We congregated in our masses on a lovely sunny and warm April Saturday morning outside the National Museum of Scotland. Our kids and dads (30 kids and 25 dads) were all eager to get into the building to commence our morning of mask making, dinosaurs, stories and singing.
We were welcomed by Alison Rae, Family Learning Officer, who has been amazing with the logistical arrangement with the run up to our visit, and today she didn’t disappoint. Alison and the Enabler team ensured we all moved to the Learning Centre and around the Museum with ease.
Once we had dropped off our buggies and all other child related “artefacts” we moved both in groups and in pairs around the Museum. The kids, in fact, led their dads around the Museum! Some explored the craft table set up in the Grand Gallery with a multitude of masks and various art/craft accessories at hand, and some, like my three-year-old daughter, lead me straight to the Earth in Space section, followed by what I can only explain as a kids’ haven, the Imagine gallery (weird mirrors and some lovely snug type spaces for those who would like a read).
Before long, once the masks were all made and paraded around the Museum with pride, all of the small feet were wearying slightly so we retired up to the Learning Centre for a deserved lunchtime snack.
Then… it was into the usual Dads Rock session… oh yes… this was our time to give something back to National Museums Scotland for having us. Our resident storyteller and co-founder Thomas Lynch told two amazing stories, which we were all enthralled by (I think some parents more than the kids). Then it was time for me, David Marshall, fellow co-founder to get my trusted axe of wood and six metal strings out for a rendition of all of our favourite children’s rhymes and tunes, not forgetting our penultimate house rocker, Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, which happened to draw in a large crowd who were spectating from afar, surely wondering what was going on. Well, I can answer that: 55 dads and their wonderful kids had an amazing morning to remember at National Museum of Scotland. We came, we conquered, and we ROCKED!!
Dads Rock run free playgroups for dads and their kids (0-5) in Scotland. It is a fun, positive and rocking place to come together, play and learn. There are currently two groups in Edinburgh and one starting in Fife and they hope to expand westward soon.
For more information email dads.rock@yahoo.co.uk or visit our blog or Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @DadsRockEdin.