Events
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Easter Fun - Toy Stories
Under Fives Activities
Workshops and Talks
York Museums Trust Book Club
Easter Fun - Toy Stories
29 March - 14 April
Come and play this Easter holiday! Bring the whole family to rediscover some of your favourite childhood toys in our new exhibition, Toy Stories.
Play together in our exciting Castle inspired play area, watch our 100-year-old carousel turn round or head off on the children's Teddy Trail around the exhibition.
Toy Stories activities
10am - 4pm, daily
Making sweets
Discover your sweet tooth in our Kitchen Studio where we will be demonstrating how to make fruit jelly sweets.
Design your own sweet box inspired by the ones in our collection.
Optical toys
In our Collections Studio explore optical and moving toys from the Victorian era such as the zoetrope, thaumatrope, magic lamp and stereoscope.
An evacuee's suitcase
Peep into an evacuated child's wartime suitcase in the Military Studio and see what they would have taken to the countryside during the Second World War.
Pre-school children and their parents/carers are invited to join us for a host of new activities tailored just for them.
For full details Download our new Activities & Events for Under 5's brochure
Museum Monkeys
Thursdays 18, 25 April, 2, 9 and 16 May, 10.30am - 11.30am
Saturdays 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 June, 10.30am - 11.30am
Five-week blocks of activity sessions for one to five-year-olds and carers. A perfect introduction to York Castle Museum with songs, stories, games, and lots of other fun activities.
Each week will have a different theme - see our brochure for details.
£4 per child per session - or book five sessions and get one free. Telephone 01904 650333 to book.
Story Telling
10.30am - 11am, free
Mrs Mopple's Washing Line
17 April
The Highway Rat
24 April
Farmer Duck
1 May
Bill in a China Shop
8 May
Little Red Hen
15 May
Burglar Bill
22 May
Saturday Afternoon Kids' Kitchen Club
1.30pm - 2.30pm
Bring children to our working Kitchen Studio to help make historic recipes.
Sugar Mice
8 June
Anzac Biscuit
15 June
Loveheart Sweets
22 June
Please note that all workshops with a charge should be paid for when making a booking (unless otherwise stated in the information below).
If you need to cancel, we will refund your payment as long as you contact us at least 24 hours before the starting time of the event. We reserve the right to cancel any events if there are insufficient bookings.
Elizabethan Embroidery
22 April, 10am - 4pm
Elizabethan embroidery is styled on scrolls and roundels and is rich in colour. It features plants, flowers, birds, animals and insects and uses a variety of historical embroidery stitches. The class run by The Silver Thimble, is ideal for beginners and improvers.
£16 including materials. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
Summer Fruit Basket Making
27 April, 10am - 3pm
Make your own shallow, round, fruit or bread basket, starting with the base then moving up to the sides. Learn about different types of willow, its preparation and qualities and some simple weaving techniques
This course is suitable for those with some experience or those with none.
£30 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
Fabric Corsage/ Bouquet Workshop
11 May, 10am - 3pm
Create a modern and contemporary floral wedding bouquet or corsage from felt, fabric, beads and buttons.
Tutor Danielle Dodsley from Sew in the City will talk through a variety of styles to choose from and demonstrate hand embellishment techniques.
£25 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - How we Care for our Collections
15 May, 2pm - 2.45pm
How we care for an object can help extends its life for future generations to enjoy. Come and meet Katie Brown, assistant curator, who will share her curatorial secrets.
Free. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
Keeping Healthy in Victorian England
12 June, 11am - 11.45am
This talk will explore the history of Saville's Pharmaceutical Chemist's shop in our Victorian street, Kirkgate, as well as other pharmacies in York, as well as looking at Victorian medical remedies.
Free. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
Sock Toy Making
15 June, 10am - 1pm
Choose from a selection of socks and other materials and make your own cuddly toy in this fun workshop inspired by our new Toy Stories exhibition.
£5 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
Under Your Hat: Exploring York's heritage of hat making, wearing and selling
6 July, 10am - noon
Discover our fascinating collection of hats with award winning curator and conservator Mary Brooks, who helped create Plummers, our the milliners' (or hat) shop on our Victorian Street, Kirkgate.
Find out why we wear hats today, looking at social etiquette, gender and power; how beaver and bird populations were decimated as their fur and feathers were plundered in the name of fashion; about the myth of the mad hatter in the poisonous history of hat-making and York's unique history of hats.
£10 per person. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
We're all going on a summer holiday...
17 July, 10.30am - 11.15am
We all love a holiday, but is this just modern fashion or is it part of our heritage?
Find out how the tradition of holidays developed and explore our collection of historical beachwear.
Free. To book, telephone 01904 650333.
York Museums Trust Book Club
Second Saturday of the Month, 3pm - 4.30pm, various venues
A Book Club with a difference - all these books have been chosen to highlight aspects of York Museums Trust's historic collections. As well as discussing each month's book, every Book Club session includes an opportunity to handle or get close to collection objects.
Free, but please book by telephoning 01904 650333.
Books, dates and venues
A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines by Barry Hines
13 April, at York Castle Museum
And our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos by John Berger
11 May, York St Mary's
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel
8 June, Yorkshire Museum
Drawing Fire: The Diary of a Great War Soldier and Artist by Len Smith
13 July, York Castle Museum
"I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to York Castle Museum this half term. I am a 14-year-old student and have visited York Castle Museum since I was 2 years old. This visit was just as enjoyable as the first and York Castle Museum is still my favourite museum."
Visitor to York Castle Museum
