Educational visits to the Brickworks Museum

UNIQUE – ENGAGING – INTERACTIVE – FUN

At The Brickworks we are committed to making our museum appealing to a wide range of educational groups.  We aim to make your visit enjoyable and memorable and have a wealth of experience working with people of all ages and abilities.

To find out more, click on the links below, or to discuss your requirements or to make a booking contact our Education Manager at education@thebrickworksmuseum.org

We offer an exciting range of workshops for children of school age

We have a wealth of experience working with people of all ages and abilities

School Visits

We offer an exciting range of workshops for school aged children, supporting the National Curriculum. Please contact our Education Manager for further information, to make a booking or to discuss your requirements at education@thebrickworksmuseum.org

Investigate science and materials with us through the story of the Three Little Pigs. Featuring a tour of the museum and interactive storytelling, this messy workshop explores straw, sticks and brick as building materials.

Which house is strongest? We find out using fair testing… and a leaf blower. Where do you think the little pigs would want to live?

Science; Design Technology | Materials; Technical Knowledge

Brick use boomed after the fire – find out why in this interactive workshop exploring the history of the fire and the impact it had on the way we build our homes.

History | Events beyond living memory; The Great Fire of London

Who built the Brickworks? This evidenced based workshop uses maps, artefacts, and documentary evidence to explore the Victorians. Why did they build here? What was their life like? Who were they? We get hands-on with history to learn about the people of Victorian Swanwick.

History | Local History; Post-1066 study

Find out how we made 20 million bricks a year on an interactive tour of the brickworks, then get hands-on with heritage and engineering in our brick bundle lab. Can you build a bridge over the river? Load the brick barge? Build an arch? And make the brick bond patterns? This is a fun and informative workshop exploring engineering and building.

Design Technology, Mathematics | Technical Knowledge; Measurement; STEM

Meet some of the creatures that live around the Brickworks – from bats to bugs. What habitats do they like to live in? What makes a good home? Use your findings to make a clay pipe for a bug hotel. These can be fired, taken back to school and set up in your grounds.

Science | Living Things and Their Habitats

What makes a good brick? Study some examples of bricks that are good, bad and ugly to find out. Then make your own brick mix – scientifically measured and recorded. Which brick mix will Mr Ashby, founder of the brickworks, like the best?

Science | Materials

A secret lies in the brick clay at the museum – fabulous fossils from millions of years ago. Tour the Brickworks and see how fossils came to be in the clay, then make your own from plaster and clay.

Science | Rocks; Evolution and Inheritance

Use the museum as inspiration to create your own clay tile to take away. Identify textures, shapes and patterns in our machines and collections to build a unique piece of artwork that reflects your industrial explorations. We are also a registered Arts Award Centre, offering the Discover Award.

Art

Costs

Visits are charged at £5 per child for half day visits and £7 for full days. The minimum charge for a group visit is £50. The optional kiln firing of bricks, bug hotel ‘pipes’, and other clay items made during workshops costs £1 per item. Arts Award certificates are also charged in addition to the workshop – please ask for up to date pricing.

Facilities

We have ample coach and car parking, outdoor and indoor picnic areas and two play spaces for children. There are two warm education spaces, one for messy activities and another for good clean fun!

Special Needs Groups

Helping Hands

We offer unique, tailored learning experiences for adults and children of all abilities. From interactive engaging tours to hands-on brick-based workshops and brickmaking. The Museum has a range of interactive and tactile displays, and our team are Makaton trained and Dementia Friendly.

Get in touch today for a chat about what we can offer your group at education@thebrickworksmuseum.org

Demential Friends & Arts Award