The National Museum promises to be a fun place for children to spend their summer vacation with a host of activities lined up over the summer at interactive playtime sessions. Interested students will be able to learn an ancient script (Arabic calligraphy), make replicas of some of the exhibits at the museum, become an archaeologist for a day, carve a Palaeolithic tool, act in a theatre production or even learn about the interesting ways in which artefacts have been preserved.
There will be story telling sessions, curated tours and creative writing workshops so as to develop an interest in art, history and craft among students and encourage creative pursuits.
The initiative by the museum is called Playtime at National Museum and with a long list of activities drawn up for different age-groups, there is something that is sure to strike the fancy of kids and get them away from videogames and television watching sprees.
Children aged between seven and 17 can take part in the event spread over 43 days, by registering on or before May 10 for the activities starting on May 17. Speaking about the initiative, Director General of National Museum Venu Vasudevan said the idea was to engage the younger generation with the museum’s collections and environment.
As there are limited seats for every event, registrations are being done on a first-come basis. While some events are free, some of them have a nominal fee between Rs. 100 and 400, informed Assistant Curator (Education) Rige Shiba, who is in charge of playtime activities.
During the same period a special temporary exhibition for children will also be organised in the Ajanta Hall that is being set-up by a team from Kolkata and is open to all.
The full list of activities and forms can be downloaded from the museum website.
