VG&M at Home - Activities for Families Page
We understand that you may not always be able to visit us in person. This section will have a wide range of resources for you to download wherever you are.
Activity Sheets -
Can't get to us in person? Looking for something to entertain the kids or looking for a mindfulness moment for yourself? Download our colouring and activity sheets below!
Can't print at home? There are lots of different apps you can download that will enable you to colour our templates at home. From your phone/tablet, simply screenshot the PDF templates below and then open them on the app of your choosing. Don't forget to show us what you've created by tagging us on social media and using the hashtag #VGMatHome.
We tried You Doodle & SketchBook to try it out;
PDF Colouring Sheets
Please note that the following colouing sheets are PDFs that can be opened on Adobe Acrobat Reader and printed at home.
Colouring Sheet - Create a framed artwork
Sloth Colouring In - Activity Sheet
Tate Hall Animal Colouring In - Activity Sheet
VG&M Fireplace Colouring Sheet
Design a Creature in a Bell Jar - Activity Sheet
VG&M Stained Glass Window Colouring Sheet
Jigsaws
If you can't access the activity trolley in the Tate Hall museum - we will bring some of the activities to you!
We have a few VG&M inspired jigsaws for you to try and there are different difficulty levels for you to try:
Level - Very Easy (4 - 12 pieces)
General Images
Level - Easy (20 - 30 pieces)
Patterns
Architecture
Exterior VG&M
Level - Intermediate (50 - 60 pieces)
Architecture
Patterns
VG&M Exterior
We also have some difficult jigsaws for adults on this page.
Secret Art of Survival Family Pack
These activities are inspired by a hidden history of the Second World War, when thousands of allied servicemen became prisoners of the Japanese, known as FEPOW and are linked to our Secret Art of Survival Exhbition.
Download our Family Resource Pack or go to the accessible version here.
Craft along with us on YouTube
We have various fun craft videos for you to try on our YouTube Channel
Our YouTube craft videos from 2020 provide subtitles and audio whererever possible.
YouDescribe is a free website and iOS app that allows viewers to watch YouTube videos with audio description and allows people with blindness and low vision can watch YouTube videos and receive visual information.
View our Guided Tour Videos using YouDescribe.
Chinese New Year Paper Lanterns
Inspired by our Chinese Ceramics collection, create paper lanterns to celebrate Chinese New Year. You can either hang them directly onto fairy lights or light them up underneath with battery operated tea lights.
Rainbows Craft
Lifewave 1 - by Peter Corbett - features rainbow-like shapes.
Create a rainbow for your window at home by watching our YouTube Video.
We've used card for our rainbow design but you can do anything you want to.
Don't forget to show us what you've done #VGMatHome.
Rock Painting Craft
The VG&M is proud to be a part of the Foundation Stones at Home project. Stones from across the United Kingdom will be laid within the foundations of the new UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London and you are invited to paint a rock with whatever materials you have at home and join the Foundation Stones at Home Project.
Watch our YouTube video and download the Foundation Stones at Home Instructions and don't forget to tag us on social media too #VGMatHome.
Nightmares in a Bell Jar Craft
Inspired by our 'Nightmares in a Bell Jar' exhibition download the Nightmares in a Bell Jar Craft watch our YouTube video and create your own creature and mini exhibition at home. Don't forget to show us your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Victorian Valentine's Day Card
Inspired by VG&M artwork on the Art UK website and Victorian cards from the University of Liverpool's Special Collections & Archives, create your own Victorian inspired Valentine's Day cards.
Valentine's Day Heat Scarab
Inspired by the Heart Scarab's found in the Garstang Museum, create your own Ancient Egyptian inspired love token to send to your valentine using oven baked clay.
Chocolate Bunny Craft
Inspired by the rabbit on our fireplace in gallery 2 you can now make your own chocolate bunny in our YouTube video.
Feel free to use any moulds that you have to hand, this video is just an example of how to assemble your chocolate sculptures. Don't forget to show us your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Easter Card Craft
Make a Victorian inspired Easter card by downloading the Victorian Easter Card Craft instructions and images and then watching the YouTube video. Don't forget to show us your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Easter Trinket Box Craft
Or you can decorate some ceramic or plastic Easter Eggs if you download our Easter Egg Craft
Spring Daffodil Jewellery Craft
'Daffodil' by John Randall Bratby (1928–1992)
Inspired by one of the spring paintings from our collection, watch our YouTube video and make some spring jewellery out of clay that you bake in the oven.
This video is just for ideas, you can make the daffodil shapes without needing the jewellery backings and you can then use the models to decorate a vase or a photo frame for example!
Don't forget to show us your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Snake Mobile Craft
Watch our YouTube video, download our Snake Mobile craft pack and make a spinning serpentine mobile that is inspired by our beautiful python skeleten in the Tate Hall Museum.
Eggbox Mobile Craft
Inspired by the painting 'Still Life' by Arnold Auerbach, watch our YouTube video and download our Egg Box Mobile Instructions to create a pretty floral egg box mobile from recycled materials. Don't forget to show us your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Decoupage a shape craft
This craft has been inspired by the peacock and rabbit designs on our fireplace in gallery 2 at the VG&M.
Watch our YouTube video on how to decoupage a 3D shape. This video is just for ideas and to show you how to decoupage a 3D cardboard model. You can use recyclable materials such as an empty cardboard box to create a personalised memory box.
Hidden Artwork and bamboo tube Craft
During the Second World War, British soldiers captured and imprisoned in South East Asia created artworks in secret. They drew their camp life including the wildlife they saw. If you were a long way from home, what might you draw? Create your own mini artwork and a bamboo tube to hide it in. Watch our YouTube video for inspiration and download the Hidden Artwork and Bamboo Tubes Instructions
Paper Alligator Craft
Inspired by the Alligators on display in the Tate Hall Museum, try this simple Alligator Snapper craft and make a paper puppet. Watch our YouTube video and don’t forget to tag us on social media #VGMatHome.
VG&M Clock Tower Craft
Inspired by the VG&M clock tower, make your very own Redbrick pen pot for your desk at home. Watch our YouTube video and show us your creation #VGMatHome.
Sloth Origami Craft
Inspired by the Sloth outside our museum, make your very own origiami sloth to hang up at home. Watch our YouTube video and tag us #VGMatHome when you've made your critter.
Bug Hotel Craft
Inspired by the Peony dish on display in the 'Near and Far' ceramics exhibition and part of our Natural History Adventures contribution, create a bug hotel for your garden out of recycled plastic materials. It’s a great outdoor project that will help nature, recycle old bottles or plant pots and get you learning about lots of different insects. Watch our Youtube video and download the Bug Hotel Instructions.
Don’t forget to tag us on social media #VGMatHome with your finished crafts.
Clay Fairy House and Trinket box Craft
Inspired by 'Twilight Dreams' by Arthur Rackham, make your own light up fairy house for your home or garden. All you need for this craft is a recycled glass jar and some paints or paint pens. There is also a video for the adults on our other page using clay for the house.
Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag your creation on social media #VGMatHome.
Bird Feeder Craft
Inspired by our Audubon gallery, make a beautiful bird feeder out of a recycled milk carton to invite the birds into your garden. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag your creation on social media #VGMatHome.
Lava Lamp Craft
Inspired by 'The Eruption of the Soufriere Mountains in the Island of St. Vincent, 30th April 1812' by J.M.W Turner, make your own lava lamp at home using a recycled jar or bottle, oil, water and food colouring. Watch our YouTube video and tag us in your craft VGMatHome.
Stop Motion Animation Craft
Inspired by the 'Under the Sea' exhibition in the Tate Hall museum, make your own stop motion animation using play-doh and toys. Watch our YouTube video for inspiration and then get animating using whatever you have at home! You can download lots of different apps for stop motion animation and Koma Koma is a great free app for kids to use! Don't forget to tag us on social media VGMatHome!
Peacock inspired Egg Carton Jewellery Box
Inspired by the VG&M Peacock on the fireplace in gallery two, we've made a jewellery box make from a recycled egg carton using old Christmas decorations and things that we've found around the house. Although we've used a plastic carton, you can use a cardboard egg box too! Watch our Youtube video for inspiration, decorate your jewellery box however you like and then tag us on social media to show what you have made #VGMatHome.
Ancient Egyptian Inspired Bead Necklace Craft
Inspired by the Ancient Egyptian glass beads from the Garstang Museum, make your own beads and necklace using oven-bake clay and string. Watch our YouTube video for inspiration and ideas and then tag your creation using#VGMatHome. You can find out more about Ancient Egyptian bead production for more inspiration on the Garstang Museum Blog.
My Lockdown Story Craft
Greenbank House was formerly the home of the Rathbone Family. Inspired by the painting 'Greebank House, Liverpool' by John Baum, create your own lockdown story in picture form and show us what you've been doing while at home. Use the frame to keep momentos safe so that you can look back on this time in years to come and remember what you did. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Under the Sea Cupcakes
Inspired by our Under the Sea exhibition, learn how to decorate cup cakes with scrumptious sea creatures made out of fondant. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Cardboard Lighthouse Craft
Inspired by the VG&M painting 'Lighthouse, Red Sands, Arran' by Pam Carter, create your own Lighthouse using recycled materials and celebrate National Maritime Week and #LighthouseDay with us. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Clay Cat Decoration
Inspired by the VG&M painting 'The Cellist with a Cat' by Elisabeth Vellacott and to celebrate National Cat Day, create a cat decoration using oven bake clay. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Handprint Art - Sloth example
Celebrate #NationalLeftHanders day with us! Inspired by the Sloth in the Tate Hall museum, create a simple, slow and relaxing sloth artwork. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Jellyfish Mobile Craft
To celebrate National Marine Week 2020 and inspired by both our Under the Sea and Nightmares in a Bell Jar exhibitions, create your own jellyfish mobile using recycled materials and things that you find around the home. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Ancient Egyptian Skittle Game Craft
Inspired by the Garstang Museum Collection and using recycled drink bottles and paint, create a set of Ancient Egyptian inspired skittles to play with at home. Watch our YouTube video and don't forget to tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Halloween Crafts
Inspired by our skulls, ghost stories and past exhibitions like the NML Plant models, we have an assortment of Halloween crafts for you to try!
Glowing Ghosts
Halloween Jars
Creepy Candles
Petrifying Plant
Skull Jewellery
Poppy Window Display
Inspired by our war memorials, create a poppy display for your window on Remembrance Day
Egg Box Poppy Wreath Craft
Inspired by the two war memorials at the VG&M and to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day, make your own poppy wreath to decorate your home, garden or front door. Watch our YouTube video and then tag us in your creations on social media #VGMatHome.
Victorian Christmas Snowflake
Inspired by our Victorian Building, create Victorian inspired snowflake decorations using paper doiles.
Christmas Wreath
Inspired by our Victorian Building, create Victorian inspired Christmas Wreaths using old paper or books as centrepieces for your table or to hang up around your home.