For Families
Marvelous Moths
Monday 30 May – Friday 3 June 11am-4pm – Drop in, Free, all ages
Be inspired by the story of Manchester’s peppered moth in the Museum’s newly opened Climate Control exhibition, and explore the idea that we can’t change the past but we can change the future. Help to create a growing art installation of peppered moths.
Autism Friendly Early Opening
Sat 11 June 9.15-10.30 – Drop-in, Free. Autism Friendly: suitable for children and young people aged 5-16 with a parent or carer and siblings welcome
Join the early openings at the Museum aimed at children who have autism and other needs, along with their families and carers, and siblings.
Activities take place before the Museum opens to the general public and there will be a quiet room available too. In June the Fossils Gallery, where Stan the T-Rex lives, will be open earlier. Come along to enjoy and explore together.
Baby Explorer
Tuesday 7 June 10.30-11.15am, 11.30-12.15am
For babies who are not yet walking and their parents, grandparents and carers. Free, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 after 2pm
Baby Explorers is an interactive story and sensory play session. The specially devised stories, inspired by Manchester Museum’s collections, include music, songs, props and real objects, supported by a range of playful sensory resources for babies to explore. A space to play, share and discover together. Each reservation is for 1 child plus accompanying adult
Baby Explorer
Tuesday 21 June 10.30-11.15am, 11.30-12.15am
For babies who are not yet walking and their parents, grandparents and carers. Free, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 after 2pm
Baby Explorers is an interactive story and sensory play session. The specially devised stories, inspired by the museum’s collections, include music, songs, props and real objects, supported by a range of playful sensory resources for babies to explore. A space to play, share and discover together. Each reservation is for 1 child plus accompanying adult
Musical Baby Explorer
Tuesday 7 June 1pm-1.45pm
For babies who are not yet walking and their parents, grandparents and carers. Free, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 after 2pm
Enjoy live music and songs inspired by Manchester Museum’s collections, supported by a range of playful sensory resources for babies to explore. A space to play, share and discover together Please note that Baby Explorer sessions are approximately 45 minutes long with tidy up time between each session. Sessions take place in the Nature Discovery gallery, floor 1.
Musical Baby Explorer
Tuesday 21 June 1pm-1.45pm
For babies who are not yet walking and their parents, grandparents and carers. Free, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 after 2pm
Enjoy live music and songs inspired by the collections, supported by a range of playful sensory resources for babies to explore. A space to play, share and discover together Please note that Baby Explorer sessions are approximately 45 minutes long with tidy up time between each session. Sessions take place in our Nature Discovery gallery, floor 1.
Magic Carpet: The Girl and the Bird
Friday 24 June, 10.30-11.30am and 11.30am-12.30pm
For active toddlers, parents, grandparents and carers. (Younger siblings welcome too) Free, Book one week in advance on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 after 2pm
Magic Carpet is an interactive, creative, story making and activity session that forms connections to the Museum’s collections. The stories are specially devised to enable the youngest visitors to explore the museum’s collections. They include songs, active rhymes and movement and opportunities to discover and handle real museum objects. They are also supported by a range of tactile resources to promote sensory play and exploration. Come along, make new friends, play and explore.
Big Saturday: Minibeasts and Us
Saturday 25 June, 11am–4pm
Drop in, free, families.
Celebrate National Insect Week and discover more about the wonderful variety of minibeasts both local and global. Find out more about how insects help us, from helping to create the food we eat to by pollinating plants and decomposing large amount of waste. Meet experts and create with artists. Discover more about the Museum’s rooftop Bee Hive and find out what you can do to give minibeasts a home.
For Adults
English Corner
Tuesday 7 June, 1-2.30pm
Drop in, Free, Adults
Free English conversation classes using the Museum’s collection as inspiration for discussion.
Collection Bites: Neanderthals
Thursday 2 June
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648
Manchester Museum has a small number of Neanderthal skull casts, which have been in its collection since the end of the 19th Century. The conservation of five skulls revealed contemporary research into Neanderthal fossils, and shed light on a fascinating period in the history of archaeology. Join intern conservator Loren Souchard who will look at the conservation and examination of three Neanderthal skulls casts; sharing her discoveries about their material history, and explaining the choices she made for conservation treatment.
Humans in Ancient Britain: Rediscovering Neanderthals
Thursday 9 June 1-1.30pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 Join Bryan Sitch, Curator of Archaeology for a tour of the exhibition, Humans in Ancient Britain: Rediscovering Neanderthals.
Views of an Antique Land: Imaging Egypt and Palestine in the First World War
Saturday 11 June + Sunday 12 June 10am-4pm
Drop in, free, adults
To commemorate the WW1 Centenary, researchers from Cardiff University will hold a ‘roadshow’ at the Museum exploring local links between Manchester and Egypt and collecting memories. Please bring along any photographs or other items relating to wartime spent in Egypt and Palestine along to find out more about how they fit into a wider picture.
Views of an Antique Land: Imaging Egypt and Palestine in the First World War
Saturday 11 June 11am-12pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 Manchester has a close connection to Egypt thanks to the lively trade in cotton and antiquities in the 19th century. Join Paul Nicholson for this talk exploring local links and collective memories.
Appley Meteorite
Saturday 11 June 1pm-3pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 Popular author Russell Parry provides a fascinating insight into the fall and discovery of the Appley meteorite that landed near Wigan in 1914, as told through newspaper reports and archives of the time there will also be a Q &A session. Part of Manchester Histories Festival manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk
Manchester and the Peppered Moth
Saturday 11 June 3pm-4pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 Genetics expert Laurence Cook and Head of Collections Henry McGhie will talk about the evolution of the Peppered Moth and its strong links to Manchester’s history and development. Part of the Museum’s Climate Control Season. Part of Manchester Histories Festival manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk
Exploring Representations of Neanderthals in Popular Culture
Sunday 12 June 2pm-3pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 Early popular culture representations played a significant role in shaping the stereotypical perception of Neanderthals as dim witted and brutish cavemen. This talk by Dr David Kirby, the University of Manchester and author of Lab Coats in Hollywood, will explore how this stereotype remains a prevalent feature in movie, literature, television and comic books but it will also examine how these representations have dramatically changed over the last 150 years alongside our scientific understanding of this species.
Finds Liason
Friday 17 June 10am-4pm
Drop in, free, adults
Vanessa Oakden, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme will be in The Study.
Come and see her if you have you need to record your find. This includes all archaeological objects found in England and Wales which date from before 1700.
Urban Naturalist
Sunday 26th June 2pm-4pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648 Join Dr Jonathan G Fairman of the Centre for Atmospheric Science, as he explores the recent flooding events. This talk will discuss why the Lancashire floods in 2015 occurred and the physics behind flooding events from a meteorological perspective.
After Hours – Migratory Birds: Poetry and Perceptions and Climate Change
Thursday 30 June 6-8pm
Drop in, free, adults
A panel bringing together a poet, a literary scholar, a climate change scientist and an ornithologist will address the following questions:
How does poetry represent birds and our relationship to them and how might it change the way that we relate to the natural world?
What impact is climate change going to have on migratory bird species?
What will be lost in terms of the impact on the natural and built environment and in terms of our imaginative and spiritual connection to the world of birds?
Living (and writing) the weather
Thursday 30 June 11am-1pm
Free, Adults, Book on mcrmuseum.eventbrite.com or 0161 275 2648
Join University of Manchester sociologist Professor Jennifer Mason to learn about her research on ‘Living the Weather’, which explores how our everyday lives are full of weather and why weather seems to matter so much.
