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Two children dressed in green and white school uniform drawing a taxidermy grey squirrel in a clear box.
Two children dressed in green and white school uniform drawing a taxidermy grey squirrel in a clear box.

Schools & Education

Explore a rich collection of history and nature with educational workshops for all ages and subjects or bring the museum to your school with our loan service. 

Each of our workshops are available for up to 35 people, with discounted rates in brackets for less than 15 people. 

For more information on our learning programme, workshops and resources, please get in touch. 

Learning enquiry form

History Workshops

A white room with tall, white, lit display cases showing different artefacts behind glass. In the middle of the room is a white plinth with a round tabletop and a glass case that shows a model of a large white building. Behind that display is an orange block that has large silver letters fastened to it. The letters spell out ‘Secrets of the Past’.

Anglo-Saxon Bede Bags

KS1, KS2 | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

In this workshop, the class will be introduced to Bede, the renowned Anglo-Saxon historian and find out about life in St Peter’s Monastery through investigating our special ‘Bede Bags’. The bags explore the themes of life, books and writing, buildings and archaeology. 

A museum exhibit on the history of mining in North East England. A colourful textile banner featuring a portrait of an old man with a pipe sits behind a picket fence that has red jackets hanging from it. Gold text on the banner reads ‘National Union of Mineworkers, Durham Area’.

Coal, Glass and Ships

KS1, KS2 | 90 minutes | £75 (£37.50) | 60 minutes | £50

Investigate Sunderland’s industrial heritage from 19th to the early 20th Century in this interactive workshop, exploring photographs, artifacts and archive material. This workshop can be adapted to focus on certain local areas or a particular industry. 

A child with dark hair wearing a blue jumper sitting at a table and writing on a piece of paper.

Victoria Hall Disaster: Historical Enquiry Skills

KS2 | 90 minutes | £75 (£37.50) 

Investigate different historical evidence sources from the time of the Victoria Hall Disaster and compare their richness, reliability and relevance. Piece together the story of this important and often misunderstood disaster. 

A child dressed in a yellow jumper and blue skirt plays with a series of moveable cubes. Above the display 'Create a Bird' is written.

Toys: Past and Present

EYFS, KS1 | £50 (£25) 

Delve into our toy treasure chest in this hands-on workshop investigating the similarities and differences between old and new toys and take a toy trail through the museum. 

A large metal bridge stretches across a large body of water. To the left the image the sun is setting in the distance.

River Wear Story – a local study

KS2 | £75 (£37.50) 

Explore how the River Wear has impacted on people’s lives over the past 300 years from the ship building and coal mining industries to nature, sport and leisure. Handle artifacts and examine archive evidence to uncover key facts. 

Two individuals play with a dog on the sand. Behind them is an expanse of water with a brick structure and lighthouse.

Beside the Seaside: Seaside holidays in the past

KS1, KS2 | 90 minutes, £75 (£37.50) OR 60 minutes, £50 (£25) 

Learn how seaside holidays began. Find out what holidaymakers in Seaburn and Roker did, what they wore and what they ate. Examine objects and photographs from the handling collection and write your own postcard. 

A colourful exhibit in a museum. Orange pillars stand behind glass domes with items in display. Large blue columns stand behind the pillars and display retro posters and images.

Twentieth Century Homes

KS1 | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Examine objects to find out what life was like in the twentieth century, what has changed and what has stayed the same. 

A green table with a selection of objects, including trumpets, sheet music, Durham Miners Gala poster and a dark navy cap.

Museum in a Box

Loan boxes for 4 weeks | £50 per box  

Museum in a Box is Sunderland Museum’s loans box service which provides a variety of real and replica objects to support learning in classroom or community settings. Choose from Taxidermy, Decades, World Wars, Industry, Natural History, Victorians or general History. 

Nature Workshops

A large metal walkway supported by round metal columns. The structure is surrounded by tropical plants.

Growing Plants

KS1, KS2 | 90 minutes | £75 (£37.50) | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Pupils will discover what different plants need to grow well, learn about what plant parts do and explore seeds, including the Coco-de-Mer – the largest seed in the world. A 40-minute introduction is followed by a trail through the Winter Gardens and a chance to plant their own seeds back in the classroom. 

A adult and child look at a selection of bones in a display case.

Bones & Skeletons

KS2 | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Meet Professor Bonio, our replica human skeleton and learn why our bones are so important. Investigate the differences and similarities in animal skeletons through examining real animal bones. 

Two school children holding clipboards behind a rope. One is wearing a black top and the other a white polo shirt.

The Winter Gardens Ladybird Trail

EYFS, KS1 | Free 

A teacher-led resource that will help the class to explore green plants and what they need to grow and stay healthy. 

A large, towering silver sculpture with water flowing down it. It is surrounded by a winding metal staircase and green foliage.

Wonderful Water

KS1, KS2 | £50 (£25) 

Follow a droplet of water as it travels through the water cycle. Using the wonderful water backpacks, explore how water is used by plants, animals and people on a teacher-led activity trail throughout the Museum and Winter Gardens. 

A adult and child look at a taxidermy hare and skylark in clear boxes.

Animal Quest: Hares, Hedgehogs, Herring Gulls and Spiders!

EYFS, KS1 | 45 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Find out about our local wildlife – discover the habitats they live in and some of the adaptations they have to live in their environment. This session includes a 45-minute introduction from the museum team and a teacher-led session exploring our amazing animal bags. 

A green and yellow dinosaur standing on its back legs with its mouth open.

Dino Delights

EYFS, KS1 | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Bring your class for an immersive dinosaur adventure – listen to stories, examine fossils and enjoy dinosaur hat making and trails around the Winter Gardens hunting dinosaurs and fossils. 

Art Workshops

A brown and gold frame with a painting of group of wearing dark coloured clothing. The painting is hung on a pale pink wall.

Lowry Landscapes

KS1, KS2 | 90 minutes | £75 (£37.50) 

Discover a sense of time and place exploring our large collection of L.S Lowry’s paintings and drawings. Work together as a class to draw a landscape inspired by the session. 

A stone lion in the foreground and a round glass and metal structure in the background.

The Sunderland Sculptures Safari

KS1, KS2 | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Local legends, lion’s heads and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland – an interactive sculpture tour of Mowbray Park! We will use storytelling, art and drama to help pupils explore and understand the shape, form and texture of the sculptures. 

Rainforest Explorers Workshops

Two school children with clipboards and blue uniforms standing smiling in between tropical plants.

Rainforest Explorers: The Basics

EYFS, KS1, KS2 | £50 (£25) 

In an interactive 45-minute introduction, learn about the different layers of the rainforest, then set off on a quest around the Winter Gardens to gather evidence for Lola the lemur to help her prove the rain forest is worth saving! 

A group of children dressed in blue jumpers sit smiling and holiday clipboards.

Rainforest Explorers: Animal Adventure Tour

EYFS, KS1, KS2 | 60 minutes | £50 (£25) 

Learn about Rainforest habitats and the amazing variety of that live there and their adaptations, then try the Creature Feature challenge! 

Two blonder haired children sit down and write with pencil on a piece of paper attached to their clipboard.

Rainforest Explorers: Art Explosion

EYFS, KS1, KS2, KS3 | 90 minutes | £75 (£37.50)

Explore the amazing Winter Gardens on a sketching trail to draw rainforest leaves of different sizes, shapes and textures and how these adaptations help the plant thrive. Create large pastel drawings of leaves for a rainforest collage artwork.

A child with dark hair leans over an exercise book and writes in it.

Rainforest Explorers: Persuasive Writing

KS2 | 100 minutes | £75 (£37.50)

After a short introduction to rainforest habitats, set out on a fact-finding mission in the Winter Gardens to see why the rainforest should be protected for Larry the lemur and other animals at risk to inform a persuasive letter to the Prime Minister.