Scarborough Museums to Schools

Museums to Schools is a resource for primary schools provided by Scarborough Museums Trust and developed in partnership with our local primary teachers.

It aims to get real museum objects out of their cases and into the classroom.

What does Museums to Schools offer?

What’s in the box?
Five fabulous loans boxes that will inspire creativity and support Excellence & Enjoyment across the curriculum at Key Stages 1 & 2.

Each brightly coloured box contains a themed selection of original museum artefacts, activities and resources including a CD Rom for use with interactive whiteboards, and a Teachers’ Pack with background information, cross-curricular links and ideas for using the box.

The boxes are available for hire by primary schools throughout the Borough of Scarborough.

Object handling sessions delivered at your school
Our knowledgeable and enthusiastic freelance educators deliver object handling sessions in primary schools throughout the Borough of Scarborough and are often able to travel to schools further afield.

Sessions focus on enquiry, discovery, problem solving and creative thinking and fit perfectly within the ethos of Excellence & Enjoyment.

The following loans boxes are available:

A grand night out at Scarborough Spa

How did wealthy Victorian holiday makers entertain themselves in Scarborough? Taking F S Muschamp’s lively depiction of Scarborough Spa at Night (1879) as its starting point, this box uses paintings, photographs, music, and original and replica 19^th century clothing to bring to life the period when, so it was said, “The Spa is Scarborough and Scarborough is the Spa.”

Curriculum links include
art & design, history, English, drama, geography, music and maths

Mystery objects

Are you ready for the mystery object challenge? Find out with this versatile box that offers you the chance to explore a selection of puzzling and intriguing items and become an Object Detective.

Curriculum links include
English, history, science, maths, design & technology, art & design

Telling tales

The characterful objects in this box have been selected to stimulate creative writing, storytelling and drama. What special powers do the objects have? What would happen if they came to life? Select an object, put on a mask, and tell your tale.

Curriculum links include
English, drama, PE/dance, music, art & design, design & technology

The rock box

Discover the amazing geology of Scarborough’s Dinosaur Coast with this stunning selection of rocks and fossils. Step back in time to an age when Scarborough was covered by tropical Jurassic seas and swamp forests, home to fascinating marine creatures and dinosaurs. Over 200 million years of local history and geography in a box!

Curriculum links include
Science, geography, maths, English, art & design

Fantastic plastic

From brooches to beakers and toys to telephones these objects illustrate the astonishing versatility of plastic, a ’modern’ material that has been moulded into different shapes by people for over 3000 years! This box is full of surprises, including a plastic made from beetle spit…

Curriculum links include
Science, history, environmental issues, design & technology, art & design, English

The following object handling sessions are available:

Sinbad the seagull’s Scarborough mystery tour

Join in the adventures of Sinbad the Seagull, a charismatic puppet, as he circles over a colourful textile map of Scarborough. Help him to identify the intriguing objects that he finds around the town and explore aspects of local history and geography.

Suitable for pupils in Years 1 to 3

Available Monday & Tuesday

Curriculum links include
English (speaking & listening), history, geography, science

Toys & games from the past

How did children and adults entertain themselves before televisions, computers and MP3 players? Introducing concepts such as chronology, change and continuity, this session enables children to try out a range of toys and games from the past including playground games, souvenirs from Scarborough, and Victorian and Edwardian parlour games.

Suitable for pupils in Key Stage 1 or 2

Available Monday & Tuesday

At home with the Victorians

Presented with some of the more weird and wonderful objects used in the Victorian home, your class will become Object Detectives. What can the objects tell us about the people who made, owned and used them? Illustrating changes in design, technology, materials and domestic life, this session brings an extra dimension to projects on life in 19th century Britain or homes long ago.

Adaptable for pupils in Key Stage 1 or 2

Available Monday & Tuesday

How much does it cost?

Loans boxes cost £10 per week.

The loans boxes are stored at Scarborough Art Gallery and may be collected by the borrower on a Wednesday and returned on or before the following Tuesday.

Object handling sessions delivered by a freelance educator in your classroom cost £45 for schools within the Borough of Scarborough.

Sessions last between one hour and one and a half hours to suit your needs.

How do I make a booking?

Contact: Ian Read

Please have the following information available:

Loans box hire –

The name of the box that you wish to hire.
A selection of dates as we may not be able to accommodate your first choice.
The name of the person who will collect the box from Scarborough Art Gallery and the time they will arrive there. This will enable us to ensure that a member of staff is available to meet them and will avoid unnecessary waiting around. The Gallery is staffed from 8.45am to 5.00pm.
The year group you are booking for.
A contact name and telephone number for the booking.

Object handling sessions –