Learn - Other types of group

The museum is a great setting for all sorts of visits, not just schools. Whether you’re looking for educational opportunities for your youth group, holiday play scheme, Girl Guiding or Scout group, we can provide a great experience. You could explore the galleries, book a planetarium show or take part in a workshop. We’ll also help you take care of the practicalities: we can book you a packed lunch space and somewhere to store your bags, provide a hazard ID document to support your risk assessment, and can help you plan your visit. 

Make a booking enquiry here, or read on for more ideas and suggestions.

We offer a takeover day for home educators annually, support with Arts Awards year-round, and bookable workshops for home educating families. If you have access needs and wish to visit the museum at quieter times, you may be interested in our relaxed early openings. See the what's on page for our next relaxed early openings or head straight to our upcoming home educator activities. You can also email learning@greatnorthmuseum.org.uk to subscribe to our home educator mailing list.  

We can support your visit with a booked private lunch space (subject to availability), worksheets you can print, and bookable gallery explorer kits and story bags. Subject to availability, we can sometimes offer workshops or object handling sessions, giving your group the chance to get up close to the museum’s collection. If you’d like to add a private planetarium showing for your group, we can book this. This is the only activity in the museum that incurs a charge, starting at £37 for a group showing, find out more here. If you are a very small group, you can alternatively pay per-person on the day at the welcome desk, and join a public showing.

The museum makes a unique setting for your little one’s big day. Find out more about room hire and catering here.

Visits can support guiding and scouting groups in a multitude of ways: enriching a particular badge you’re working towards, encouraging informal learning or providing a fun venue for an end-of-term treat. We can support your visit with a booked private lunch space (subject to availability), printable worksheets and bookable gallery explorer kits and story bags. There is no charge for this. If you’d like to add a private planetarium showing for your group, we can book this. This is the only activity in the museum that incurs a charge, starting at £37 for a group showing, find out more here. If you are a very small group, you can alternatively pay per-person on the day at the welcome desk, and join a public showing.

Badges a visit can support: 

Rainbows could borrow one of our story bags and link the museum to your book lover badge, make up your own story for your storytelling badge, sketch some of our objects for your drawing badge, or investigate local and worldwide nature in our Living Planet and Natural Northumbria galleries for your nature badge. 

For Brownies, we have a wealth of opportunities to enrich your archaeology badge (Hadrian’s Wall, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Ice Age to Iron Age galleries), or strike two birds with one stone and explore your local history badge too. Get inspiration for your collecting badge by finding out the history of our collection. Visit the planetarium for an out of this world experience towards your space badge! 

Guides could take some really unique snaps in the museum for their photography badge. 

Beavers could borrow one of our story bags and link the museum to your book reader badge, take some snaps for your photographer badge or get inspiration for your collector badge by finding out the history of our collection.  Visit the planetarium  for an out of this world experience towards your space badge! 

Cubs could borrow one of our story bags  and link the museum to your book reader badge, find out more about environmental conservation by visiting Where did all the animals go and E plasticus, or develop their skills as an artist by sketching some of our objects. Bring your cameras and take some snaps for your photographer badge too. You can get inspiration for your collecting badge by finding out the history of our collection, and looking closely at our Living Planet and Natural Northumbria galleries specifically to support your naturalist badge. See ‘The amazing telescope’ in the planetarium to explore the night sky for your astronomer badge. 

Scouts can get creative, working towards their artist or photographer badges, with our objects as inspiration. Or, write about your visit for your writer badge. There'slocal knowledge, naturalist or environmental conservation badges. Visit the planetarium for an out of this world experience towards your astronomer or astronautics badges. Did you know we have a library too? Extend your visit to explore our book collection too and support your librarian badge.