Class 2 Abbey House Museum

On Thursday morning last week the children in Class 2 visited the Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall as part of their topic on toys old and new.

 First we had a workshop with Sarah. She showed us lots of different toys. Some toys were old and some looked as if they might be old but actually they were new. We had to look very carefully and we answered lots of questions.

We found out that to make an old toy work you need to use one of the forces such as push or pull. This was an old wooden toy that you had to push at the bottom to make it move. It was like an acrobat.

Sarah also had a new version of the same toy which everyone had a turn with.

This was another toy that you had to push to make it move. You had to make the toy pop-up by pushing up from the bottom. We all enjoyed playing with these toys.

Next Sarah showed us a toy that uses the force of gravity to pull it down. It was a character on a ladder. Again Sarah had both old and new versions of this toy.

This was a really fun toy that made everyone laugh.

Sarah asked us to feel in the bag to see if we could guess what the next toy was.

It was a wooden cup and ball. You had to swing the string and catch the ball in the cup. We had three turn each and it was very tricky.

We looked a toy train that worked by clockwork. Sarah asked us all to curl up tight and imagine we were a clockwork toy. When we were wound up tightly we let ourselves go and moved our arms quickly like the wheels on a train, gradually slowing down to a stop like the toy.

Next we looked at some old dolls.

We all thought the doll on the right was old until Sarah showed us the doll on the left. Her hair is made from real human hair and her dress was worn through at the bottom.

There was then some time to explore the rest of the museum.

Everyone loved the dressing up area.

There was so much to see at the museum and it was very educational.

Went we got back to school some children in Year 2 started to build their own Victorian street in the playground, the same as they has seen at the museum.

It looks very cosy inside.

There is so much to see at the museum it is definitely a great place for a family day out at half-term or at the weekend. Parking is easy, there is a great playground and a lovely café and there are the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey on the other side of the road that are also worth a visit.