Families are being invited to step back in time as a brand-new interactive exhibition opens at Kirkleatham Museum on Tuesday 24 March.
Dinosaurs, Monsters and Lost Worlds will run throughout the summer, bringing prehistoric creatures and ancient discoveries to life in a fun, hands-on experience for visitors of all ages.
The unique, family-friendly exhibition combines science and history presenting fossil discoveries from the 19th century American Wild West to the depths of our ancient oceans.
There will also be a chance to see life-sized dinosaur skulls (including a Tyrannosaurus Rex), touch real fossils and enjoy original casts and highly detailed paleoart as well as fun activities. There will also be a chance to discover weird ocean monsters and see giant claws and teeth revealed through modern CT scans.
It is the first ever showing of the brand-new exhibition which has been created by well-known storyteller, child-entertainer and educationalist Patrick Townsend of Darlington, who has been delivering workshops on pre-history to children for three years. Patrick explained the models were built using 70% recyclable materials. “I’m really excited to see it finally open for the very first time,” he said.
Cllr Carrie Richardson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Culture, said:
“This superb exhibition is already generating a lot of interest and is really fun for all the family. It shows how the museum supports local creatives in our exhibitions and this has been painstakingly researched. It’s fascinating – a real chance to inspire curiosity in children and adults alike in palaeontology, history and the natural sciences.”
The Clark family from Middlesbrough also enjoyed a chance to see the exhibition being installed ahead of the big opening. Mum Louise Clark and her home-schooled children Felicity, 8, Eden, 6, Wesley, 4 and Stanley, 2 were invited to see the dinosaur models being created at the museum. Louise said: “My boys are obsessed – I mean really obsessed – with dinosaurs, so this is brilliant. We go all the way to the Hancock Museum in Newcastle to see them, so to have something like this here is amazing.”
And other toddler also friends took their chance to see dinosaur models early on a visit to the museum recently .Toddler Tallulah and her friends, twins Delphie and Mabel were given the chance to interact with some of Kirkleatham's existing dinosaur models on a recent visit. The twins' grandmother Demi-Leigh Millard said: "They loved it...we can't wait to come back!"
Find out more on the museum and council’s social media accounts and the museum’s website. The museum is closed on Mondays.