...a bit like a Chocolate Orange

The opportunity to get objects out of the cabinets in the Hands-on Base

in the Horniman Museum is irresistible to most visitors,

Kids and adults alike.

"Can I have a go with those wind instruments?"

Knowing that I couldn't let him, for health and safety reasons,

(imagine how many people would have put their lips to that flute, if we had let them)

I tried to distract him with these East African Thumb Pianos made with gourds.

They make a brilliant sound.

It didn't work, he wasn't interested,
"OK. Quite cool",

...not until this caught his eye, a shaker made from Brazil nuts.

The sound it made was really quite amazing,

surprisingly whooshy, "awesome" and not clinky.
He's impressed and having a good time.

I remember something and ask him, "Do you know how Brazil Nuts grow?"
We head over to another cabinet.

"In a pod, a bit like a Chocolate Orange."

As I said this, I remembered that I had a Chocolate Orange at home,

in the bottom of my wardrobe, an un-needed Christmas present.

He goes and gets his wife and daughter to show them too.

It seems to have captured their imagination.

I then send them off to the Natural History Gallery to check out the Agouti,

"the only creature apart from us, who can get into a Brazil Nut Pod".

I expect large teeth, but am surprised by the whiskers.

I love the blue background.

I think I'll add this to my collection of photos of museum walls,

along with the yellow behind Chi Chi the Giant Panda which you can read about, here.

At home I find that Chocolate Orange,

 and tell my family all about how Brazil nuts grow.

I should have perhaps shared my chocolate orange, all in the name of learning in museums,
but food and drink are not allowed in the galleries, it encourages pests.

Discovery for All at the Horniman Museum is every Sunday morning in the Hands-on Base.

Details on the website, here.

Chocolate Oranges best left at home.

Questions!

Answering a question with another question can be really frustrating, especially when people do it to avoid answering one.

Topeng Jauk Mask, Bali, Indonesia

However in museums, it can help kids work out and discover things for themselves. Help them to 'get it', to answer the questions they ask in the first instance.

Cham Mask, Tibet

When I was asked by some kids what this blue mask above was made of, we took at look at the back.

"Have you ever broken a bone?"

"Oh yeah!!! It's like the bandages they put on you in hospital."

It was indeed made of fabric and plaster.

"So you mustn't get it wet." I was advised by a well-informed child.

Topeng Sidar Mask, Bali, Indonesia

I don't know what he's finding so funny!

Ogre Mask, Java, Indonesia

Do you ever look at the back to see what something is made of?

This half-term you can check out theses masks.
And touch them, they are not behind glass.
They are in the Hands-on Base in the Horniman Museum. Find out for yourself what they are made of in the handling sessions, Discovery For All, on Sundays and in the school holidays. For opening times and more details, check out their website here.

Presenting dolls from around the world, but nothing for the One Direction fan.

"I love dolls", began our conversation, between myself and a nine year old visitor.

So I showed her this cabinet in the Horniman Museum. 

Raffia Doll & Stick, Zambia, Africa

 "Oh, they're so cute."

"What! even that one." I'm not sure I should have passed judgement.

Cute isn't a word, I'd have used.

"That looks like Snow-White."

 I can see where she's coming from.

North America

Poland

 "I love the colours and the pattern. Look at her hair, it looks really beautiful."

Japan

"You could try doing your hair like that at home", I suggested.

"Oh but I've only bought five bobbles with me."

She told me all about visiting her Aunt and Uncle in South East London for the school holidays and she hadn't packed the kind of hair accessories needed to replicate this Japanese doll's hairstyle.

China

 But she wouldn't have minded borrowing these shoes to try on her dolls at home.

We had a great chat about dolls.

That conversation progressed a lot further than the teenager who put me firmly in my place, halting any attempt I made to help her to engage with the collection.
Me, keenly, "What are you interested in?"
She cut me dead with, "One Direction", oh, and a grunt.

There wasn't anywhere I could go with that reply. There are no One Direction dolls in the Horniman Museum, although I believe they do exist.

All the dolls pictured above can be found in the Horniman Museum's Hands-on Base, Discovery For All session, open Sundays.

Details on their website here. 

On top of cabinet five...

I'd never noticed them before...
...not until a man asked if he could possibly take a look at the boomerangs on top of cabinet five.

There were two. Very unassuming.

Carved strips of wood.

But you would be amazed at how heavy they are. I didn't expect the weight, nor the chat...

"Must be hard-wood?" 

He began, "...the craftsmanship, all hand-carved, no machines, look at the uneven surface.

"Perfect aerodynamics, the curve of the top surface, greater than the one underneath, this is what produces the lift so it rises into the air when thrown." 

 "An aerofoil, designed so when you throw it, it rises into the air,
spins around and comes back to you."

"All that technology, and remember this was before the age of aeroplanes!"

Tools created with such a sophisticated knowledge of aerodynamics, designed to be thrown, to rise in the air, spin about their axis, follow a curved path and to return to their owner.

Inspiring!

I really must spend more time talking to retired carpenters.

I'll never look at these boomerangs in the same way again.

You can hold (perhaps not throw) them for yourself in the Discovery for All session in the Hands-on Base on Sundays and during school holidays in the Horniman Museum. More details here. 

Visitor Responses

When looking at objects with visitors you get such varied responses... 

'I don't want to wee on it!' What did that five year old make of our discussion about foxes wee-ing on hedgehogs to make them uncurl from a ball when trying to attack them?

'Has that hedgehog ever been wee'd on by a fox?' asked his big sister after she'd touched it.

I know a little about the animals in the Hands-On Base at the Horniman Museum, however not the answer to that question.

 'Cute but full of fleas', said his mother.

'It doesn't move anymore!', said a perplexed two and a half year old about this squirrel. Understanding the difference between dead and alive in taxidermy is a difficult concept when you're two and a half.

One kid asked me about a stuffed fox...

'Is it dead?'

'yes', I replied

'but is it dead alive?'

I reassured him that it really was 'dead alive'.

Stuffed foxes can make little children very nervous.

A stuffed fox can be a deal breaker. I've seen little children refuse to come into a gallery because of a curled up taxidermy fox. Or, as is more usual, rush over to it, stroke it and occasionally try and sit on it.  

Perhaps I stressed the importance of safe object handling too much...

'I heard the sea... and I didn't break it', said a really keen visitor age three.

These objects are in the Hands-On Base in the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, London. Visit the Discovery For All session on Sunday afternoons. You can touch them and see what you make of them, over 3,000 of them.

You can read more about the handling session here.