National Museum Wales, National Videogame Museum in Sheffield, Cooper Gallery in Barnsley, and The Glucksman in Ireland have all been recognised for their fun family activities during lockdown, from storytelling for toddlers to making a museum on Minecraft.
The Whitworth in Manchester also received the Going the Extra Mile award for its art workshops to support families that have experienced baby loss.
We have held our annual Family Friendly Museum Award for the past 15 years, recognising the most family friendly heritage sites in the UK. This year we created a special award to celebrate the extraordinary effort museums made to adapt to lockdown and support families. We asked families and museums to share their favourite lockdown activities – whether it was a film, quiz, game, craft or something else!
We received over 400 nominations for the award from all over the world. In July, an expert panel whittled down these nominations to a shortlist of 26 museums.
Over the summer, families tested out the activities and their feedback, along with an expert panel, decided the five winners of each category, as well as five highly commended awards.
Philip Mould, art dealer, broadcaster and Kids in Museums President, said: “It is a pleasure to today celebrate how museums and heritage sites have sprung into action and brought culture to families during this challenging time. Our winning museums have not only helped families with home schooling, but also supported their wellbeing and helped them have fun together. Once again we’ve been shown just how valuable the museum sector is to us all. Many congratulations to all our worthy winners.”
Here is the full list of families’ favourite lockdown activities:
Best Film
Winner
- Cooper Gallery, Barnsley – Wow Wednesdays
Highly Commended
- University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge – Zoology Live! Online Festival
Best Social Media Activity
Winner
- National Museum Wales – Minecraft your Museum
Highly Commended
- Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft – Virtual Museum Club
Best Website Activity
Winner
- National Videogame Museum, Sheffield – Create Your Own Pixel Art Character
Highly Commended
- National Galleries Scotland – Home is Where the Art is
Best International Digital Activity
Winner
- The Glucksman, Republic of Ireland – Creativity at Home
Highly Commended
- Andy Warhol Museum, USA – Warhol Making It Videos
Going the Extra Mile
Winner
- The Whitworth, Manchester – Still Parents
Highly Commended
- Colchester and Ipswich Museums – Museum From Home Activity Packs
- Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books, Newcastle Upon Tyne – Something to Smile About: Supporting Families in East Newcastle
To find out more about each activity and why they won, take a look at our Twitter Moment.
We hope to welcome back the Family Friendly Museum Award in its usual form next year.
The Family Friendly Museum Award From Home has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England.