Half term adventures at Manchester’s museums and galleries

The world is at your fingertips through unmissable experiences at museums and galleries across the city. Visit this half-term to explore how Manchester has changed the world and how the world has changed Manchester through history, science, sport, art, ideas, creativity and people-powered collections.

The Science and Industry Museum

Discover amazing objects and world changing ideas at a safe and enjoyable visit at the Science and Industry Museum.

Play and explore in Experiment, an interactive gallery designed for the whole family to enjoy together. Stare into the mirror of infinity, find out if you've got the strength to lift a Mini, watch your own skeleton ride a bicycle and more.

Unravel science secrets with expert Explainers at Science Stops around the museum and uncover some of the incredible stories behind the historic site. Explore the Textiles Gallery in a fun and interactive way with a free children’s activity trail and find out how cotton transformed the city of Manchester.

Don’t miss the incredible story of our nearest star in The Sun, a blockbuster exhibition which is due to close on 29 November. Pick up a free activity trail and guide yourself through the exhibition’s stunning objects and digital interactives with fun games and challenges.

Get up close to a very early Rolls-Royce motor car, made in Manchester and driven by Henry Royce himself, just one of the big ideas on display in the Revolution Manchester gallery. Visit the Air and Space Hall, which will reopen from 24 October, and see the cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes that got industrial Manchester moving.

There will be lots for you to do, see and discover during half-term, however, certain areas of the Science and Industry Museum remain temporarily closed. Find more information about what you can expect to see on your visit at scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/whats-on.

Doors to the museum will be open every day over half term, between 10.00 - 17.00 from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November.

Plan your visit and book your free museum admission tickets before your visit.

People’s History Museum

Look out for family fun at People’s History Museum.

Explore two galleries full of treasures representing the ideas of those who have fought for rights and representation over the last 200 years; from the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester to global events in recent weeks.

Pick up and play I Spy with our free self-guided quiz. There are 16 treasures to find in this new and fun way to experience the national museum of democracy.

Where’s Wally? Join the search by taking the Kids in Museums challenge this half term to find the illusive Wally in the museum galleries. Purchase your copy of the all new Where’s Wally? book, Spooky Spotlight Search in the museum shop.

Try out new digital experiences that bring to life the stories of the 1888 Match Girls’ and the 1970s Grunwick strikes. Find yourself on the production line of the Bryant & May match factory in east London, where most of the workers were girls under the age of 15.

Visit family favourites, the suffragette kitchen and Co-op shop and play records on a vintage jukebox. Find new activities added in the galleries to encourage your young visitors to use their imaginations, and to move and shake around whilst learning about the people who have shaped our democracy.

There is also lots to do if you are looking for an interactive experience you can enjoy from home. Our award winning, Family Friendly museum has created imaginative ways to involve younger visitors with Doodle Den challenges, My First Protest Song sessions on Facebook and for the first time online is Bedtime story: Mr Ordinary’s Prize, for under 5s.

Find out how to register your free visit and what not to miss.

IWM North

Make the most of your family's visit to IWM North this October half term and get involved in our exciting and educational activities.

IWM North is packed full of stories but we need your wits and imagination exploring our collections and finding connections. Get hands-on with real artefacts and find moving and surprising stories from people who braved shark-infested waters to ingenious nurses and those who built machines of conflict. Story Seekers is a free activity, running from Saturday 24 October until Sunday 1 November. Drop in between 10am and 4pm to learn about the global effects of conflict, from the First World War to the present day.

Alongside our Main Exhibition Space and Big Picture Show, visit our new exhibition Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire, which brings together powerful stories from conflict zones to explore these challenges from an insider perspective.

Understand the global story from interviews of individual experiences in the field, displayed alongside photographs and unique objects – recorded and sourced specially for this exhibition. On your visit you’ll encounter a Médecins Sans Frontières Land Cruiser, an iconic vehicle associated with aid work, and the IKEA Better Shelter, an innovative shelter designed for refugees. See aid workers’ personal belongings and equipment which give an insight into the conditions they face, and the mental and physical trials of working in the field.

HOME

Find a magical, mystical world of stories and surprises with HOME this half term.

Storyteller Ella McLeod introduces Celina and the Spider, a series of three tales broadcast online, featuring handmade puppets and mythical gods.

When Asae Ya the Earth Mother, Nyame the Sky God, and Brother Death come to Anansi the Spider with a problem, the trickster’s usual genius strikes. They pay a visit to their best friends, Celina the Moon Goddess and make a plan to help their elders – with a healthy dose of mischief!

Join Anansi and Celina, as together they hatch a plot to have some Halloween fun....and change the world forever.

The series starts on Monday, October 26, and is suitable for ages 5 to 11. One ticket gets you access to all three sessions released across half-term and tickets are available on a pay-what-you-can basis.

Ella McLeod is a writer and performer who has recently been signed by Curtis Brown Literature and is currently working on her first novel, a Young Adult fantasy fiction.

National Football Museum

Football continues this half term with plenty of footie themed activities for families! There’ll be plenty of footie themed activities for families this half-term at the National Football Museum. The museum will open from Wednesday 28 October to Sunday 1 November for the October break (10am-5pm with last entry at 4pm).

Enjoy fantastic exhibitions, get your photograph with the museum’s Premier League trophy and learn about the Beautiful Game across four floors. New additions on the galleries include a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt with the Black Lives Matters message worn by player Jonny Castro Otto in a recent Premiership match.

Family activities include:

Production Line (October 28, 30 and November 1): Families can see more than 200 shirts in our Strip! How Football Got Shirty exhibition and then design their own in this Production Line activity. Be inspired by brash and beautiful shirts from different eras then create your own version under the guidance of the museum team. The very best designs will be entered into a competition and the ultimate creation will be turned into a real kit for the winner by manufacturers Owayo.

Pop-up Polaroids (October 29, 31): Make your own card polaroid camera inspired by the latest exhibition about women’s football. These crafty cameras will feature images from the Goal Click photographic exhibition which focuses on the biggest stars in women’s football.

Families can also test their nerve from the penalty spot. The museum has invested in a new projector in its Penalty Shootout making the experience from 12 yards even more realistic. Soak up the pressure of Wembley and go for glory… Two excellent family trails can be enjoyed. One looking at the two giants of Manchester football and a journey around the current Strip! football shirt exhibition. Pick up a leaflet in gallery or download your trail in advance.

Safety is the number one priority and visitors can be reassured that all family activities can be enjoyed safely with social distancing measures in place.

Tickets allow admission for twelve months and can be purchased in advance: nationalfootballmuseum.com/tickets

Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA)

For something a little different this half term, why not investigate one of Manchester’s hidden cultural gems. CFCCA’s two new and intriguing exhibitions investigate themes of belonging and citizenship in a globalised and hyper-connected society. Housed in CFCCA’s Northern Quarter galleries, the exhibitions are ideal for families with older children, and are just a few minutes walk from the Arndale Shopping Centre.

Multiplicities in Flux brings together works by contemporary artists Grace Lau and Eelyn Lee in a dialogue around identity and belonging. Lau’s series of photographic portraits 21st Century Types reflect the diversity of contemporary British society, while Lee’s film Britishness investigates the notion of what it is to be British.

Meanwhile, Autopsy of a Home by Omid Asadi explores the experiences and domestic spaces of migrants using the concept of heterotopia (literally meaning ‘other places’). When people are disconnected from their roots and familiar environment, cultures and communities are brought together, creating a unique and distinct reality.

Both exhibitions are free to attend and CFCCA’s galleries are open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am till 4pm. To find out more, visit: cfcca.org.uk.

Castlefield Gallery

Explore digital technologies this half-term, with Castlefield Gallery’s exhibition Soft Bodies.

Soft-body dynamics is a field of computer-generated graphics which creates simulations of soft materials such as muscle, fat, hair, vegetation and fabric. Increasing access to this kind of software has given artists new tools to make work; manipulating ‘digital clay’ in limitless space.

Art works made with these digital technologies are shown alongside photography, painting, drawing, and print in order to consider the shared limitations as well as the artistic potential of these mediums, in particular their ability to call forth worlds beyond their two dimensional surfaces.

This exhibition recognises that we all have a body and are all continually working out how we understand it, and how it informs our experience of the world. Art and technology can offer us tools to explore the world and ourselves.

Please be advised this exhibition contains content that may not be suitable for young children. For more information, visit castlefieldgallery.co.uk

Alongside our main exhibition, Castlefield Gallery is taking part in the 50 Windows of Creativity project with Wild at Art. 50 Windows of Creativity is a curated display of original artists’ work in windows and on walls throughout Manchester city centre. Castlefield Gallery’s window will be occupied with a work by Soft Bodies artist George Gibson. George Gibson is a Manchester based artist, Manchester School of Art graduate and one of our Castlefield Gallery alumni mentees. She is also part of Shy Bairns, an artist collective who curated the exhibition Fanspeak at the gallery last year.

It's FREE to visit Castlefield Gallery. You don’t need to pre-book, however visitor numbers are limited to ensure social distancing. You can find out more about our COVID-19 safe measures here.