We have a range of exhibitions, drop-in activities and exciting events that take place in the museum and gardens. See below for more information.
Activities
Throughout the year we offer a variety of activities at the museum or in the Walled Gardens, either drop-in or bookable workshops, see below for what’s happening now.
Make a Museum Detective Notebook
Tuesday 30th May
Bind a book that you can use to keep all your nature or museum detective notes in. Ages 4 – 7 10am slot Ages 8+ 1pm slot This is a free workshop but you will need to book via the link below.
Book for the 10am slot here Book for the 1pm slot here
Make your own Artefact Puzzle
Thursday 1st June
Find an object in the museum, draw it then create a puzzle from your drawing. Free drop in sessions 10am – 12pm and 1pm – 3pm For all ages
Events
We have a range of events throughout the year, both inside the Museum and out in the Walled Gardens. See below for what is happening soon…
Wind in the Willows
This summer, Harlow Museum’s Walled Gardens will be the backdrop for an open air production of ‘Wind in the Willows’. In partnership with KD Theatre Productions.
Saturday 5th August – 1pm and 4pm
Sunday 6th August – 1pm and 4pm
Details on how to book will be available soon..
Community Celebration Fête
Saturday 2nd September
12 – 4 pm
If you represent a Harlow based community group or charity and would like to book a stall please email [email protected]
Exhibitions
We have a temporary exhibition space that is regularly changing with items uncovered from our stores, we also have seasonal displays, work made at our events, or show large collections donated to us.
Technology and Communication In Harlow
Our new exhibition will feature technology and communication over the years. Highlighting how the various devises, like TVs, cameras and radios, have all lead to the smartphone which many of us now carry around in our pocket. Did you know that Charles Kao and George Hockham discovered that data could be transmitted along glass fibres at STL in Harlow? This provided the groundwork for fibre optic telecommunications, which forms the backbone of the modern internet.
Museum at Home
If you’ve enjoyed your visit to the museum why not download one of our free printable activity sheets you can do at home.
Make Your Own Pin Hole Camera
In the 16th century, some artists used a ‘camera obscura’ (Italian, meaning ‘dark room’) with a small opening, and later a lens which would project an image of the brightly lit outside scene into the camera. A pinhole camera uses this same principle on a much smaller scale, ask for a work sheet if you are interested in making one at home.
Download here
Binary Code Challenge
Decode a message written in Binary code, and even write your own coded message. Binary code is how computers use and transfer data. Invented in 1689 by Gottfried Leibniz, it is still essential to programming today.
Download here
Make Your Own Telephone
Make a simple telephone and communicate using vocal vibrations.
Download here
Be a Digital Camera
Did you know that digital photographs are made up of coloured pixels, and the colours that they are are coded in binary? Use binary code to colour the pixels in the image, what do you see when you have finished? could you make your own pixel image?
Download here
Make a Movie
Enjoy watching your own moving image by making a zoetrope, experiment with your own image ideas.
Download here