Portsmouth’s Mary Rose shortlisted for national award for its lockdown activities

Posted: 5th August 2020

Kids in Museums has run a prestigious annual award for the past 15 years, recognising the most family friendly heritage sites in the UK. This year, the charity asked families and museums to vote for what they thought was the best online activity for families during lockdown. A panel of museum experts whittled down over 400 nominations to a shortlist of 26 museums.

The Mary Rose Museum was recognised for its ‘Things To Make and Do’ online activities, which have helped to entertain children and families during lockdown. These have included a range of fun and educational arts and crafts activities, from origami tankards to making your own Tudor compass dial as found on board the ship. The Mary Rose also suggested scientific activities, such as making your own Cartesian diver out of Lego, among many others.

Helen Bonser-Wilton, Chief Executive of the Mary Rose Trust, says: ‘We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this prestigious national award. Since closing our doors in March, the lockdown has been a challenging time for the Mary Rose - but our online activities have kept children and families engaged and entertained throughout. This is testament to our inventive and hard-working team, and we all look forward to finding out the results later this year!’

The Mary Rose Museum is vying against four other museums in the Best Website Category for its ‘Things To Make and Do’ online activities.

Over the summer holidays, family judges will try out all the activities and their feedback will decide a winner and highly commended award for each category. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in October.

Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award From Home on Twitter by following @kidsinmuseums and #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.

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