As I'm sure is the case for many of you, I'm often planning new events and activities. Now, I do have a degree, of course, and yet I find that most of the time I'm not planning events about rocks, fossils, dinosaurs or prehistoric Britain (my degree was in Geology and Archaeology). I've got a fairly good working knowledge of a wide range of historical and scientific topics, but still whenever I'm event-planning I like to have a look around on the Internet for some more specific information.
The point of this post is really just to share a couple of fascinating articles I found this week whilst doing some googling. Maybe they'll inspire you into some event or activity planning of your own.
BBC News - CIA Secrets - from the US and Canada branches of the BBC I found this fascinating article about declassified CIA secrets from the first world war. There's some fabulous ideas for making invisible ink that I'm pretty sure you could do in practice with museum visitors for a start, not to mention some great stories about etching messages into toenails that kids will love and parents will squirm awkwardly at.
Wikipedia - Fife - whilst searching for information about the 'fife and drum' that is referenced so often in the Sharpe-esque music of John Tams and his contemporaries, I learnt an awful lot about their use in military units. Did you know you can hear a fife and drum being played from 3 miles away, even over the sound of artillery fire? Neither did I, but we both do now.
Visit Worcester - Vesta Tilley - star of the Victorian and Edwardian music hall, Vesta Tilley was a popular entertainer who was a male impersonator. Apparently she was so famous and well-loved that when she retired she received a series of books signed by over 2 million of her adoring fans, including famous names such as Charlie Chaplin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini!
So have any of you found anything interesting recently that you'd like to share? I'm always on the look out for interesting information and quirky facts and ideas. You never know what will inspire you next.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Saturday, 21 May 2011
The Real Deal
I was on a bit of a busman's holiday today. Or maybe more like a busman's day off; since it was a weekend where I didn't need to be in my own museum I went and found another one to look around.
Whilst wandering around, I overheard a child defiantly tell his mother "but this isn't real. It's fake" to which she replied "It's got to be real. We're in a museum."
I wasn't sure whether I should be heartened or worried by this point of view. On the one hand, I was pleased to hear someone of the opinion that a museum is truthful and honest and presents the world as it is. On the other, I was somewhat concerned that perhaps people do just assume that everything in museums is 'real', and that perhaps we need to be a bit more obvious (not to mention careful) when we do include replicas and best-guesses.
It also reminded me that no matter how hard you try people don't read what you put in front of them; it was clear in the museum's introductory exhibition and in their guide map that some of the things on show were replicas or reconstructions.
But that's by the by.
What does everyone else think? Is this opinion of 'everything in a museum is real' as widespread as I think it might be? And should I be pleased or worried about it?
Whilst wandering around, I overheard a child defiantly tell his mother "but this isn't real. It's fake" to which she replied "It's got to be real. We're in a museum."
I wasn't sure whether I should be heartened or worried by this point of view. On the one hand, I was pleased to hear someone of the opinion that a museum is truthful and honest and presents the world as it is. On the other, I was somewhat concerned that perhaps people do just assume that everything in museums is 'real', and that perhaps we need to be a bit more obvious (not to mention careful) when we do include replicas and best-guesses.
It also reminded me that no matter how hard you try people don't read what you put in front of them; it was clear in the museum's introductory exhibition and in their guide map that some of the things on show were replicas or reconstructions.
But that's by the by.
What does everyone else think? Is this opinion of 'everything in a museum is real' as widespread as I think it might be? And should I be pleased or worried about it?
Friday, 20 May 2011
Back to Nature
I've been exploring the wildlife in and around the pond at the museum this evening with a group of Scouts, and it's reminded me of the profound impact that the natural world can have on everyone, kids and adults included.
I think that those of us who work in natural settings often take them for granted, and it's easy to forget that actually most people who live in towns never get the chance to be up close and personal with a water boatman or a pond snail. Newts are ten a penny to me, and though I do like them I'm never surprised to see one. For families from the city, though, even a duck is a foreign species to a lot of them, let alone a moorhen.
Kids always get rambunctious in the outdoors, especially when it's after hours and they're the only ones on site. But the focussing power of a tray full of water fleas and bloodworms was quite startlingly effective. Not even the draw of playing lightsabers with the fishing nets was greater than the total engrossment of staring at a damselfly nymph for the first time.
I guess it comes back to the fact that nine times out of ten the simplest things are the best. And a story about bloodsucking water worms probably didn't hurt, either.
I think that those of us who work in natural settings often take them for granted, and it's easy to forget that actually most people who live in towns never get the chance to be up close and personal with a water boatman or a pond snail. Newts are ten a penny to me, and though I do like them I'm never surprised to see one. For families from the city, though, even a duck is a foreign species to a lot of them, let alone a moorhen.
Kids always get rambunctious in the outdoors, especially when it's after hours and they're the only ones on site. But the focussing power of a tray full of water fleas and bloodworms was quite startlingly effective. Not even the draw of playing lightsabers with the fishing nets was greater than the total engrossment of staring at a damselfly nymph for the first time.
I guess it comes back to the fact that nine times out of ten the simplest things are the best. And a story about bloodsucking water worms probably didn't hurt, either.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Vinylmation
Hi everyone. Sorry for the extended silence; I've been out of the country for a while. Following a beautiful pre-Easter wedding, we enjoyed a lovely honeymoon out in Florida. I've come back with a mind buzzing full of ideas, which you can expect to see coming out in the blog here in dribs and drabs over the next few weeks.
A short post today to get me back into the swing of blog writing. Do you remember the Munnys that I talked about a while ago? Well, whilst in Florida we found that Disney have their own version of the Munny figure. The trend is called Vinylmation, and it's a Mickey Mouse blank canvass figure. They also sell a lot of pre-decorated versions, available in various designs of famous and more obscure Disney characters.
You can find out more about them here: http://vinylnation.net/ or by searching 'vinylmation' in Google.
Personally, I like the Star Wars ones...
And yes. I did buy a blank one to have a go myself. Results will be forthcoming, as long as I don't make too much of a mess of it!
A short post today to get me back into the swing of blog writing. Do you remember the Munnys that I talked about a while ago? Well, whilst in Florida we found that Disney have their own version of the Munny figure. The trend is called Vinylmation, and it's a Mickey Mouse blank canvass figure. They also sell a lot of pre-decorated versions, available in various designs of famous and more obscure Disney characters.
Personally, I like the Star Wars ones...
And yes. I did buy a blank one to have a go myself. Results will be forthcoming, as long as I don't make too much of a mess of it!
Friday, 1 April 2011
If a museum falls over in a forest...
I didn't set out to write a political blog, and I still certainly don't intend to, but I couldn't help wanting to voice a few thoughts on the discussion that's going on all over the place at the moment about the lack of fuss people seem to be making over threats to heritage provision by recent cuts.
The #savelibraries campaign has been amazingly evocative and effective. Some fabulous examples spring to mind; the school children campaigning to save their local library, the nine year old who wrote directly to the head of the MLA, the Milton Keynes library emptied of books by local residents. Can anyone name a single news story about the public defending their local museum? I know I can't think of one.
I've heard a few opinions on why this is; most worryingly that we in museums don't engage our stakeholders as much or as well as libraries do. I'm not sure that's the entire story, and I think in fact that it might have more to do with the way that our stakeholders interact with us, compared to the way they do with libraries.
A library is a public service. You don't get private libraries that offer collections of subject specific books, not outside of universities anyway, and certainly not that the general public can borrow from. Libraries are funded from the tax payers' pockets. Libraries provide a free service to everyone, giving people access to all the media (books, CDs, DVDs, etc) that they want without having to pay for it, or paying significantly less than they would to buy it in the shops.
Museums can be public services too, but often they're not. For every local authority museum there are ten or more heritage sites and galleries that charge entrance, and are funded by their visitors and grants. They often have specific collections, rather than the general appeal that a public library has. Neither do they provide something for free that can be taken home; a museum's collections are not available to take out on a ticket, they exist purely within the confines of the museum's walls.
Museums and libraries are often equated because they both provide access to knowledge. But when you start to evaluate them on a deeper level, that's almost where the similarities stop. It's almost like trying to equate a theme park with a toy shop; they're both about fun, but no-one expects to be able to take the rollercoaster home with them, do they?
I'm heartened by the passion that has driven the #savelibraries campaign. I would like to think that there is some similar passion out there for museums too, but I think we're going to have to look for different ways to harness it if we really want it to make a difference.
The #savelibraries campaign has been amazingly evocative and effective. Some fabulous examples spring to mind; the school children campaigning to save their local library, the nine year old who wrote directly to the head of the MLA, the Milton Keynes library emptied of books by local residents. Can anyone name a single news story about the public defending their local museum? I know I can't think of one.
I've heard a few opinions on why this is; most worryingly that we in museums don't engage our stakeholders as much or as well as libraries do. I'm not sure that's the entire story, and I think in fact that it might have more to do with the way that our stakeholders interact with us, compared to the way they do with libraries.
A library is a public service. You don't get private libraries that offer collections of subject specific books, not outside of universities anyway, and certainly not that the general public can borrow from. Libraries are funded from the tax payers' pockets. Libraries provide a free service to everyone, giving people access to all the media (books, CDs, DVDs, etc) that they want without having to pay for it, or paying significantly less than they would to buy it in the shops.
Museums can be public services too, but often they're not. For every local authority museum there are ten or more heritage sites and galleries that charge entrance, and are funded by their visitors and grants. They often have specific collections, rather than the general appeal that a public library has. Neither do they provide something for free that can be taken home; a museum's collections are not available to take out on a ticket, they exist purely within the confines of the museum's walls.
Museums and libraries are often equated because they both provide access to knowledge. But when you start to evaluate them on a deeper level, that's almost where the similarities stop. It's almost like trying to equate a theme park with a toy shop; they're both about fun, but no-one expects to be able to take the rollercoaster home with them, do they?
I'm heartened by the passion that has driven the #savelibraries campaign. I would like to think that there is some similar passion out there for museums too, but I think we're going to have to look for different ways to harness it if we really want it to make a difference.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
A guide to trails
It came to my attention through the GEM email list that apparently there are a lot of people out there who want some advice, or maybe just examples of good practice, for writing trails for their venues. It also seemed that there was little training on the matter, and little out there to read about it.
This seems a great missed opportunity to me; are there any museums or natural sites or anything like that out there these days that don't have trails for children and/or adults?
I put together an awful lot of trails, and I've learnt a lot about them in the years I've been writing them. So, I thought I'd put together some free general advice about them, from my point of view. I'd also like to highlight some great examples that I've seen around and about, but I'll do that in some separate posts.
So, here goes. I hope it's helpful!
Trails: Some Hints and Tips
In no particular order...
Be clear about your aims
- Before you start writing anything, you should decide what you want to achieve with your trail. Are you trying to highlight certain items in your collection? Promote numeracy skills? Stimulate creativity? Teach people about the Victorians? You'll probably find that your trail manages to do more than one thing when you've finished, but it's important before you start anything that you know what one key thing you really want it to do.
Themes are fantastic
- No matter what you want your trail to do, coming up with ways to do it always seems easier if your trail has a theme. Sometimes, this might be governed by an event or exhibition that you have on at the time. Other times, you could pick a theme based on the time of the year (Christmas, Easter, Summer) or on something completely random (pirates, fairies, animals).
What media you will use?
- Knowing how your final trail will be produced should influence your design. If it's going to be photocopied to be given out, then you don't really want it to be full of colourful pictures; they won't copy properly and it'll just look amateurish. Equally, if you're producing something that'll be professionally printed, you really want to make the most of colours and images. Think about size too; you'll need text to be readable, so if it's a small booklet that might limit the amount that you can write in it.
Think about your audience
- It's not enough to just say 'this is a trail for children'. Is it going to be done by one child at a time, or a family together? Is it going to be done by toddlers, or 5-7 year olds, or 12 year olds, or teenagers? Or all of the above? It's not just the content that you'll need to think of here, but also the presentation, and the tasks that you ask them to do. Very young children love to spot things and tick them off lists. Older children will quickly get bored of that, and probably need something a little more varied and goal-orientated to keep them interested.
How long will your trail be?
- Trails don't have to be long to be effective. Especially with younger children, four or five points might be enough for them to have had a good time, learnt something, and not yet got bored. Even with older children, nine or ten points is usually enough. Generally, the more you're asking visitors to do at each trail point, the less points you need on the trail. Think more about the overall time you're expecting visitors to spend on the trail.
Tasks and activities
- Spotting things and ticking them off and following clues from point to point doesn't have to be all there is to trails. Counting is a good step up from just noticing, and gets children to engage a little more deeply. You could ask questions about information on panels, or get children to draw pictures of things they see, either copying from real life or from their imagination. Multiple choice questions are always well received. Sometimes you can provide relevant activities, such as providing semaphore flags to have a go at sending a message with, or asking them to decode a message written in knots on a piece of string. Whatever your theme is, think creatively about associated tasks and activities for it.
How else can you engage your audience?
- It doesn't have to be all about the things you write on a sheet. There are some excellent 'explorer' trails I've seen where families get a whole bag full of exciting toys to play with. Use the binoculars to look at something, or the magnifying glass. Measure something with the ruler... and so on. But if you haven't got the budget for props, that doesn't mean you're limited to writing answers. Get visitors to touch things, to say what they can smell, or to close their eyes and listen.
I hope that's been a helpful overview! I'll pick out some good examples from places I've been and things I've done in other posts.
This seems a great missed opportunity to me; are there any museums or natural sites or anything like that out there these days that don't have trails for children and/or adults?
I put together an awful lot of trails, and I've learnt a lot about them in the years I've been writing them. So, I thought I'd put together some free general advice about them, from my point of view. I'd also like to highlight some great examples that I've seen around and about, but I'll do that in some separate posts.
So, here goes. I hope it's helpful!
Trails: Some Hints and Tips
In no particular order...
Be clear about your aims
- Before you start writing anything, you should decide what you want to achieve with your trail. Are you trying to highlight certain items in your collection? Promote numeracy skills? Stimulate creativity? Teach people about the Victorians? You'll probably find that your trail manages to do more than one thing when you've finished, but it's important before you start anything that you know what one key thing you really want it to do.
Themes are fantastic
- No matter what you want your trail to do, coming up with ways to do it always seems easier if your trail has a theme. Sometimes, this might be governed by an event or exhibition that you have on at the time. Other times, you could pick a theme based on the time of the year (Christmas, Easter, Summer) or on something completely random (pirates, fairies, animals).
What media you will use?
- Knowing how your final trail will be produced should influence your design. If it's going to be photocopied to be given out, then you don't really want it to be full of colourful pictures; they won't copy properly and it'll just look amateurish. Equally, if you're producing something that'll be professionally printed, you really want to make the most of colours and images. Think about size too; you'll need text to be readable, so if it's a small booklet that might limit the amount that you can write in it.
Think about your audience
- It's not enough to just say 'this is a trail for children'. Is it going to be done by one child at a time, or a family together? Is it going to be done by toddlers, or 5-7 year olds, or 12 year olds, or teenagers? Or all of the above? It's not just the content that you'll need to think of here, but also the presentation, and the tasks that you ask them to do. Very young children love to spot things and tick them off lists. Older children will quickly get bored of that, and probably need something a little more varied and goal-orientated to keep them interested.
How long will your trail be?
- Trails don't have to be long to be effective. Especially with younger children, four or five points might be enough for them to have had a good time, learnt something, and not yet got bored. Even with older children, nine or ten points is usually enough. Generally, the more you're asking visitors to do at each trail point, the less points you need on the trail. Think more about the overall time you're expecting visitors to spend on the trail.
Tasks and activities
- Spotting things and ticking them off and following clues from point to point doesn't have to be all there is to trails. Counting is a good step up from just noticing, and gets children to engage a little more deeply. You could ask questions about information on panels, or get children to draw pictures of things they see, either copying from real life or from their imagination. Multiple choice questions are always well received. Sometimes you can provide relevant activities, such as providing semaphore flags to have a go at sending a message with, or asking them to decode a message written in knots on a piece of string. Whatever your theme is, think creatively about associated tasks and activities for it.
How else can you engage your audience?
- It doesn't have to be all about the things you write on a sheet. There are some excellent 'explorer' trails I've seen where families get a whole bag full of exciting toys to play with. Use the binoculars to look at something, or the magnifying glass. Measure something with the ruler... and so on. But if you haven't got the budget for props, that doesn't mean you're limited to writing answers. Get visitors to touch things, to say what they can smell, or to close their eyes and listen.
I hope that's been a helpful overview! I'll pick out some good examples from places I've been and things I've done in other posts.
Monday, 21 March 2011
From the mouths of children: Chimneys
A very short post today. This little gem comes courtesy of one of our teaching staff.
Last week, during a teaching session at the museum, our teacher asked the class why they thought one of our buildings has two chimneys on it. Straight away, a little hand shot into the air.
"So that Santa can come down one of them!"
It's good to see what's important in a child's mind.
Last week, during a teaching session at the museum, our teacher asked the class why they thought one of our buildings has two chimneys on it. Straight away, a little hand shot into the air.
"So that Santa can come down one of them!"
It's good to see what's important in a child's mind.
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