National Science and Media Museum shortlisted for national award for its lockdown activities

The National Science and Media Museum in Bradford has been shortlisted for the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award From Home, it was announced today.

Kids in Museums has run a prestigious annual award for the past 15 years, recognising the most family friendly heritage sites in the UK. This year, the charity asked families and museums to vote for what they thought was the best online activity for families during lockdown. A panel of museum experts whittled down over 400 nominations to a shortlist of 26 museums.

The National Science and Media Museum was recognised for distributing printed STEM educational packs in the local community during lockdown. The museum sent 27,000 packs to families in the BD5 postcode via its main partner school, in turn making the packs available to other schools in the area. These packs were made using repurposed existing materials and were aimed at not only supporting families most in need but also ensuring the museum stayed at the heart of its local communities at this difficult time.

Vicky Clifton, Head of Learning at the National Science and Media Museum, said: “The past four months have been incredibly challenging not only for the museum but also for the amazing communities and schools we work with in Bradford. During lockdown we wanted to find ways to stay connected with our local schools who are so important to the museum, and one of the ways we have been able to do this is through the STEM education packs. The packs were made from repurposed museum learning materials and we were able to turn them around and get them out to the community in record speed. During lockdown we have come to rely on digital platforms more than ever before, however many families have little or no digital access and it is important we find ways to ensure everyone has equal access to learning. These printed packs provided an extra educational resource for schools to send out to their pupils at home or for teachers to use with the children of key workers still in school. We have received some great feedback about the packs, and we hope this small gesture has provided teachers and parents with a valuable resource during these tough times.”

The National Science and Media Museum is vying against four other museums in the Going the Extra Mile.

Over the summer holidays, family judges will try out all the activities and their feedback will decide a winner and highly commended award for each category. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in October.

Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award From Home on Twitter by following @kidsinmuseums and #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.

The Family Friendly Museum Award From Home has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England.

The full shortlist for the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award From Home is:

Best Film

· Cooper Gallery, Barnsley – Wow Wednesdays

· Florence Nightingale Museum, London – Meet Miss Nightingale

· London Fire Brigade Museum – The Great Fire of London

· National Football Museum, Manchester – Kicking Off Your Creativity

· University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge – Zoology Live! Online Festival

Best Social Media Activity

· Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft – Virtual Museum Club

· National Museums Liverpool – My Home is My Museum

· National Museums Wales – Minecraft Your Museum

· The Novium Museum, Chichester – Virtual Roman Week 2020

· Royal Academy, London – attRAct weekly challenges

Best Website Activity

· Historic Dockyard Chatham – Museum from Home: Arts Award Discover

· The Mary Rose, Portsmouth – Things to Make and Do!

· Museum of Cardiff – Lockdown Legion

· National Galleries Scotland – Home is Where the Art is

· National Videogame Museum, Sheffield – Create Your Own Pixel Art Character

Going the Extra Mile

· Colchester and Ipswich Museums – Museum From Home activity packs

· Dacorum Heritage – Stockpiling Stories

· National Science and Media Museum, Bradford – Distributing Printed Learning Resources to families in BD5

· Seven Stories, Newcastle – Something to smile about – supporting families in East Newcastle

· The Whitworth, Manchester – Still Parents

Best International Digital Activity

· Andy Warhol Museum, USA – Warhol Making It Videos

· Glazer Children’s Museum, USA – GCM@Home

· The Glucksman, Republic of Ireland – Creativity At Home

· The Museum of Childhood Ireland Project – Project 2020 Together, Le Chéile

· National Gallery Singapore – #SmallBigDreamersatHome

· Rijksmuseum, Netherlands – Key Challenge