Why take part?

Our Takeover Day was part of the work we are doing to bring more playfulness to our programming and interpretation for our museums and ships, After taking part in the Kids in Museums Play in a Socially Distanced World project, we identified that a key part of our play journey was to observe play and learn from the experts on what they find inspiring and fun. Play is such an important part of wellbeing so it seemed to be a perfect match for the national theme for 2022.

We have been lucky enough to work with Kids in Museums so always keep an eye on new initiatives and opportunities. We have taken part in the Takeover Day in the past and were excited to try something new.

Who took part?

We worked with families from the Portsmouth Home Education Group. We wanted to involve a wide range of ages and had children taking part from the age of 1-13. Twenty families took part in two sessions on Takeover Day. This included 40 young people, as well as their parents, so around 60 people altogether. We already had a relationship with the group which really helped with us setting up the day.

Tell us about your planning and budget for Takeover Day.

Due to other commitments, the planning timeline was quite short! I initially approached them at the end of October so it was quite a quick process, but we had existing links with the group. After the group agreed to take part I was able to plan the day based on the ages and needs of the children involved. Most of the communication with the group was over email which worked well. There were a few meetings between staff members to talk about the logistics of the day.

The main expense for the day was buying some new cameras for the children to use to record things they found exciting and inspiring. We bought VTech Action Cams and VTech instant print cameras which cost around £250. This allowed all children to take part in the day regardless of their age. The cameras are a great investment and will be used for other activities and consultations.

Staff time was fairly minimal. I spent some time in advance on things like arranging the group, completing the Content Planner, making up the observation sheets and writing the risk assessment. On the day, the groups were managed by me and two volunteers.

What did they do on the day?

“The energy that the children brought made me look at HMS Victory in new ways and really inspired me to think differently about how to make a visit more playful. The children were fantastic Play Consultants and I hope that this was just the beginning of a creative and collaborative process where we can work with true play experts to develop new resources and activities.”

The children acted as Play Consultants on board HMS Victory. The sessions involved visiting the ship and playing! During the sessions we used a range of prompts to help the children to explore in different ways, including Question Cubes, torches, illuminated magnifying glasses and shadow puppets. As they went around the ship, we observed different types of play – exploratory, symbolic, object, social, recapitulative and communicative – to gain a better understanding of what they chose to do. They also created play inspiration boards using the photographs they took, pictures they drew and ideas they wrote down to suggest ways they would like to play.

The children were able to take and instantly print pictures of things on the ship they found interesting or fun. Younger children wore action cameras to give a child’s eye view. Others took the cameras and recorded their own ‘tours’ of the things that captured their imagination.

After the visit the group had a chance to sit down and have a ‘tea break’ with refreshments. We gave them a special goodie bag and certificate to thank them for their work. The day was really fascinating and the children thoroughly enjoyed their roles as Play Consultants.

What happened next?

We learnt so much about how children play on board and how we can incorporate their ideas into our resources and programmes. I discussed with the parents about running some follow up sessions where we can take some of the ideas and observations and think of ways we can use them on board HMS Victory and our other ships and galleries. They were really keen for this to happen so we will plan those in. The format of anything we create should be led by the children so that is yet to be determined!

The feedback from the parents and children was very positive and there was lots of excitement about visiting the ship in a new way and the potential for play.

Any learnings or top tips to share?

There were two things that stood out to me on the day. The first is the power of observation. It is not always something you can do during a session or event, but with the focus being on the children taking the lead, the adults could concentrate on observing and recording their experiences. When I plan another session I would actually involve more staff members and volunteers to be able to capture more observations.

The second thing was the success of the children taking the lead on what they wanted to see and explore. Using the cameras meant that children of all ages and abilities could offer their insights and contribute their ideas.

Tags: , ,

Categories:

Audience: