As many of you know by now our little family is on a bucket list mission, we are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world with so much to see and do and the best thing of all is that most of it is free!
I asked my little girl what she would like to do this summer holiday, expecting to receive a list of theme parks and expensive treats. I was so pleasantly surprised at her sweet little list including roller skating at the park, pressing flowers and taking our friend’s dog out for a walk.
Today we went to see another place on our Summer Bucket List, The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. I don’t mind telling you that I am a total loser when it comes to driving on the ring-roads of Coventry, however with my partner-in-crime and fellow Mummy Madi beside me we directed ourselves in and parked at the near-by West Orchard’s Shopping Centre Car Park. A short walk round the corner & we had arrived with our children, a five year old, a six year old and a two year old.
We were warmly greeted and straight away found a lovely little room where for a £1 donation children could sit and create their very own Shaun The Sheep, the girls loved getting sticky and created pretty impressive Shauns, which they left to dry before picking them up later.
On we went on our adventure straight into the glass lift up to the Story of Children’s Television from 1946-today. We walked through the Mr Ben sliding doors into a world of childhood favourites! They have everything from Button Moon to Bob The Builder.
Lots of fabulous characters in perspex cases take us on a journey through our childhood, we loved telling our children all about the programmes Mummy & Daddy used to watch on T.V.
Aside from all the wonderful characters there’s plenty of interactive fun for the children along the way, from ‘Guess the Theme Tune tablet games to colouring, and a fabulous puppet theatre which even had Sooty, Sweep & Sue in (a particular fave of mine)!
There’s also a huge T.V set where children can dress up in some of the dressing-up outfits and have fun on stage.
My little boy LOVED seeing Makka Pakka’s Og Pog!
Once you’ve taken your trip down memory lane you can chose from a variety of other exhibitions and visit the stunning ‘Walking the Rainbow’ space which is a huge room dedicated to younger children with loads of sensory equipment, bridges, a den and gorgeous lighting. I wish I had taken more photographs here but we were having so much fun I didn’t get the chance, it will be a nice surprise for you all now 😉
Other exhibitions include Old Masters, a sensory hands-on experience named ‘The Elements’, Discover Godiva and Art since 1900. Did I mention this place is FREE!? (There’s plenty of opportunities to donate though with suggested small amounts to support the upkeep of the Museum).
After visiting the delights upstairs we re-fuelled at the lovely cafe on site (you can get money off voucher when you spend over £5 in the gift shop) the selection of food was brilliant! We were so pleasantly surprised to find a gorgeously healthy menu instead of the usual pizza and chips children’s menu. Our two year old had a jacket potato, and the rest of us had a salad bar selection and lovely tuna melt panini. It was really lovely and clean with fast efficient service.
Three very happy children and two happy Mummies left the Herbert with a mind full of memories and fun.
Take It From Mummy have received no payment for this review and all views are our own 🙂 In fact.. they didn’t even know we were coming 😉
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Full Details on The Herbert Museum and Art Gallery (and lots of much better pictures than mine) can be found below.
Visit the Herbert’s Website HERE or their Facebook Page HERE
Opening Times are:
Monday – Saturday 10 – 4pm
Sunday 12 – 4pm
Address:
Week 4: Monday 10 – Thursday 13 & Saturday 15 August
Super Shaun’s £1
10.30am-12.30pm & 1.30pm – 3.30pm
Make a furry Shaun the Sheep character to take home.
Friday 14 August
Stop & Animate! £5
10.30am-12.00pm & 1.30pm – 3.00pm
A fantastic opportunity to model make and learn about stop motion animation by creating a short animation film with a professional animator.
Suitable for 7+.
Book here – morning session or afternoon session.
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Week 5: Monday 17- Thursday 20 & Saturday 22 August
Deadly Specimen Sculptures £1
10.30am-12.30pm & 1.30pm – 3.30pm
Make your own deadly creature specimen from craft materials. Can yours compete with the famous Deadly 60 list?
Friday 21 August
Deadly Adaptations £5
10.30am-12.00pm & 1.30pm – 3.00pm
Using our Natural History collection, learn about deadly characteristics, sketch from the specimens and create an artwork to take home in this led workshop.
Suitable for 7+.
Book here – morning session or afternoon session.
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Week 6: Monday 24 – Saturday 29 August
Here’s One we Made Earlier £1
10.30am-12.00pm & 1.30pm – 3.00pm
A chance to create freely in classic Blue Peter style, using everything from fairly liquid bottles to toilet rolls! Help and suggestions will be given along the way.
