Half-term highlights at Bristol Museums

This October half-term, we ran a range of activities across our museums to give families something fun and creative to do together. Here’s a look at what we got up to.

Arty Fun at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

We teamed up with SGS College, the Museums Learning team and Rhian, our Natural Sciences Curator, to run an art workshop in the museum’s front hall. The theme was ‘Footprints’, inspired by our Natural History collection. Three art students, Evie, Iris and Milo from SGS College joined us on work experience. The students designed and created activity worksheets based on the natural history collections in our galleries. The barn owl worksheet proved to be the most popular with children, followed closely by the dodo!

Over four days, we welcomed a whopping 601 of you to these Arty Fun sessions! Participants enjoyed colouring and collaging animals and footprints, learning how these creatures lived and what their tracks might have looked like.

It was a fantastic way to combine art with science and spark curiosity about the natural world.

You told us:
“It was very friendly and inclusive.”
“The staff (and volunteers) are good, kind and friendly.”
“Engages children, gives them free rein to be creative.”
“Lovely few hours of family time.”

Join us for our next Arty Fun Workshop at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, 17 – 20 February 2026.

 

Spooky Fun at the Red Lodge Museum

Halloween at Red Lodge was full of spooky surprises! SGS College students  Eleanor, Lewis and Violet led face painting and a very apt craft activity of making a God’s Eye to ward off any evil spirts!

Our costumed explainers bought characters from the Red Lodges past to life.

Visitors also enjoyed a trail of ‘spooky doors’ created by artist Shane Chamberlain. Each door featured a character linked to the history of the house – from a ghoul in the well to a figure behind an oak door – representing the famous Great Oak Room at the Red Lodge Museum.

Some of your feedback included:

“A real gem in the heart of the city – thank you!”
“Lovely exhibition, lovely colleagues, had fun – the spooky specials were a nice touch.”
“Lovely visit, great to see the cells, thank you! I loved the scary boxes!”

 

Autumn Fun at Blaise

At Blaise Museum, autumn creativity took centre stage with face painting and craft activities, with visitors being very impressed by the artistic face painting skills of the work experience student, Poppy. Children took home paper bats, ghosts, and pumpkin decorations ready for Halloween.

Families enjoyed exploring the house and the gardens thanks to an outdoor nature trail created by Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre (BRERC) while taking part in our autumnal fairy doors trail. These fairy doors and the autumnal animals that lay behind them captured the imagination of and children. There was also a chance to relax and listen to some seasonal stories from our in-house storytellers Zoe and Ali.

These activities are part of our mission to make Bristol Museums welcoming and accessible for everyone. By offering creative experiences, many of them free, we hope to help families connect with history, art and nature and enjoy all our amazing museums across the city!

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and a special shout-out to our amazing SGS College students, to our Volunteer Coordinator Chloe for her hard work and co-ordination,  along with all our dedicated staff for making this half-term unforgettable and so much fun!

More Family Fun coming up

Join us for some more family festive fun!

Blaise Museum 6 and 7 December https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/blaise-museum/festive-fun-blaise/ and

The Georgian House Museum 13 and 14 December  https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/georgian-house-museum/festive-fun-georgian/