October Half Term at The British Motor Museum

Activity Description

Car Design: Tech Takes the Wheel

What does it take to design a car? It’s more than just blueprints and big ideas; it’s a symphony of technology and innovation! This October Half Term activities at the British Motor Museum are inspired by the evolution of car design. From the classic sketchbook to 3D digital imagery, come along and learn how technology has made some of history’s best car designs possible!
You’ll be joining Dottie and Dougie for Tracing Tech Family Tours, to discover the influence of technology through the decades, on the evolution of the car. Then, drive straight into an exciting Graphite Lights craft activity, where you’ll create working circuits using pencil drawings! Don’t forget to put what you’ve learned about design to the test on the “It’s All In The Detail” Family Trail, too.

If you visit between 29 October and 1 November, join the scientists in the not-so-secret lab for a spirited debate on the role of technology in car design, through a series of mind-blowing experiments, of course! Elsewhere, things are getting spooky, as Black Cats are hiding in the Museum! You’ll have to gear up with your trusty torches and search high and low to find them all, whilst noting down the colour of their eyes as you go.

All these activities are included in the price of admission, for a great value day out! Click the button below to book.

Graphite Lights – Every day until 3:00pm, last entry at 2:30pm
See design and technology collide first-hand with this electrifying craft activity! Using graphite pencils, you can create a drawing that works as a circuit to power a lightbulb. Sounds like magic, but it’s all science!

Don’t believe us? Visit the Learning Hub during your visit to see for yourself!

Science Show – Pickle and Pumpkin’s Design Techsplosion – 11am/12pm/1pm/2pm, 29 October to 1 November
The Museum’s resident gearheads, Professor Pickle and Doctor Pumpkin have been busy in the not-so-secret lab, investigating car design. Professor Pickle is a firm believer in pencil and paper when designing a “horseless carriage”, but the forward-thinking Doctor Pumpkin is all about new technologies. Can they settle their differences without completely destroying the Museum?
See the debate unfold through a range of exciting experiments and seize the opportunity to help our scientists out. What will you discover?

Tracing Tech Family Tours – 11.30am, 26 to 28 October and 2 to 3 November
Embark on a journey around the Museum with our resident car designers in search of how technology interlinks with design. Join Dottie or Dougie to see how technology has driven design throughout the history of British cars, often in ways we take for granted today.

Who will be running your tour?
Meet up at the Family Activity station before 11.30am to find out!

Black Cat Trail – Every Day
Back for one week only by popular demand!
Black cats have infiltrated the British Motor Museum, and we need your help to find them! Grab your torches and embark on a spooky hunt around the Museum to find those mischievous moggies!
Simply pick up a trail sheet from the Family Activity Station by the main entrance, and let the hunt begin! Shine your torch on the cats to discover the colour of their eyes!
As soon as you’ve found every last one, take your trail sheet back to the Family Activity Station and pick up your reward sticker!

“It’s All In The Detail” Family Trail – Every Day
Our car collection shows off so many shapes, styles and colours from over 100 years of motoring, but there’s so much more to see when you realise it really is all in the details.
Collect a booklet from the Family Activity Station and follow the trail of ‘pods’ and have a go at sketching different elements of car design and answering questions at each one. You’ll discover grilles, wheels, wings and more! Along the way, collect letters which will tell you the location of your final design challenge…
When you’ve completed the trail, it’s full speed back to the Family Activity Station to check your answers and collect a reward sticker.

NOTE: All activities are included in Museum admission. All activities are suitable for 3+ years with adult supervision, unless otherwise specified.