Spellbinding adventures for the family
EVEN IF school is almost out for winter, Hogwarts is decidedly in. There are still some tickets available for Harry Potter: A History of Magic at the British Library in London — if you can go outside the core school-holiday period. The exhibition combines centuries-old British Library treasures, including the oldest items in the collection, the Chinese Oracle bones, with original material from publisher Bloomsbury and JK Rowling. Artefacts include broomsticks, wands and crystal balls — even an actual bezoar stone (fans will recall its dramatic role in the books as a poison antidote). Events alongside the exhibition include an alchemy workshop on December 12 in conjunction with the Science Museum. bl.uk
At the Foundling Museum in central London, a new trail takes fans of Jacqueline Wilson’s Hetty Feather books around the museum, exploring the collection and Hetty’s life in the Victorian children’s home through art-based activities. You can also dress up as foundling boy or girl, build a model of the Foundling Hospital, personalise a bed for a foundling or design a new Foundling Hospital building. On December 17, the Waldegrave Ensemble is giving an animal-themed family concert at the museum. A free creative workshop follows, for age five up. foundlingmuseum.org.uk
Eureka!, the award-winning National Children’s Museum in Halifax, is hosting digiPlaySpace until April 15 next year. This is full of exciting gizmos for kids to touch, control and play with; combining fun and learning, with robots, electronics, stop-motion animation, music and gaming. The exhibition is fully physically accessible and Eureka! has an access guide with detailed information for visitors with sensory conditions.
The 14 exhibits include Pop ’n’ Lock (be filmed busting your best dance moves to create your own stop-motion animation); Sphero Speedway (race a robotic sphere around a speedway and learn the basic elements of computer programming at the same time) and Line Wobbler (test hand-eye coordination in an LED game). eureka.org.uk
The Jewish Museum in north west London is holding an afternoon of family activities on December 10, from 1pm to 4pm (cost included in museum entry fee: family ticket, £18, covers two adults and up to four children). You can make a clay chanukiah; an edible dreidl; a candle; Chanukah jewellery and Chanukah cards; decorate a ceramic tile with Chanukah images; play a dreidl game; handle Chanukah objects from the museum collection and take part in puzzle activities and games. Looking ahead to 2018, the fun includes Baby Jazz; Debutots interactive storytelling and drama, a family ceramics afternoon and Diddi Dance dancing games and exercises. jewishmuseum.org.uk
At the National Gallery, the festive activities should appeal to teenagers. Visitors are encouraged to share their favourite gold artwork on social media using the hashtag #ArtGold. Snapchat users can give selfies an Old-Master sparkle with a National Gallery inspired gold frame filter. Labels on the walls highlight the golden facts about specific paintings, while a series of online films provides a more in-depth exploration of the use of gold in art. Further golden activities centre on the halo in art . nationalgallery.org.uk