The vision: To bring highly sensory learning experiences to those with sensory impairments and physical barriers to accessing the museum collections.
Project Summary: In 2009, Thinktank received a grant from the Conurbation Small Grant Scheme to adapt one of our highly popular handling collections and take them out into venues such as Nursing Homes as well as Residential Homes for adults with disabilities. This work was developed further in 2010 with support fro,m the EU Cities and Science Communication Project (CASC). The handling collection in question (Sensational Sea Life) has been demonstrated through internal evaluation to be a successful learning medium. Originally designed to be a highly sensory experience within the Thinktank’s Wildlife gallery, we needed to adapt this activity to be delivered on Outreach (this included elements such as interpretation as well as care of collections concerns (i.e. storage and transport). The handling collections was then taken to a number of venues and delivered with adults who would not normally be able to access Thinktank’s collections or programming, primarily due to physical barriers such as transport and poor mobility that create logistical difficulties for the Home’s staff. Whilst we identified specific learning outcomes for this project (which we achieved), the major outcomes were social; these enrichment activities are known to contribute towards to the long term welfare of residents.
Your contact name: Kenny Webster
Your organization: Thinktank, Birmingham
Participants: Residents of nursing and residential care homes