Using local museums

Your local museum is often a rich but sometimes overlooked resource. Images, documents and maps show a broad range of history but one that also relates to the children’s own local area. This allows children to see the connection with their own past, providing them with examples that they can relate to. In addition many also have quirky or unexpected exhibits such as the Cayman at Wakefield Hall as featured in the last Primary History.

Haslemere Educational Museum in Surrey is another such little gem. It includes both history and natural history. It features the life and works of Sir Archibald Geikie, an eminent Victorian geologist. Its crowning glory however, is that it has a real Egyptian mummy, Pa-er-abu, as well as a dummy mummy, Suty-em-wia...