I LOVE museums... always have, always will. But my absolute FAVOURITE type of museum is the 'hands on, get involved, handle, touch and try out' kind of museum.
And so The Rural Life Centre in Farnham was right up our street!
It's an open air, living history museum, which means, if you go on the right day, you can meet "real" people from the past who will fill you in on all those little tidbits of interesting history.
We went during the winter season, which meant it was quiet. Like, seriously quiet. Which, for us with our two littl'uns, was absolutely perfect. We moseyed around the different "homes" at our own pace - a prefab, a gypsy caravan, a shepherds hut, a school house, a forge (with a live, working blacksmith!), an Anderson shelter... and much, much more... you name it, it was there!
We were welcomed by a very friendly receptionist who explained how it all worked, took our money (adults are £8.50 each, but children under 5 are free - well worth every penny), and gave us a map. She also gave a thrilled Ava a special "spot it" sheet to fill in, with the promise of a special badge at the end if she could find some of the things pictured while we were exploring the exhibits. A simple activity, which in one fell swoop is accessible for 2 year olds, while still being lots of fun for older kids (I'm sure my Year 6s would have loved it too!)
The buildings are all local, and have been moved to the museum for their preservation. You can walk through them, handle artifacts, attempt little challenges like puzzles and small building projects, and try on clothes...
Just about as perfect a museum as you can get for our 2 year old... and a baby for that matter...
We stopped off for lunch in the cafe. The food was simple but good and great value. Our girls devoured their fish fingers and chips!
After lunch, we wandered further: Ava particularly enjoyed the school house...
And we finished up in the vintage playground...
It was a fantastic day out - we arrived around 11am, and headed home about 2.30pm... a perfect, winter's day out!
Join up your wintery/springtime posts for #SavouringtheSeason below, and let's make the most of what is hopefully the last few weeks of a very wet and windy winter!!
Please do pop over to the other blogs and say hello!
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Aww looks like you had a fantastic day, what a great place! Love the pic of Ava in the old clothes, so cute!! #savoutingtheseason
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely day out. Like the look of the vintage playground :)
ReplyDeleteWow this looks awesome, we were going to go but a few reviews said it was really boring / not much to do so we never bothered! Might have to check it out now - the playground looks lovely x
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a fabulous day. I would love something like that as it really allows little ones to experience history through touching objects and playing.
ReplyDeleteOooh this isn't too far from us, my little boy would love it! Thanks for sharing :) #savouringtheseason
ReplyDeleteI like the name of the truck! 😉 xx
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that's just down the road from us and we didn't even know it existed! x
ReplyDeletethat looks like a lovely day out. x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post. You're photo's are lovely! We've been to similar places before and have enjoyed them!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for linking up! This place looks wonderful and i love the look of the old school house. I love vintage desks x
ReplyDeleteA family day out with something for everyone! What better way to learn about the past then experience it hands on. Thanks for linking up and sharing your lovely photos with Country Kids.
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