The Western Australian Museum has announced a range of exciting school holiday programs at its six public sites. The programs and workshops will be held between 25 September 2010 and 10 October 2010. Please read below for details, or go to www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/ to see all scheduled programs.

Western Australian Museum - Perth

Giant sharks, gardens and tiny beetles at the WA Museum – Perth these school holidays

The Western Australian Museum – Perth will be a hive of free activity during the September school holidays – from creating gardens that are urban paradises to learning about sharks as big as buses and just what does live in leaf litter.

During the holidays, the Museum will celebrate Western Australia’s amazing biodiversity with a number of activities as well as a series of interactive talks by scientists and curators under a new partnership between the WA Museum and Woodside Energy.

Spotlight on species includes a giant board game, pledging to help conserve WA’s biodiversity and borrowing a ‘biodiversity backpack’ to explore the new native wetlands outside the Museum where visitors might just bump into a giant Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo. These activities occur across the school holiday period.

The Greatest Gardening Show on Earth is back with a series of free workshops to help people transform their gardens into urban paradises, slashing water and energy bills along the way. Two of the workshops will be held on the front steps of the Museum on September 25 and 27. For more information visit: www.greatgardens.info.

Explore! is a partnership between the WA Museum and Woodside Energy that invites families to visit the Museum- Perth during the holidays to team up with Museum scientists and curators to learn about underwater diving, sharks as big as buses, take a fresh look at two of the animals we fear the most: sharks and spiders, untangle the food web and hunt through leaf litter to find a host of small bugs.

Explore! sessions will be daily at 10.30am and 11.00am between September 26 and October 8. Further information regarding all activities and opening hours is available at: www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/.

 

WA Museum - Maritime & WA Museum - Shipwrecks

Super sharks to shipwrecks

From the wilds of Antarctica to the adventures of a stowaway, there is fun galore at the WA Museum – Fremantle sites these school holidays.

SUPER SHARKS
Western Australian Museum – Maritime: Victoria Quay, Fremantle
26th September – 10th October 2010 (excluding Wednesdays and Saturdays)
Activities between 10.00am and 2.00pm
Ages 4 to 12 years.

In Shark show and tell, children will join WA Museum curators to explore the great diversity of living and fossil sharks and rays and discover what is so important about these supreme marine predators.

Visitors can then try their hand at paper tole – the art of handcrafting three-dimensional pictures from flat prints - with the Super-Dimensional Shark activity. This involves creating a 3D version of their own shark by choosing between featuring reef sharks, or a whale shark and diver along with other colourful marine creatures.

Children can transform colourful craft foam into a foam shark to take home in Shark Craft – adding their own unique touch to these foam shark creations will be a must for each young sculptor!

In Shark Mask participants will continue their craft activities by decorating their own shark mask – complete with jagged teeth! Using a clever design assembly, this mask will sit on the head of their creator, transforming them into an awesome predator of the deep – the great white shark.

SHIPWRECKED!
Western Australian Museum – Shipwreck Galleries: Cliff Street, Fremantle
26TH September – 10th October 2010 (excluding Wednesdays and Saturdays)
Activities between 10.00am and 2.00pm
Ages 4 to 12 years.

Survivors ahoy – join in Shipwrecked! Children will find themselves shipwrecked on Traitor’s Island! With only one way out, participants will have to follow the clues and piece together the map to lead them out to the rescue ship – the Sardam. Will the map also lead them to Captain Crumb’s treasure?

While shipwrecked and stranded, children can join in Message in a Bottle where they can decorate their own bottle with a message.

SUPER SHARKS
Costs: visit www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/
Bookings: Not necessary
Contact: 9431 8334

SHIPWRECKED!
Costs: visit www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/
Bookings: Not necessary
Contact: 9431 8469

Programs are subject to availability. All children 12 years and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

For further information www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/

 

WA Museum - Albany

Splash Zones to Carnival of Cultures
From splash zone discoveries, bedazzling butterflies to a carnival of cultures there is fun for everyone these school holidays at the WA Museum – Albany.

MUSEUM DISCOVERY CENTRE
The Splash Zone will have great family activities, including Rocky Shores where visitors will use models to learn about the shoreline and the animals that live there.

By checking out the Museum’s marine tanks and specimen drawers in Coral Reef Kingdom participants can then create a coral reef diorama of creatures and plants.

In Bedazzling Butterflies children will learn so many things about butterflies – including that they taste with their feet and smell with their antennae? Children will choose their favourite butterfly to paint and other fun butterfly activities.

Carnival of Cultures will have participants looking at four different countries, their customs and traditions. Children can dress up in ethnic costumes, paint a mask and experience far off lands as they try the many other activities that celebrate the International Year of Rapprochement of Cultures.

MUSEUM OLD SCHOOL ROOM
In World Sojourn children aged five to 14 years can experience cultures of Mozambique, Bolivia, Indonesia, Swaziland and traditional Minang Noongar in four fun filled workshops where they will cook up a feast, make musical instruments, craft Zulu shields and create shadow puppets.

Visitors can have a go at using a grinding stone and finding out what bush foods make a traditional damper taste delicious. In Dust and Damper children will cook as well as learn how to decipher tracks when painting a colourful Indigenous work of art.

Participants can try their hand at the oldest game known to humankind – Congklak, a game of strategy and cunning played throughout Indonesia. In Making Makanan visitors will then make a delicious mie goring for an afternoon treat.

In Kalimba Cool participants will hear a traditional tale from Swaziland and learn how the Kalimba was given to humans by the gods. Visitors will craft their own Kalimba and learn to play a simple Swaziland melody - great fun for the young and young at heart.

Become a master puppeteer and fashion an exquisite Wayang Kulit in Ghosts of the Shadows. Children will then create a magical character to perform a traditional and funny Indonesian tale.

In Mozambique Mambo children will hear a traditional tale from the Zambezi and understand what a shield can reveal about a Zulu warrior. Children can then create their own Zulu shield to take home.

Visitors can delve into the world of the tracker in Tools, tracks and traces and discover how to how to read animal and human tracks. They can even try their skill at simple tool making and discover why the Balga tree is so important to Aboriginal Australians.

Visitors will hear stories of ancient Inca empires in Inca Incarnations and discover how they influenced Bolivia. Find out how weaving was a written language using signs, symbols and icons. Weave your own Bolivian fashion accessory. All the rage in Europe!

NB: Photograph opportunities available
DATES: Between 25 September to 10 October, 2010 excluding Wednesdays (activities on set dates).
AGES, COSTS & FURTHER DETAILS: Visit www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/ or call 9841 4844
BOOKINGS: Essential for most activities 9841 4844.

Programs are subject to availability. All children 12 years and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

 

WA Museum - Geraldton

IT’S ONE GREAT BIG WORLD

Uncover the amazing cultural diversity in the Mid West through fun events, workshops, and games at the WA Museum – Geraldton these school holidays.

Friendship Corner
The Friendship Corner is a place where children, family and friends can discover multicultural identities, languages and stories that make up our community.

Saying hello is the best way to make friends. In Say G’day the international way, visitors will learn to say hello in several different languages including the famous Australian way, G’day!

In Play the Game children will learn tic-tac-toe, the universal game that crosses all language boundaries. And in I can speak other languages! visitors will discover that some of the words they use every day originate from different languages – like hamburger!

Children will be delighted to see a Spanish flamenco dancer, a Zulu warrior dancer, a Scottish dancer, a French can-can dancer and a Turkish belly-dancer - five finger puppets waiting for them to join in Dancing around the world.

Where in the world will allow children to mark their family origins on a world map. By visiting the exhibition Shell-shocked – Australia after Armistice they will find out how to browse maps of the world to view WWI individual service records.

In Four corners of friendship visitors will learn classic games of friendship with a multicultural twist.

Museum Trails
Picture bingo! is a fun way for non-readers to play bingo. By looking for the colourful word bingo! to help them locate objects around the museum, children can then tick the matching images on the trail – and, bingo!

In Friends forever, readers will discover the bonds of friendships that emerged through the fun times and hard times in the Mid West - and the adventures people from the past had along the way.

Game On!
Children can bring their friends or meet new ones in the BIG games room at the Museum and have the time of their life.

Whether children join in building The BIG house of cards, playing The BIG naughts and crosses or The BIG jigsaw, children will have fun building, creating and learning together.

In Dot to dot visitors will play a BIG colourful version of the game everyone loves to play.
They can then test their memories in The BIG memory game or test their observation skills in The two of us – where things may look the same, but are they? And by unscrambling the BIG picture, children will see how many BIG dinosaurs they can see in The BIG picture puzzle.

Enter the Dragon Workshop
Children can have fun practicing the dragon dance with a real tai chi dragon. They will learn some tai chi moves including the dramatic kicks, making their own little dragon to take home. Bookings required.
ENDS

WHEN: Between 25 September to 10 October, 2010 excluding Wednesdays (activities on set dates).
AGES, COSTS & FURTHER DETAILS: Visit www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/ or call 99215080
BOOKINGS:No bookings required except for the Enter the Dragon Workshop, which can be booked on 9921 5080.

Programs are subject to availability. All children 12 years and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

 

WA Museum - Kalgoorlie-Boulder

The good old days!

In the early days of Kalgoorlie, life was very different, the pace was slower and technology development was still in its early stages.

Join in the school holiday activities at the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder and learn how to make things by hand.

Rosettes have been around for centuries and used in the same way badges are today; as name tags, to advertise, and many other uses. Children can have fun creating two of their own colourful rosettes to take home – one for themselves and one to give away. What will yours say?

Quilts are a warm and practical way to make use of small pieces of left over fabric and can be padded with old blankets, feathers or even wadding. Visitors can decorate their own piece of quilt and also decorate a piece to leave at the Museum.
You might like to practice your new found skills by quilting the quilt on the quilting frame.

Visitors can also learn the art of knitting or embroidery at the Museum. These creative and fun activities can keep people entertained on restful days. Visitors will learn how to knit and sew – and with practice they will even be able to “stocking stitch” while watching their favourite TV program.

NB: PHOTOGRAPH OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

WHERE: Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder
17 Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie.

AGES,
DATES,
TIMES &
COSTS: Vary with each activity – visit www.museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/school-holidays/
BOOKINGS: Essential for groups of 10 or more on 90218533.

All children 12 years and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Flora Perrella, Western Australian Museum: T: 9212 3856 M: 0424 027 646