh International Festival’s education programme at the Hub runs around the year and includes school events, workshops on video production, playwrighting and short story composition. But the Sparks family came out of a need to create events for the whole family.

“So often parents just drop off their kids and go off and do the shopping,” says EIF education officer Sally Hobson. “Seldom do they stay and enjoy the fun.”

Inadequately billed as music-and-movement workshops, the Sparks family sessions are the brainchild of Hearts and Minds.

Formerly the Drama Practice, they were commissioned by the EIF to create a family model which they based on popular images like The Royle Family and The Simpsons; the work of psychologists like Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families; and advice from a family psychotherapist on family dynamics.

As the Scottish version of clown doctors (a concept fictionalised by Robin Williams in the film Patch Adams) the group also works to promote health through the arts, helping hospitalised children. Because this also means working with their families, Hearts and Minds was well placed to devise the new EIF programme.

Each family is allocated a silly name and I’m part of the Zig Zag family which comprises Ruth and Ross and their two children, four-year-old Emma and eight-year-old Beth. We follow Judy Sparks’s rather scatty seating plan and find ourselves on one of six brightly-coloured sofas which later form the basis for musical sofas, a variation of musical chairs.

The Sparks are based on the tradition of European clowning, and to emphasise the universality of their theme - “Families and the problems of communication” - Audrey Sparks, the mum-figure, makes a speech but struggles to find the appropriate European language. Aided by some puzzlement from the audience and prompting from the rest of the Sparks, she successfully alights on English. And the fun begins.

Soon we’re playing a physical party game that pokes fun at the the kind of polite conversations adults have at parties. It involves everyone clopping around the room on imaginary horses, saying to anyone we meet: “Hello, how are you, very well thank you.” Soon everyone is talking and no one is listening.

The team of four musicianactors allows each game to descend to the brink of chaos before drawing back and redefining its boundaries or reverting to some new party trick.

They transform the normally quiet Chinese whispers into a noisy and innovative game where everyone must pass on a clap of the hands around the circle. Soon the clapping is travelling in opposite directions and finally it becomes a round of applause.

There is always plenty of opportunity for praise at gatherings like these. Whether it’s a cheer for each individual family as it composes a party piece - based on its fictitious name - with associated choreography. Or more applause for its imaginative use of makeshift instruments including colanders, salad spinners and Tupperware dishes.

As the session progresses, by virtue of the different dramatic and musical models the Sparks family sets, the confidence and creativity of the children and grown-ups gradually builds and they emerge further into the madcap world of their hosts.

Frequently the Sparks family is on the verge of making some social gaffe and they look to the other families to help them out. At their most didactic, the workshops - which also include visits to the zoo and pool - are designed to help different families and generations to learn to live together.

More subtly, while it’s clear even to the youngest participant that the Sparks have real problems connecting with the world, their activities do fly craftily in the face of polite convention. In their company, you realise you’ve been uncovering the realities of family life beneath the surface.

The Sparks Family, November 10 and 17; December 1, 8 and 15, 11am-12.30pm. pound;2.50 each per session. For tickets and info tel Hub: 0131 473 2000. The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh, EH1 2NE. www.eif.co.uk