Home educators

The British Museum welcomes home educators. We have a wealth of resources to support a visit to the galleries, or to download from our website for distance learning.

Resources

We have a range of resources which can help children engage with the collection.

Activity sheets and resources for schools can be downloaded from the website.

Eight family trails are available:

• Sailing on the Nile: moves along the Nile from south to north providing opportunities to explore geography as well as history.
• Travelling in time: covers a time span from Bronze Age Greece to the Hellenistic period after the death of Alexander the Great.
• Exploring Britain: opportunities to look at the sorts of archaeological evidence historians work with from the early medieval period.
• Hunting for dragons: looks at how animals feature in different world cultures and an excellent basis for work in art and design.
• Revelling round the world: a cross-cultural trail based on celebrations which gives good links to art and to RE.
• Spreading the word: a cross-cultural trail about writing and communication in general.
• Dancing with Shiva (for young children): a trail about counting which is designed to be shared again back at home.
• Chasing rainbows with Mammy Wata (for young children): a trail about patterns and shapes which can be shared again at home.

Six family activity backpacks are available with a variety of activities to do in the galleries. The backpacks have loose themes within the cultures which offer excellent opportunities for follow-up work: Ancient Greece, Ancient Near East, Asian Faiths, Ancient Egypt (mummies), Mexico, Africa.

Trails and backpacks are available free of charge every day of the year from the Paul Hamlyn Library.

Taught sessions

The programme of taught sessions is available in the annual Schools and Teachers brochures, which can be downloaded from the website (see above for the Primary brochure). Hard copies are available from the Department of Learning and Audiences on 020 7323 8510/8850, email learning@britishmuseum.org.

• Sessions for maximum groups of 120 are usually attended by several schools and are open for individual or group bookings within the age range indicated in the brochure.
• Gallery and workshop sessions for groups of 30 are open to groups of no fewer than 20 children within the age range indicated in the brochure.  
• If you wish to book one of these sessions, please contact the Department of Learning and Audiences not the Box Office.  You will then be sent an agreement letter on receipt of which a session will be booked for you.
• Children must be accompanied by adults at all times.