24 Hour Museum

Charity Awards

'What we did for the Romans'

Many museums and galleries have great online children's content but it is sometimes hidden deep within impenetrable adult websites. The 24 Hour Museum, a website highlighting the UK's museum and gallery resources, wanted to better connect children with their cultural heritage, so in November 2003 launched a kids' zone of its website, http://www.show.me.uk/.

Show Me brings together the best educational games, activities and competitions from the websites of the UK's museums and galleries. Now, if children are doing a school project on the Romans, for example, they can go straight to the website and look it up. There, among other things, they can play an online game from the Roman Baths Museum and be able to find out 'what the Romans did for us' from Newcastle's Museum of Antiquities.

The number of children using the website has surpassed expectations with 30,000 visitors a month. It is even being used more at weekends than during the week, which shows that children are logging on at home in their spare time.

The site helps get away from the sense that some children have that museums and galleries aren't for them, that they are stuffy and remote institutions, says chief executive Jane Finnis. We are proving that kids are interested in this sort of thing if it is presented in the right way.

A round up of forthcoming events helps children to find out what is going on in museums and galleries around the UK. "We also want to connect children to museums and galleries in the real world," says Finnis.

Jane Finnis
Chief executive
5 Frederick Terrace
Brighton
BN1 1AX
01273 820052
Reg no. 1085847
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/ (http://www.show.me.uk/)

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