Museum of Making shortlisted for national Family Friendly Museum Award

The Museum of Making, one of three museums managed by Derby Museums, has been shortlisted for the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award, it was announced today.

Charity, Kids in Museums has run a prestigious annual award for 16 years, recognising the most family friendly heritage sites in the UK. It is the only museum award to be judged by families.

From late March to early June, families across the UK voted for their favourite heritage attraction on the Kids in Museums website. A panel of museum experts then whittled down hundreds of nominations to a shortlist of 16 heritage attractions.

The Museum of Making is vying against three other museums in the Best Medium Museum category.

Tony Butler, Executive Director of Derby Museums, said:

“We are honoured to have been shortlisted for this esteemed award from Kids in Museums, not least as the nominations have come from families themselves. Being nominated for this award is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and volunteer team, who work tirelessly to ensure that our family offer at the museums is relevant, welcoming and inclusive to all.”

The Museum of Making offers a world class visitor experience for families, made possible by its new and diverse team of passionate staff, ‘Visit Maker’ volunteers and experienced learning facilitators, all of whom create a warm welcome and personalised, impactful experience for families throughout their visit.

Admission to the museum is free, and families are encouraged to be curious, learn together and to try their hand at making, whatever their ability, inspired by the museum’s vast and unique collection of made objects and stories.

A vibrant programme of hands-on making activities, inspired by STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths), is available for families to participate in throughout the year. They can even curate their own collection tours around the museum’s huge open store of 30,000 objects, using the museum’s bespoke digital interactive, Trailmaker.

The museum offers special sessions for babies and tots to explore their senses and develop creativity and confidence through play, family workshops, drop-in events, on gallery-makes and maker encounters, as well as themed exhibitions, trails and tours, all of which seek to support young people and their caregivers in the development of 21st century skills, including creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.

The Museum of Making was highly commended for the Visitor Welcome Award at the 2022 Museums + Heritage Award, and is currently one of five museums shortlisted for the prestigious £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year Award 2022, in recognition of its innovative work inspiring future generations to learn, think and make. This is the world’s largest museum prize and the winner will be announced on 14th July.

Over the summer holidays, the museum will be visited by undercover family judges who will assess the shortlisted museums against the Kids in Museums Manifesto. Their experiences will decide a winner for each award category and an overall winner of the Family Friendly Museum Award 2022.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in October.

Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award on social media by following @kidsinmuseums and #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.

The Family Friendly Museum Award has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England.

More information about the family activities coming up at the Museum of Making, and planning a visit, can be found on Derby Museum’s website at: derbymuseums.org.

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