The Go Wild in the Country sessions at National Museum of Rural Life have got off to a very promising start this year. We are currently just over half way through the programme and have already surpassed our visitor numbers for the whole of the 2009 summer session.
The sessions are operating on a weekly cycle and are as follows:
Sundays are Bug hunting day, which allows our young charges to see what creepy crawlies, wrigglers and wigglers can be found in the museum grounds.
Mondays are Den building days, where children learn to make shelters using poles, branches and other stuff we find lying around!
Tuesday are Orienteering sessions, where youngsters can find out how to navigate around the countryside, and Wednesdays offer digital photography sessions, allowing children to take digital snapshots of the landscapes, plants and animals at Wester Kittochside then make postcard prints of their favourites to take home.
On Thursdays we add to our Big Natural Nature Mural. Using natural materials, our visitors are gradually transforming a wall of our Learning Centre into a big piece of environmental art. Fridays are Ranger walk days, where people can pick up skills and learn about the countryside on one of our guided walks.
Saturdays bring Enviro-art sessions, where kids take part in an environmentally themed art or craft session. Throughout the summer we’ve been making green man masks, little leaf people and vegetation sculptures that Andy Goldsworthy would be proud of!
The following are only two of the many positive comments we have had so far:
‘Brilliant visit, especially the photography course. We will definitely come back again’; (scored us 10/10 on feedback card)
‘Very interesting and informative ranger walk. The ranger was very patient with children’ (10/10)