School Visits

We provide a variety of workshops, activities and quiz sheets; details of which can be found on the website in Teacher’s Downloads. When you have decided which activities you would like to use please phone to check if they are available and to make your booking. For those schools who pay on the day of their visit cheques are to be made payable to Mid Suffolk District Council.

For school visits, please use this Public Visits Booking form (SCHOOLS) (Word, 47Kb).

Decide on how your visit will relate to different areas of the curriculum. Our wide range of collections, buildings and the varied landscape of the site can support work across the curriculum including the Victorians, houses and homes, farming, environmental projects, local history and materials.

Make a free preliminary visit to the Museum to appreciate the walking distances involved and the general layout of the site. A basic risk assessment is available to download from the website but you may wish to add to it.

Please ensure that children and parents are aware of the open air nature of the site and that helpers have the necessary information such as times of activities, briefing notes where applicable, photocopied maps etc. A school lunch room is available if booked in advance.

Our shop, run by the Tourist Information Centre, has a wide range of quality pocket money toys, including traditional toys. We can also put together goody bags containing a flexible range of items from the shop for your class.

Please contact the shop directly, giving at least two weeks’ notice, on

T: 01449 676800

Teacher-led Activities

Teacher-led activities must be pre-booked, please download the teacher’s notes and worksheets.

Materials in the Barn (Key Stage 1 & 2) 1 ½ hrs. In this workshop children can handle and sort a variety of unusual farm tools and use mirror drawing and construction kits to explore the structure of the Museum’s magnificent 13th century barn.

The Pen and the Spade (Key Stage 2) 1 ½ hrs. This workshop gives children a real experience of the contrasting aspects of life for a Victorian child. It combines a lesson in the Victorian classroom with handling, and using, farm tools.

Life in the Past: Meet the Finch Family (Key Stage 1 & 2) 1 ½ hrs. Enter the Finch Family’s home and step back in time. Help with the wash day chores, handle some mystery objects and find out more about the lives of a Victorian farming family.

Victorian Schoolroom (Key Stage 1 & 2). Take on the role of a Victorian Schoolmistress or Master and transport your class back to the nineteenth century as you teach a lesson in our Victorian schoolroom.

Activity Trails

The Materials Trail (Key Stage 1 & 2). A worksheet based trail that uses the Museum’s Gypsy Traveller exhibits as well as the domestic and traditional craft displays.

The Shopkeeper’s Trail (Key Stage 1 & 2). A worksheet based trail that uses interactive areas across the Museum site. The children help Mr Proctor order and find new stock for his general store.

Gypsy Traveller Trail: Hidden Stories (Key Stage 1 & 2). Explore the Museum’s Gypsy Traveller displays. The trail can be combined with a Gypsy Traveller handling box or to add a new dimension to the houses and homes topic.

From Field to Fork: the Food Trail (Key Stage 1 & 2). Children can discover where their food comes from, visit the animals, milk our special cow Delilah the Red Poll and grind their own flour in Alton Watermill.

Teaching Resources

We also provide teaching resources for teachers before the actual visit happens, so they can plan accordingly: