The Museum of Liverpool delivers several supervised public sessions in Little Liverpool every day. Little Liverpool is often visited by children on visits from schools, local nurseries and child-minding groups. We worked with around 500 local children to develop the look, feel and focus of the gallery and applied the principles of Reggio Emilia to embed a child-centred approach through creative, child-directed spaces and sightlines.
Before our visitors enter Little Liverpool, they are introduced to Winnie the Spider, a friendly character who not only welcomes them to the session but also helps children navigate the rest of the museum. Sessions are around 30 minutes and, apart from a child-focused introduction and welcome and a dance and tidy-up at the end, they are very much self-led.
ACTIVITIES
- Among the exhibits is a Liverpool-themed water interactive known as Liverpuddles, in which children can sail boats, run dinky cars through tunnels and fish for marine creatures. At its most basic this is an opportunity to splash and have fun while developing both gross and fine motor skills, but it is also a great prompt to talk about Liverpool’s iconic waterfront. I might show them how to manoeuvre boats through the replica dock system and then point out the real thing from our window. The tabards which the children wear are decorated with the uniforms of the various jobs on the Mersey.
- Our pre-walkers and their carers have a cosy multisensory area called the Liver Bird’s Nest where they can explore the sounds and sensations of the nest, discover toys and treasure baskets or watch the activity around them.
- Objects from our collections can be found within an interactive A to Z, beautifully illustrated by local school children.
It was important to us that Little Liverpool should not look or feel notably different from the rest of the museum and must therefore include real objects. However, the gallery wasn’t designed as a place to just hold young children or keep them away from older visitors; instead we hope it serves as a safe space to introduce them to stories, themes and ideas we share elsewhere in the museum and acts as a springboard to explore further.
It is crucial therefore that the rest of the museum feels just as accommodating for this audience. Young visitors will find many displays at their own eye level (this often comes with the excitingly rare opportunity to be the one revealing something to which their carers haven’t spotted), games and interactives, as well as plenty of space around key objects for large groups or those who just need the space for buggies or active toddlers to gather and be able to linger.
We bring our Little Liverpool sessions to a close with a sing, dance and stretch about with our in-house band The Beetles! An animatronic insect version of the Fab Four, their catchy song was specially written for Little Liverpool. Any budding performers might be directed up to our karaoke booth in our Wondrous Place gallery after they leave where they can pick a favourite track.
We hold specially designed Little Liverpool sessions for those aged three and under. We also hold Relaxed Mornings with reduced ambient sound, sensory resources and ear defenders available.
Later this year, we are launching Little Liverpool Specials, which are enhanced sessions with a focus on art or transport.
THE MUSEUM OF LIVERPOOL
Number of visitors: 2.5 million to National Museums Liverpool, a group of three museums.
Collection: Focused on Liverpool and its people, with displays reflecting the city’s urban and technological evolution, social history and with a dedicated Beatles collection.
Early years offer: Little Liverpool is an award-winning dedicated gallery for visitors aged under six, attracting 30,000 per year.
