Young people will take over adults’ jobs for the day at more than 130 venues – including some of the country’s most famous landmarks: St Paul’s Cathedral, the V&A Museum of Childhood, York Minster and Lincoln Castle.

From Devon to Dunfermline, keep your eyes peeled for toddler curators, teenage tour guides, primary school press officers and secondary school CEOs. You can follow all the action on social media using the hashtag #TakeoverDay.

We founded Takeover Day in 2010 to help heritage organisations engage young people and since then over 35,000 children have taken part.

Alison Bowyer, Director of Kids in Museums said: “This is the ninth year of Kids in Museums Takeover Day and each year it gets bigger and better. By letting children take over adults’ jobs, we want to inspire a new generation of museum lovers and workers, and give them the space and confidence to have their say about their heritage. This is just as valuable for the heritage organisations involved, which gain a new perspective on their work. We’re looking forward to a day of excitement, creativity and surprises on Friday!”

Here’s just a few of the events happening when kids are in charge this year:

  • The National Archives – 50 Year 5 students will work in a range of departments within the UK’s largest archive, from learning how they keep the most valuable documents safe for future generations to taking over the archives’ Twitter and Instagram accounts.
  • Tolhouse Gaol – YMCA Great Yarmouth will create an escape room within the Tolhouse Gaol, with a new take on the building’s history and stories.
  • Dorset County Museum – Being closed for refurbishment won’t stop children taking over Dorset County Museum! A total of 600 young people will split into two groups with one getting an exclusive tour of the new museum currently under construction and the other creating their own exhibition inside the temporary Inflatable Museum.
  • The Seaside Museum – A group of Year 5 superheroes, the Litter Vengers, will take over Kent’s Seaside Museum. The children have designed their own logo and badges and will create animations inspired by the museum’s Really Rubbish environmental exhibition.
  • National Museum Cardiff – A local primary school will visit Dippy the Diplodocus in Cardiff, testing out nature-themed workshops and creating short films to encourage visitors to care for the natural world.

Young people will also be taking over the Museums + Heritage Advisor website. They will write all the website’s news for the day, sharing what they’ve been getting up to at heritage sites across the UK.

Our Kids in Museums Youth Panel have been busy behind-the-scenes planning their own Takeover Day at Borough Road Gallery on Saturday 23 November. Their event, POSE! Making and Taking Portraits, is an afternoon of portrait making, with artist led sessions, a selfie booth for creating modern portraits, and talks from the curator.

Take a look at all the organisations that are taking part on our Takeover Day online map.

Show your support and join in the conversation on social media using the hashtag #TakeoverDay.