How Do We Choose our School Holiday Themes?
- 16th Aug 2023
- Author: Elliott Langley - Marketing Administrator
It’s the Summer! At least, it's meant to be...
We have been a bit busier than normal this Summer and we’re guessing it’s something to do with the never-ending downpour outside. If you have joined us during the last few weeks, then thank you for coming out and supporting the National Space Centre. We hope you enjoyed staying dry whilst learning about our solar system!
During our Solar System Summer, we’ve had a go at making glow-in-the-dark bracelets, cooked up some comets, gone on a journey through the solar system and seen some real-life meteorites up close.
I was interested in how we decide which subjects to theme our school holiday periods around, so I met with our Head of Education, Charlie, to find out more.
So Charlie, why do we put on all these extra activities in the school holidays?
Good question! There are just so many different things to focus on in space, it's such a big subject. It’s nice to be able to focus on one particular topic and dive into it with our visitors. Plus, we're always discovering new things, so the extra talks and activities gives people a chance to get up to date with recent advancements in the field.
And how do you choose the subjects to theme the holidays around?
We normally go for something we think the kids will get excited about. Something that will really capture their imagination. Halloween's always a good one, because it means we can get the slime out!
It also depends on the time of year. School holidays are a good way to highlight some of the anniversaries of big space moments in history, like the Apollo launches, so we sometimes theme a holiday around that. Or if there's been something big in the news, like the stories about the Cornwall spaceport, then we'll look at coming up with activities to tie into it.
Once we've come up with a big list of ideas, we meet as a team to go over them all before we finally decide on one. We normally settle it by arm-wrestling!
And are the extra activities just for school children who are off school?
No, definitely not! It’s for big kids and little kids and everyone in between! We want absolutely everyone who comes to have a go at the activities and see what it's all about. The thing to remember is that we test everything ourselves and we're all adults! So we know how to make it fun for everyone.
What have been some of your favourite holidays to run?
Hmm, Grossology is always fun. We get to look at the fun stuff like going to the toilet in space and other bodily fluids, which obviously everyone loves! The Science of Magic was a lot of fun too. They both let us have a good mix of being silly and a bit of learning.
Would you ever be open to suggestions from visitors about what to theme a holiday around?
Totally! We’d love that! It’s quite good timing actually, we'll be meeting as a team in the next few weeks to have a look at our ideas for holidays next year. So if anyone has any ideas then absolutely, please send them in and we’ll bring them to the meeting and have a think. Of course, we’d need them to come in and beat us in an arm wrestle...
And finally, on the subject of the summer, have you got any holiday plans? Been anywhere nice?
Yes actually! We just went to Saltburn-by-the-Sea and it was absolutely lovely!
Thank you Charlie!
Solar System Summer runs until 03 September and includes added talks, workshops and craft sessions which aim to inspire children, families and communities about the space and STEM activities.
