Home educator group visits

We welcome Home Educators to visit us at the Museum and offer a range of opportunities to enhance your learning experience.

• You can explore our gallerys on your own self-led visit.
• You can join one of our dedicated sessions for Home Educator groups. Tickets a £3 per child.
• Individual Home Educators and groups can also book to attend our Home Education Days, which take place in January and September. (The next date will be 10 September - we'll give more details later in the year.)
• Groups of 10 or more can also purchase tickets for our temporary exhibitions at a discounted learning rate for Tuesdays - Thursdays during school term time.

Coming for a self-led visit?

Please book your free general admission tickets. You can download our gallery learning resources to help guide your trip.

Workshops and shows

Your children can enjoy a hands-on learning opportunity in our workshops, or have fun in our amazing and captivating shows. Ticket prices are £3/child.

We require at least one adult for every eight children.

Please be aware that these sessions are designed for specific ages and content may not be engaging for older or younger aged children. 

Home educator sessions are staffed by two Learning Facilitators to allow greater flexibility. Unfortunately, we are unable to book home educator groups into our school sessions slots due to staff availability. 

Minimum booking numbers

Workshops and shows require no minimum number of children for booking, however they will only run if our minimum group size has been reached. For workshops this is 10 children, for shows this is 20 children.

Booking numbers will be checked in the week before the advertised workshop or show. Any workshops that don’t meet the minimum group size will be cancelled. Customers will be informed and offered the choice of a refund or an alternative date if available.

Workshop dates

We are not able to accommodate pushchairs and siblings in any of our workshops due to space limitations.

• Super Stegosaurus Workshop - Friday 24 May 13.30, Thursday 14 November 13.30
  Max 20 children. Appropriate for ages 5-7.
• Pond Dipping Workshop - Wednesday 19 June 12.30
  Max 20 children. Appropriate for ages 6-11. 
• Dino Dig Workshop - Wednesday 24 Apr 13.30, Monday 14 October 13.30
  Max 20 children. Appropriate for ages 7-11.
• LEGO® Build the Change: Save Our Planet! Workshop - Tuesday 25 June 12.30, Thursday 7 November 12.30
  Max 25 children. Appropriate for ages 7-14. We are not able to accommodate any children under seven in this workshop due to a choke hazard risk.
• Minibeasts - Monday 7 October 13.30
  Max 20 children. Appropiate for ages 4-7

Show dates

• The Dino Show - Thursday 11 July 13.30
  Max capacity 85 children and adults together. Appropriate for ages 6-11.
• Emergency! Earthquakes and Volcanoes Show - Wednesday 24 April 14.30, Friday 20 December 13.30
  Max capacity 85 children and adults together. Appropriate for ages 7-11.
• Ocean Life and Habitat Show - Friday 17 May 14.30, Wednesday 18 September 13.30
  Max capacity 85 children and adults together. Appropriate for ages 6-11

Key information for your visit

• We will need to collect your contact details at the point of booking. All your information will be treated confidentially.
• We want to accommodate as many children as possible, so we prefer not to exceed a 1:1 ratio for adults to children.
• Cloakroom spaces are very limited and cannot be guaranteed. Our team will always do their best to accommodate groups, but we would strongly recommend bringing as little as possible with you in case capacity is full.
• We recommend you arrive early and allow plenty of time for travel around the Museum. Staff managing the queue will fast track you if you explain that you are here for a home educator workshop or show. 
• Please sign in at school reception or make yourself known to staff in purple if you are going straight to your activity.
• You will receive a ‘Teacher pack’ on payment for your booking. This has important information to assist with your visit. 
• Please see our access page for more information on how we can support your visit. Please be aware the Museum can be very busy year-round.
• We recommend our Five quiet spaces and galleries in the Museum - a free paper copy can be found at information desks.