Manchester’s People’s History Museum will feature a string of family friendly events across February half term including Banner Bingo, the Little suffragette trail and the opportunity to become a museum Twitcher.
To co-incide with the PHM’s new 2024 Banner Exhibition, the museum is giving visitors the chance to take part in Banner Bingo. There are 26 banners in all to take in, each hanging within the main galleries of the museum to share stories of inspiring changemakers, international causes and community collaboration. Chosen from the largest collection of political and trade union banners in the world, visitors will find out about significant historical anniversaries including 40 years since the 1984 to 1985 Miners’ Strike and the centenary of the first Labour Party government taking office, and issues including the environment, migration and workers’ rights. To participate, all visitors need to do is pick up a Banner Bingo playing card from the Info Desk, where a small prize will be waiting the little ones have finished the search.
Another activity flying in for February half term, that’s also designed for eagle-eyed visitors, is The Twitchers Museum Adventure. Organised by Kids in Museums and Walker Books, this Family Friendly activity celebrates the release of Feather, the latest book in the Twitchers Series from bestselling children’s author M G Leonard. Just as in the book, visitors will need to be on the lookout for some feathered friends around the galleries. These will appear on specially produced postcards perched around the galleries, but keep looking and you’ll also see birds on coins, badges and cartoons that are all part of the collection on display. There is a free Kids in Museums activity sheet to complete and a free Twitchers sticker for every young visitor.
Visitors are invited to take a walk through history by following the Little suffragettes trail, or for those over 12, the Radical women trail. The latter introduces history makers such as Mary Fildes, who was one of the speakers at Peterloo, Annie Beasant, a campaigner who wrote about the Match Girls’ Strike of 1888, and Jayaben Desai, who led the 1976 to 1978 Grunwick factory strike which became a key moment for anti-racism within the trade union movement. As part of the trails there are interactive exhibits and the chance to dress up as a suffragette for a suffragette selfie, complete with ‘votes for women!’ placard. Both trails are available from the Info Desk, priced £1.50 for the Radical women trail and £2.50 for the Little suffragettes trail, which includes a badge making kit.
Manchester Museums – Peoples History Museum – Banner Bingo – image courtesy Peoples History Museum
