School workshops

Find out more about the tours, activities and workshops you can pre-book at the Museums.

Blists Hill Victorian Town workshops:

  1. BRICK MAKING

    30 minutes

    Education Brick Making Workshops With Hugh Summer 2022 26

    15 pupils per session (max of 5 sessions per day)

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • Visit the the original Madeley Wood Brick and Tile works and learn about the real history of the Blists Hill site and the life of a child labourer before making their own brick to take away.
    • Curriculum links: KS2 & 3 History

  2. THE VICTORIAN SCHOOLROOM

    90 minutes

    Costume Project Football Project Shrewsbury School Visitor Day 21 (2)

    90 pupils per day

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • Pupils experience what it would have been like for them to go to school in the Victorian period. Taking place in an original schoolhouse, the lesson is led by Miss McCallum, who will instruct your class in the Three Rs and strict discipline! We provide authentic costume for pupils in KS1 and KS2 for this session.
    • Curriculum links: KS2 & 3 History

  3. VICTORIAN SCHOOROOM EXPERIENCE FOR KEY STAGE 1

    60 minutes

    Costume Project Football Project Shrewsbury School Visitor Day 14

    90 pupils per day

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • An introduction to what school was like for children in 1900. In this session, specifically designed for KS1, pupils will look at the differences between school in the Victorian period and their own experiences in school. The session includes a short lesson in role with Miss McCallum, our Victorian headmistress, appropriate for younger pupils. We provide costume for this session.
    • Curriculum links: KS1 History

  4. CANDLE DIPPING

    30 minutes

    A Demonstrator Showing A Young Boy How To Dip A Candle At Blists Hill Victorian Town (4) 02 2025

    90 pupils per day

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • Pupils will create their own colourful candle using the traditional wax dipping technique. To enhance your visit, make sure to visit Thomas Trevor’s Victorian Candle Factory to provide the historical context for this workshop.
    • Curriculum links: KS1 Art & Design, Science and History. KS2 History and Science. KS3 History

  5. LAUNDRY

    30 minutes

    Laundry (1)

    60 pupils per day

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • A hands-on session to see how clothes were washed in the days before washing machines. Held in the atmospheric Canal Street wash house, pupils draw water from a traditional pump, mash the laundry with a posser before wringing it out with a mangle.
    • Curriculum links: KS1, 2 & 3 History

  6. INTAGLIO PRINTING

    90 minutes

    Child Doing Intaglio Printing Activity At Heritage Open Days 2024 5 09 24

    60 pupils per day

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • Intaglio printing has been used to mass-produce artworks and decorative ceramics for hundreds of years. In this workshop, pupils etch their design into a plate then apply ink before creating a unique print.
    • Curriculum links: KS2 & 3 Art & Design and History

  7. DELIVERY DAY

    90 minutes

    Delivery Day

    60 pupils per day

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • In this story-based tour of Blists Hill Victorian Town, children help deliver letters to the fairy-tale characters who live there. Visit Goldilocks in her house, hunt for Jack’s golden eggs and visit the bakery where the Gingerbread man is baked. This session includes a candle dipping activity.
    • Curriculum links: EYFS Communication & Language and Understanding the World. KS1 History, English, Art & Design and Science

  8. TOYS AND GAMES

    Toys And Games

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • Learn how toys and games were different in the past.
    • Pupils will get the opportunity to play with traditional style toys and games and handle some original Victorian toys in this exciting hands-on workshop that looks at materials and how life was different for children in the Victorian period.
    • Can be combined with a laundry workshop for a full experience.
    • Suitable for EYFS and KS1
    • Curriculum links: KS1 History & Science

Enginuity workshops:

  1. POWER BUGGIES

    10-14.30

    Education Workshop Buggys At Enginuity With Amanda 2022 31

    35 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Build and race a mini electric car inspired by the Coalbrookdale-born inventor Thomas Parker who made the world’s first working electric car. Build the car in stages starting with a series circuit and then make an aerodynamic frame using a variety of materials. The cars are tested in a drag race against each other to find out who made the fastest car!
    • Suitable for KS2 (Yrs 5/6)
    • Curriculum Links: KS2 Science, Design and Technology, History

  2. DOWNHILL BUGGIES

    2 hours

    Education Workshop Buggys At Enginuity With Amanda 2022 13

    35 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Design, make and test a gravity-powered car! Learn about forces and mechanisms using fun and practical demonstrations. In teams, students assemble components to make a free-wheeling car, decorate it using a variety of materials and test the cars against each other.
    • Suitable for KS1 (Yrs 1/2/3)
    • Curriculum Links: KS1 Design and Technology, Science

  3. BRIDGING THE GAP

    10-14.30

    35 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Learn all about bridges in the home of the world’s first Ironbridge. Learn about different types of bridges and the forces that affect them through discussion and practical demonstrations. Students will then put this knowledge into practice by designing, building, and testing to destruction their very own truss bridge.
    • Suitable for Upper KS2/KS3 (Yrs 5/6/7)
    • Curriculum Links: KS2 History, Design and Technology

  4. JITTERBUGS

    90 minutes

    45 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Explore the science and basic principles of electricity with an exciting introduction that incorporates fun and practical demonstrations. In small groups, students build a base, add a simple series circuit with an eccentric cam to make a jumpy jitterbug.
    • Suitable for Lower KS2 (Yrs 3/4)
    • Curriculum Links: KS1 Design and Technology, Science. KS2 Design and Technology, Science

  5. SPHERO

    2 hours

    30 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Discover the exciting world of coding with robot ball. Using scratch-based block coding, program Sphero to follow your commands and meet challenges.
    • Suitable for KS2 (Yrs 5/6)
    • Curriculum Links: KS2 & 3 Computing

  6. ENGINUITY EXPLORERS

    90 minutes

    30 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Open Mr Darby’s Box of Magical Science Secrets and discover the world of science and engineering in this imaginative play session designed for the under-fives. We use stories, songs, rhymes and lots of play resources, that link with objects in the museum to help children to understand how things work.
    • Suitable for EYFS and Lower KS1 (Yr 1)
    • Curriculum Links: EYFS All areas. KS1 Science, English, History

  7. MARVELLOUS METALS

    2 hours

    45 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £4.50 Excluding VAT

    • Come to the Birthplace of Industry to discover the amazing properties of iron and other metals. In a series of incredible activities students make iron, discover unusual uses for magnetic metals and watch the state of a metal change from liquid to solid before their very eyes! Finish your visit at the Museum of Iron!
    • Suitable for Lower KS2 (Yr 3)
    • Curriculum links: KS2 Science & History

Learning sessions at Jackfield Tile Museum

  1. A TREASURY OF TILES

    Half day

    Tiles At Jackfield

    60 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • An interactive tour which looks at the history of tile making in Ironbridge Gorge and explores the rich collection of tiles on display and the artists behind them.
    • Suitable for Key Stage 2 and Lower Key Stage 3
    • Curriculum links: Key Stage 2 – History, Art & Design, Key Stage 3 - History, Art & Design
    • Can be combined with a Tile Workshop to make a full day

  2. TILE TALES

    Half day

    Jackfield Tile Museum (5)

    60 pupils per session

    Price per pupil £3.50 Excluding VAT

    • Discover different types of tiles and how they can be used, in this story-based tour of Jackfield Tile Museum. An Encaustic Tile Workshop can be added.
    • Suitable for EYFS and Key Stage 1
    • Curriculum links: EYFS – Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts and Design, Key Stage 1 – Art & Design, History, English
    • Can be combined with a Tile Workshop to make a full day

  3. TILE DECORATING

    90 minutes

    Three People At A Tile Decorating Workshop At Jackfield Tile Museum 04 2022

    32 pupils per session (maximum of 4 sessions per day)

    Price per pupil £9.50 Excluding VAT. (Delivered by Craven Dunnill Jackfield)

    • A hands-on tile decorating session using the traditional Victorian process of tubelining. Groups can work together to create panels of tiles or on their own individual designs. This session can be linked to your subject topic.
    • Curriculum links: Key Stage 1, 2 & 3 - History, Art & Design, Science

  4. ENCAUSTIC TILE MAKING

    60 minutes

    Encaustic Tile Workshop

    15 pupils per session (maximum of 4 sessions per day)

    Price per pupil £9.50 Excluding VAT. (Delivered by Craven Dunnill Jackfield)

    • In these unique sessions students get to create an encaustic tile from clay using a pre-carved plaster mould, as well as learning about the history behind the medieval and Victorian tile making process.
    • Curriculum links: Key Stage: 2 & 3 - History, Art & Design, Science

  5. SLIP CASTING

    90 minutes

    2023 Education Tile Decorating Workshop At Jackfield Encaustic, Tube Lined, Slip Cast (26 Of 39)

    15 pupils per session (maximum of 2 sessions per day)

    Price per pupil £9.50 Excluding VAT. (Delivered by Craven Dunnill Jackfield)

    • Using a replica mould, from an original vessel from the museum collections, students get to cast their own piece using liquid clay slip and have time to learn about the science behind the technique.
    • Curriculum links: Key Stage: 2 & 3 - History, Art & Design, Science

Coalport workshops

  1. CHINA PAINTING WORKSHOP

    2 hours

    Painting at Coalport

    20 per session (larger groups can be split between a workshop and tour, or a visit to Jackfield Tile Museum).

    Price per pupil £8.00 Excluding VAT

    • Pupils learn about the way in which ceramics were decorated by exploring the collection and painting their own mug or plate.
    • Suitable for KS2, KS3 & KS4
    • Curriculum links: Art & Design, Science, History