Although the Museum is closed in accordance with government guidelines, our Learning team are taking booking for Summer 2021 onwards. During the Covid era all bookings are currently fully refundable, so do book now to secure your place. See below for details, and email learning@storymuseum.org.uk for more information.
Students enter our Small Worlds gallery for stories on our big bed. They will create their own mini story landscapes and imagine the episodes that could unfold within their enchanting new world.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation
Take a story-themed walk through Oxford to see the places in the city that inspired the city’s most famous fantasy writers. Our Learning Team will lead your group to iconic sites from some of fiction’s greatest moments.
Come on a walk through the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. We’ll begin at The Story Museum, then walk along to Christ Church Meadows, the location of many sites that inspired Lewis Carroll. As your Story Guide retells the story, we’ll have a Caucus Race, a Caterpillar Contest, a game of ‘Red Queen Says’, and fun with songs, riddles and charades along the way.
From the Narnia lamppost and Alice’s gate to a beautiful garden with no key, to Lyra’s room leading to the spires and rooftops of Oxford... the Wonder Walk route features stunning locations including the Radcliffe Camera and Christ Church, with a few dragons along the way! Choose three authors from C S Lewis (the Narnia series), J R R Tolkien (The Hobbit), Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland) and Philip Pullman (Northern Lights trilogy). Throughout the walk your students will learn key facts about the writers’ lives and how simply observing the world can lead to ideas for classic fiction. The students will also play the stories through a variety of multi-sensory games and storytelling.
Book a City Story Walk and then board our Story Craft for a 30 minute film, flying through a thousand years of story history - the perfect way to provide context for the Wonderwalk. This offer is suitable for Year 3 upwards, and ideal for studying local history and getting ideas for writing.
Students will explore the Whispering Wood where they will meet some traditional folk and fairy tales, before using the classic device of the Rule of 3 to create their own story.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation
Students look at the concept of powerful objects within stories, inspired by the Whispering Wood – from Thor’s hammer to Arthur’s sword in the stone. They then work in groups to concoct their own story about an object with a mysterious power.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Students explore the galleries and are introduced to stories that star the classic character of the Trickster, such as Anansi the Spider and the cunning Mr Fox, before creating their own.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Students revisit portals used in classic stories featured in the Enchanted Library, from the Rabbit Hole down into Wonderland to the Wardrobe through to Narnia. Students then create their own magical portal between two worlds, using a wealth of materials to stimulate the beginning of an enchanting story.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Listen and join in with stories within an oral storytelling tradition of your choice, or printed stories featured in the galleries, and then create a sequel inspired by the character, setting, theme or plot structure, with a modern twist if you wish. For your choice of oral story, ask for a list of stories featured in the Whispering Wood, or printed books featured in the Enchanted Library (please request from learning@storymuseum.org.uk).
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation, written draft if requested
Explore The Story Museum’s approach to curating narrative environments, and then design an evocative room based on close-reading a section from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Subtle Knife or your own class set text. Past bespoke sessions have included Michelle Magorian’s Goodnight Mr Tom, R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Outcome: speaking and listening presentation; illustrated and annotated design using quotations
"I wish it was quarter past two, not quarter past three!" - Student
Spend the whole day in Oxford and combine a museum visit, a 50-minute literacy session and one of our story-themed walks around Oxford.
City Story Walk
10:00 – 12:00 or 12:30-14.30
£175+VAT
City Story Walk and City of Stories Film
10:00 – 12:30 or 12:00 to 2:30
£195+VAT
Exhibition visit and Story Session at The Story Museum
10:00 – 12:00 or 12:30 – 14:30
£175 + VAT
Day of Extraordinary Delight
Exhibition visit, Story Session, City Story Walk AND City of Stories. Whew!
10am – 3pm (includes a 30 minute lunch break; times can be adapted as convenient)
£295+VAT