Tinker | Make | Play Engineers - Old vs New
Wednesday & Saturdays | 23, 27 & 30 May 2026 | 11am - 3.30pm
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23 May 11.00am – 30 May 3.30pm 2026
This Tinker Make Play family workshop welcomes you to playfully explore differences and similarities between old and new stuff.
Drop in | Included with Admission to the Museum
Unleash your inner inventor!
Surrounded by vintage vehicles and 21st century tech, this May Half-Term Tinker Make Play workshop invites families to explore the fascinating contrast between past and present—and maybe even invent something brand new for the future.
Tinker Make Play is a hands-on family workshop that invites curious minds of all ages to explore, build, break, and reimagine the world around them.
Whether you're a seasoned tinkerer or a first-time maker, our playful engineering experts (aka Learning Team) are here to guide you through your time of discovery, creativity, and fun. Expect surprise challenges, real tools, and the freedom to take things apart—yes, we give you permission to destroy (responsibly, of course).
What’s in store?
- Guidance - Our playful engineering experts are here to cheer you on! They’re curious, imaginative, and love solving problems. Whether you're stuck or just need a boost, they’ll be right there with you.
- Permission to Destroy - Yes, you read that right. You are allowed to take everyday objects apart and explore how they work. No one’s getting told off—we promise.
- Real Tools, Real Skills - Get hands-on with tools and materials. Whether you're taking things apart or building something new, you’ll be growing your engineering skills every step of the way.
- A Safe, Relaxed Space - We’ve created a welcoming environment where families can explore, play, and invent together.
- Support by your Grown-Up sidekick - That’s where parents, grandparents, siblings, and carers come in —no engineering experience needed. Just bring your enthusiasm and maybe help hand over a screwdriver or two.
What is Tinker | Make | Play?
TINKER away! With stuff, tools, your ideas and find out how things work, learn some tool skills and see where your curiosity will take you.
MAKE something! Anything! Use the huge variety of resources we offer. Get hands-on, creative and make your ideas (or our challenges) come true. Make something super big or really small and wow yourself and us too.
PLAY about! Push your imagination, raise your curiosity and simply play away. Whether you get into play mode during some maker challenges or in our play room, we love seeing families at play.
You will need to bring:
At least one very supportive grown-up to be with you throughout this workshop. We know from experience that all mums, dads, uncles, aunties, older siblings, grandparents, carers are perfectly qualified for this role as no previous engineering experience is needed (they are indeed very useful and really, really good at handing you tools)
We offer:
- A safe and relaxed space.
- Engineering Skills! You will use real tools to take apart or make things. So, you will build up your engineering skills no matter what.
- Permission to destroy! So you can fully explore some things, we let you break them AND you will not be told off*.
- Fun! We are prepared to throw one or two surprise maker challenges at you just to keep you on your toes.
- Expertise! Our amazing experts from the Learning Team will encourage you throughout. They are experts in playful engineering. That means they are curious, they persevere, are imaginative, love solving problems and teamwork. They will happily offer their expertise and support you when needed.
*Please note we take no responsibility for the inspiration we evoke in your children to destroy and create their own inventions with your household gadgets.
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