Museum From Home Review
Colchester + Ipswich Museums have been coming up with a variety of activities to help educate and entertain kids during lockdown. Inspired by the collections across their museums, the themes include art, nature, archeology and social history. There are quite a few focused on Romans, WWII and wildlife which are generally popular topics.
The activities look to be largely, but not exclusively, aimed at primary school children and aligns with many topic covered in the primary syllabus. However, there are definitely some, such as recreating famous artworks or recipes for Dark Age flapjacks, that would be fun for any age.
The activities also range in time or resources needed – some are pretty straightforward such as downloadable word searches or drawing hand animals which gives simple instruction and needs minimal materials. On the other hand, you then have activities such as designing a dolls house or 19th century ice cream which will take up an afternoon and need specific materials which might not be in every household. This range of option allows you to find activities to best fit with what you need.
These activities would be good if you have your lessons planned already and want a fun, hands-on activity to add in or perhaps as an extra for any child who enjoys a specific topic. They won’t necessarily inspire lesson plans but are a good resource to sit alongside them.
I imagine they might be particularly helpful for any children struggling to concentrate or complete work at home. The activities are fun ways to entertain kids and teach them a little while doing it.
Some of the activities are more “educational” that others but this could then be used as a springboard for more research into the chosen topic because at the end of the day, we all know that a recipe for dinosaur poo may not be accurate but will definitely be fun!
By Sava Radulovic