Project update: in which we get to travel back in time

No mystery object this week, I'm afraid. They'll be back soon! Instead, we thought we thought we'd give you an update on some of the other things we're working on.

As well as writing this blog for you, we've been busy preparing some permanent resources which will eventually appear on the Geffrye's website.

The Geffrye is a museum of English homes, but not everything in its collection is English. We're putting together an interactive map of the world which will show you where objects in the Geffrye collection started their lives, so you can explore the world at home for yourself.

We've tried to do a little of this on the blog already, which is why we've been asking you where things are from and asking you to look for international objects in your own home.

This week, we've been finalising our designs for the map and collecting together some photographs of the objects. Early one morning the Geffrye's curators kindly let us into the galleries to take some of our own...

For a few brief minutes we got to pretend that we had travelled to English homes of the past! (With a digital camera, of course.)

Our permanent resources should be complete and on the website for you to enjoy in early May!

The New Adventures of Sam the Dog & Other Stories

Along with a gallery display in the Geffrye Museum, our project team is also creating a ‘World at Home’ experience for young visitors!

As well as two family days held over the Easter holidays (more information on this coming soon!), the Feely Box and Sam the Dog children’s trail are undergoing a World at Home makeover.

The Feely Box is an opportunity for families to handle objects linked to the museum, but without being able to see them. There are information cards so you can check whether you guessed correctly what the objects are. It’s a bit like our blog mystery objects but you get to actually touch the real thing! Each object will have some multicultural link, so as well as guessing what the object is, you can work out how it links to another culture.

The Geffrye Museum Feely Box

From 11th April you will be able to feel our 14 new objects in action, and learn a bit more about how different cultures have influenced the English home.

As an extra treat, the Geffrye’s Sam the Dog trail is being redesigned to get children thinking more carefully about how English their homes are.

Sam will appear in each of the Geffrye’s period rooms to ask and answer questions about where things came from.
 

Do you know where mirrors were being made in the 17th century? Or where chess comes from? From the start of May, children (and the young at heart) can join Sam as he goes on new adventures around the world to find out the answers!