Children voyage with Darwin as junior naturalists these holidays!

by Australian National Maritime Museum on 11 Mar 2009
Discover Darwin school holiday program…12-26 April 2009 at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour.

Kids will experience what it’s like to be a junior naturalist these holidays at the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Discover Darwin autumn school holiday activities.

The fun-filled program is based on the museum’s major exhibition Charles Darwin - Voyages and ideas that shook the world and will see kids pick up a magnifying glass and use microscopes to collect, sort and classify different plant and animal specimens.

Kids can also track Darwin’s voyage around the world. They’ll learn about the countries his visited including the Galapagos Islands and South America, and discover which animals from these countries led him to develop his ground-breaking theory of evolution.

There’ll be dress ups too… what should a young naturalist wear when out exploring?

The hourly sessions will run daily during the school holidays between 10 am and 4 pm. Tickets are $7 per child, adults free. Recommended for children aged 5-12 years.

And don’t miss our intrepid roaming explorer and his pet Beagle as he takes families on interactive, guided tours of the Charles Darwin exhibition… learn more about the animal and plant oddities Darwin encountered, explore a full-scale replica of Darwin’s cabin on board the Beagle and imagine what it would have been like at sea for 5 years!

The tour will also take you to Darwin’s Glasshouse with some amazing living plant specimens from orchids to insect-eating plants and climbers…. all examples of the flora Darwin wrote about in his famous book On the Origin of Species.

The character-led tours will take place weekdays only at 11 am, 12 pm and 1 pm, free.

Darwin also came across some remarkable animals during his voyage including exotic birds, crabs, turtles, seals and other sea creatures. Now you can become one of the animals he studied with our animal face painting sessions on Sunday 19 and 26 April between 11 am and 2 pm (entry included in Discover Darwin holiday ticket).

The museum’s exhibition Charles Darwin – Voyages and ideas that shook the world takes visitors on the sea voyage which inspired Darwin’s great theory. It includes some wonderful interactives for kids to learn more about the 1831-36 voyage and the oddities which inspired Darwin, and the voyages that followed.

Entry to the museum’s galleries, including Charles Darwin – Voyages and ideas that shook the world, is free. Tickets to the museum’s holiday program are $7 per child, adults free.

The National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, is open daily from 9.30 am to 5 pm. All inquiries, (02) 9298 3777 or visit www.anmm.gov.au.