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What's on
Check out our activities, exhibitions and events for all ages here.
Available now / Online
Outdoor Explorers
There’s so much to discover about nature on your doorstep.
Whether you live in a city or town, countryside or seaside, you will find all sorts of nature on your doorstep. Just like the scientists and researchers who have collected and studied our museum specimens, you too can become an Outdoor Explorer.
These resources will introduce the wonderful world of plant life and minibeasts with top tips to help you to get ready for an outdoor adventure and all you need to make your very own field notebooks.
Share what you find and send us a photo of your Outdoor Explorer’s field notebook.
#WildMM
Activities and resources have been designed for Outdoor Explorers aged 7+ years old, with adult supervision.
Free, online
Find out more
Available now / Online
BioDiscovery
BioDiscovery showcases the Biological & Biomedical Sciences at the University of Manchester & Manchester Museum.
With videos and activities on everything from the museum's Vivarium to beetle invasions, all giving you an insight into the Biosciences.
Free, online
Find out more
Available now / Online
We have three series of the Manchester Museum Podcast available now on all major podcast streaming platforms.
Ideas have the power to change the world, and curiosity can lead to action. For each episode, we have invited special guests from beyond the museum, to share open and honest conversations, which we hope will inform, entertain and inspire.
Free, online
Available now / Online
Leaf Creatures
As you’re out and about exploring, you might see some fallen leaves. Inspired by the wildlife around us, artist Lydia Meiying demonstrates this ‘Leaf Creatures’ activity, inviting you to get creative and use natural found items, such as leaves, twigs, berries and feathers to create nature collages of Leaf Creatures.
#WildMM
Free, online
Find out more
Available now / Online
In celebration of Art with Heart's marvellous new play Stan, we’re encouraging everyone to draw a dinosaur!
Stan is a bi-lingual play in English and British Sign Language (BSL) about Manchester Museum’s very own T.rex, which explores communication, friendship, identity, the family unit… and dinosaurs!
In this video, discover some top tips and create dinosaur drawings using your hands with Kate from KAPER, the paper sculpture menagerie.
Watch: Draw a Dinosaur
And explore the details in this family dinosaur drawing activity with Manchester Museum’s Curator of Earth Sciences, David Gelsthorpe.
Watch: Exploring the Detail in Dinosaurs
And don't forget to share your drawings with us on social media @mcrmuseum
Free, online
Families, ages 7+ with accompanying parents/carers
Available now / Online
Manchester Museum is currently closed for construction, but we are still here for you.
You can explore all our online exhibitions and displays, including:
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Minerals: Sustainability and Hidden Stories
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Beauty and the Beasts: Falling in love with insects
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Wild Chorus
... And many more!
Some of our digital exhibitions also include multilingual interpretation.
Free, families, online
Available now / Online
More than 32,000 species are threatened with extinction; that is 27% of all assessed species. Today, some 3,000 insects are known to be vulnerable, endangered or at risk of extinction.
As part of our online Beauty and the Beasts exhibition, you are invited to write a Letter to the Insects in response to the threats that many of them are facing.
What would you say to the insects? Would you like to tell butterflies that they are beautiful, or be helpful to bees?
#WildMM
Free, online
Available now / Online
Dinosaurs A-Z
Manchester Museum is delighted to share Dinos A to Z: a fortnightly dose of dinosaur fun and facts.
Stomp through the alphabet to explore the extraordinary world of dinosaurs.
Dinos A to Z is created by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis with Dr Victoria Egerton, their Extraordinary Scientist in Residence.
Dr Egerton is also a Research Fellow in The University of Manchester’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Manchester Museum works with many academics and scientists, and with their support we continue to learn about the collections as well as new discoveries, so we can share the latest research with our visitors.
Free, families, online
Past events
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Ever wondered if you could samba sitting down? Well, now you can-can!
Dance is a great way of building stamina, increasing joint flexibility and having fun, whatever your experience and ability.
Join dance practitioner Hazel Roy for our Age Friendly online dance sessions, inspired by nature and Manchester Museum’s collections. You don’t need to be an expert to take part, and leopard print leotards are strictly optional.
Free, online, ages 50+
Let's Dance
Ever wondered if you could samba sitting down? Well, now you can-can!
Dance is a great way of building stamina, increasing joint flexibility and having fun, whatever your experience and ability.
Join dance practitioner Hazel Roy for our Age Friendly online dance sessions, inspired by nature and Manchester Museum’s collections. You don’t need to be an expert to take part, and leopard print leotards are strictly optional.
Free, online, ages 50+
Find out more
Indigenise Speaker Series with Dr Njabulo Chipangura
Manchester Museum's new Curator of Living Worlds Dr Njabulo Chipangura presents the talk "'Community Museums in Zimbabwe as an alternative form of representing Living Cultures"
This is the fourth talk for the Indigenise Speaker Series which will run every other month as part of the Indigenise Manchester Museum programme, supported by the John Ellerman Foundation.
Free, online
Ages 18+ (16+ with parental consent)
An Evening with the Family Gorgeous
The weekend gets underway in fabulous style, as you are invited to an Evening with the Family Gorgeous. Enjoy our extended opening hours with an opportunity to explore our collections, while Cheddar Gorgeous, Lill and Liquorice Black set the vibe, bringing some glitz and glamour to the evening!
Cheddar, Lill and Liquorice, stars of Channel 4’s Drag SOS, and some of Manchester’s most creative drag artists, often use their visually spectacular artistry as a form of political activism. Inspired by our collections, and as part of our celebration of Manchester Pride, the evening will also include a spotlight performance from each of the artists, making it a night to remember.
Free, families
In the museum
Manchester Museum is celebrating South Asian Heritage Month with an unmissable two-day festival featuring film, music, workshops and more.
The South Asian Heritage Month festival is taking place on 22-23 July at the Whitworth on Oxford Road, while Manchester Museum is closed for its £15million hello future transformation.
Check out the full programme here.
Free, families
Queer Desires: Every Object Tells a Story
It begins with a body, an entity, an object. A book, a photograph, a phone number, a ring. What story do these objects hold for you?
“Remembering us in a photo kiosk…a fresh start and a new beginning.”
'Queer Desires: Every Object Tells a Story' is an extension to South Asia Gallery Collective member Kirit Patel’s explorative project ‘Queer Desires’. Over the course of his MA studies, Kirit invited people who identified as LGBTQ+ and Asian or Middle Eastern to choose an object with personal significance and share their stories of why it matters to them.
This workshop includes an introduction by our Creative producer, Hattie Kongaunruan, with exclusive updates on the progress of the South Asia Gallery.
This reflective workshop will focus on the experiences of people who identify as LGBTQ+ and South Asian, but is inclusive of all who wish to attend and contribute, no matter how you identify in the space.
Free, online
This is an adult programme (18+), but the content will be suitable for all ages.
Stan's Secret Santa
Christmas Gift Appeal
We are organising a Christmas Gift Appeal in partnership with Invisible Cities, which will support people experiencing homelessness and poverty.
On Tuesday 7 December, our Fossils Gallery will be open from 10am to 4.30pm so that people can drop off donations... and have the chance to take a selfie with Stan the T.rex!
We are looking for unwrapped gifts to be donated. Have a look at our wish list.
You could make a big difference to someone’s Christmas!
Drop in
In the museum
HUNGER - Online Screening
Join us for a livestream of HUNGER from Manchester Museum.
HUNGER is a unique, site-specific, filmed performance piece created by international artists Abas El Janabi, Farjana Kabir and Louison Kangombe at Manchester Museum, responding to the museum’s collections.
The event features a Q&A with the artists.
Free, Online
We're inviting you to go behind the scenes of the University and discover the exciting work taking place here.
Join us for a fun-filled day of hands-on activities, heritage and botanical tours, live experiments, creative arts, the chance to meet with our staff and scientists... and much, much more!
Free, families
Family Workshop:
Year of the Tiger Decorations
Join us for an online family workshop as we get crafty creating decorations to welcome the Year of the Tiger.
You'll create beautiful Chinese lanterns and fans with artist Lydia Meiying.
As part of the workshop, you’ll also get a sneak peek at some of the ideas for our upcoming Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery, which will tell powerful personal stories through rarely see collections and explore the links between Manchester, UK and China. We hope this will spark your imagination as you make your decorations.
Free, online
Suitable for children age 7+ and accompanying parents or carers.
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Illuminating Nature is a new display in our window on Oxford Road, to celebrate Corridor of Light from 21-23 October.
Corridor of Light is a three-night celebration of the Oxford Road Corridor through language, light and ideas. It will light up Manchester’s innovation district with visual art, installations and live entertainment. It will run from 6-10pm and is free to attend.
Illuminating Nature features stunning shells from our collection, which glow a brilliant, florescent pink and show just how magical nature can be.
Although the museum is currently closed to the public, this display is viewed through Manchester Museum exhibition window on Oxford Road.
Free
Find out more about Illuminating Nature
Part of Corridor of Light
Please join us on Thursday, 6 August 2020 online to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki Atomic Weapons Attack and remember all innocent victims of war and terrorism.