Family Friendly Activities
Tullie House is a family friendly museum.
Families are one of our key audiences; the family friendly ethic is embedded within the fabric of the museum from the family friendly places to eat with our children’s menus in the restaurant , our baby changing facilities to family friendly activities and events which take place throughout the year.
Early years visitors are provided for with a range of “arty – facts” bags dotted at toddler level throughout the galleries. They are colourful, fabric bags which hold a toddlers’ treasure trove of soft toys, big books and activities relevant to our collections.
Every second Wednesday, dedicated toddlers’ sessions focus on a family friendly activity theme such as railways or sealife, with opportunities for parents and children to make new friends, paint, play and enjoy an accompanied visit to our galleries and exhibitions.
Tullie House has had a dedicated Family Learning programme for four years. Our main aim is to enable families to engage with our collections in imaginative ways. We provide a relaxed and informal environment in which families are encouraged to explore our galleries; every Sunday, our team offers craft based activities which support our exhibitions; together, we make everything from clay pots to glittering golden crowns! Our activities are directed by our families; no one need be an expert to join in; the team is there to offer support and encouragement to all.
We devise trails which families can follow around the galleries; several of our exhibitions have resource areas where families can enjoy a variety of self-led activities. The Family Learning Team also offers a range of family friendly special events throughout the year, such as the visit of CBeebies’ Jelly and a Christmas fun day; we are also here throughout the school holidays, leading workshops on themes such as Roman archaeology, Reiver history or Carlisle artworks. Often, families have the opportunity to handle objects from our collections, providing a unique experience of history at first hand.
We also offer an outreach programme where we visit children’s centres and take our family friendly activities out into the community. Our partner organisations include local Barnardo’s groups and the county Family Learning Team. We enjoy visiting our families and listening to their stories of Carlisle life, sharing our knowledge together.
We are beginning to run short, informal courses for families where the learning journey becomes a fun and exciting process.
See below to download our Autumn Toddler Session Leaflet
