Bedford Museum

In addition to all the practical details involved in preparing for visiting the Museum, some time must be given to preparing the children for working with objects. If the children are going to work effectively in the gallery they will need to have been taught how to look carefully at objects, and how to interpret and record what they see. These skills are not innate: they have to be taught and practised in the classroom if children are going to be able to use them in the Museum.

The following games can help children to develop the sorts of observation, thinking and recording skills they will need when they visit the Museum.

These games require a small collection of artefacts which could be found in school or at home. Kitchen or gardening equipment works particularly well. Some easily obtained objects that have in the past been found useful are listed in table 1.

SUGGESTED OBJECTS FOR USE IN THE CLASSROOM

rotary egg whisk
garlic crusher
pair of glasses
retractable ballpoint pen
old camera
battery torch
electric iron

teapot
piece of jewellery
pair of pliers
whistle
empty wine bottle
child's soft toy
shirt

(A few objects more than 30 years old which are unfamiliar to pupils would be a useful addition.)

ACTIVITY 1

(This activity demonstrates the value of observation and repeated examination.)
Give pupils an object and allow them to study it for a given period, say two minutes. Cover or remove the object and ask pupils to draw it from memory. Uncover or replace the object and ask pupils to mark on their sketches any errors or omissions. This exercise shows pupils the importance of careful and thorough observation, and that we need to look more than once in order not only to draw but to begin to understand and interrogate an object.

ACTIVITY 2

(This activity demonstrates the value of observation and encourages descriptive writing.)
Lay the objects out and ask pupils to choose one and write a description of it. Their description should be as detailed as possible but should not include the name of the object. Collect the descriptions and redistribute them so that no one is returned his or her own. Pupils then try to identity the objects from a written description.

Alternatively, pupils are provided with an object in an opaque bin liner which they then examine without letting anyone else see. They write a description of the object, then descriptions are collected and redistributed. Using only the written description pupils then draw what they think the object looks like. Afterwards, they can compare their drawing with the real object.

ACTIVITY 3

(This activity encourages verbal description and emphasises the need to be precise when describing something.)
Pupils work in pairs. One partner is given an object in a bag, and allowed to feel it but not look at it, and relays his or her findings to the other partner. Between them they both have to try to identify the object.

Alternatively, tell one partner what is in the bag. The other has to deduce by feeling and asking questions.

ACTIVITY 4

(This activity allows pupils to practise their questioning skills.)
Encouraging pupils to generate their own questions will stimulate further enquiry, which may involve research, more detailed investigation or experimentation. Provide pupils with a simple, everyday object such as a chair, a pencil, an empty egg box or a ballpoint pen and ask them to write as many questions as they can think of.

Some questions will require basic factual information which can be obtained from observation or measurement, such as What shape is it? or How long is it? Some questions will require explanations or comparisons, such as What was it used for? or How was it used? Some questions such as Can you think of other ways in which this object could be used?, or How could the design of the object be improved?, will allow for more than one right answer and demand imaginative thinking, the formulation of a hypothesis or the ability to use knowledge to solve problems. Some questions allow for personal and perhaps unique answers requiring choice, evaluation, formulation of an opinion, value or belief, such as Has this object changed our lives? or Should money be spent preserving objects like this in museums?

ACTIVITY 5

(This activity helps pupils to learn how to identify materials.)
Ask pupils to identify the range of materials used in the objects. If appropriate, they could also justify the use of particular materials and suggest alternatives. Young pupils could divide materials into animal, vegetable and mineral.

ACTIVITY 6

(This activity looks at the function of objects.)
Give pupils a mystery object. Ask them to find out as much as they can about it and to suggest what it might be used for. Gadgets (especially those designed for the kitchen) make good mystery objects, as do some tools. The only prerequisite for a mystery object is that it should be unfamiliar to pupils.

ACTIVITY 7

(This activity focuses on prediction and deduction and allows pupils to discuss the survival of evidence.)
Give pupils three or four objects made from a variety of different materials. Tell them that the objects will be buried in the earth (with no protection) and left there. Ask them to predict what will be left of the objects when they are dug up in a hundred years time.

ACTIVITY 8

(This activity helps pupils to practise describing objects precisely.)
Display the objects centrally. Pupils work in pairs. One partner selects an object and, without identifying it, proceeds to describe it as thoroughly as possible. The other partner then has to identify the object. They are not allowed to ask any questions.

ACTIVITY 9

(This activity focuses on deduction, prediction and sorting.)
Pupils work in pairs. Pupil A selects an object but does not tell pupil B. Pupil B then has to identify the chosen object by asking pupil A a series of questions. You could set a limit on the number of questions that can be asked.

When children are working with objects there are some general points which can help to improve the quality of the work they do and which it is useful to bear in mind: