Dragging my kids to obscure museums

In this post:  a couple of museums you never hear about....

Last week my goal was to visit two museums that you don't find on the main tourist trail.  In London there seems to be a museum around every corner, most of them free.  Truly, to see them all would take a lifetime.

Visiting an "off the beaten path museum" can be a short visit and one in which there are no crowds.  Indeed, both of the museums we visited we practically empty while we were there. 


First - the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie

Located in central London on the University campus, this is a horde of Egyptian pillages.
Housing an estimated 80,000 objects, it reminded me of the community museum in the small Midwestern farming town where I grew up.  Lots of little objects and bits and pieces on shelves behind glass. 

 Very old-school.  Feels like it's been exactly the same since 1950.  I loved that.  It even had an old smell to it.  The highlight was viewing the oldest garment from Egypt anywhere in the world - a dress from 3000 BC.

THE dress

 The kids were drawn to the large table in the center of the main room where there were coloring pages, Egyptian style jewelry and a few clothing items to try on. 

 They loved writing their names in hieroglyphs and were intrigued by the skeleton in a clay pot. 

 The museum is made up of just a few rooms, our visit was barely an hour.  I wouldn't recommend this visit for small children; probably 6 is the youngest I'd take.  It's very quiet and some students come to do research here, as it is part of the University College of London.



Second - The Horniman Museum

http://www.horniman.ac.uk/
"Anthropology, Musical Instruments and Natural History collections displayed in six free galleries, with an acclaimed Aquarium and award-winning Gardens."

We wandered through their Natural History displays of lots of stuffed animals from every species imaginable.

Then on to the African Exhibit:
"African Worlds" - the first permanent exhibition in Britain dedicated to African art and culture - celebrates the continent's diversity, history and creativity.

And an exhibit about clothing - a temporary exhibit displaying clothing people wear throughout London.

And a permanent collection of the history of instruments; The Horniman’s internationally renowned collection of musical instruments is displayed in a dynamic but small gallery.

These collections, albeit lovely, we not incredibly interesting for my children =(
However, I couldn't get them to leave the gardens.  They played a new game they've invented called the Hunger Game (vaguely based on the books I think) and passed over an hour enjoying the vast green space surrounding the museum.

 The Horniman Museum is located at Forest Hill which requires a trip on the London overground.  It took about an hour to reach from our house and provided for a nice day's outing.  Apparently there are wonderful activities for families on the weekends and for children during the school breaks.

We may very well never make a second visit to either of these museums, but they were worth a visit for a curious temporary resident of London!!