Last Saturday, Manx National Heritage invited families to set sail on a seaside break to the Isle of Man at the Manx Museum's Happy Holidays Activity Day in the Exploratorium with the kind support of Lloyds Bank.
Nearly 100 years ago over 600,000 visitors arrived in Douglas for the holiday season. The Exploratorium is an interactive gallery which takes visitors back to that era of the seaside holiday boom on the Isle of Man, inviting families to come, play and experience entertainment and amusements of the time.
A new Family Activity Trail was launched specially for the day for children and families to complete on a visit. The beginning of the trail is a ferry ticket to the Isle of Man, and invites visitors to dress up, design their own sandcastle and write a postcard about their visit.
Scheduled puppet shows told the stories of different adventures people had around the Isle of Man with sing-a-longs, a live pianist played old time Isle of Man songs and visitors got a treat from the fairground popcorn machine. Dressing up, photo opportunities and a craft area also were enjoyed by visitors.
Jade Foster, Marketing Executive for Manx National Heritage said:
'Manx National Heritage is grateful for all the support Lloyds Bank has provided over the years. They have provided fantastic support for our ACE card, which has given nearly 14,000 local school children and students in full time education free entry to Manx National Heritage sites year round. Their support of the Exploratorium is a natural progression as we continue to engage the local community and families with the Island's heritage.
The Exploratorium is for everyone, it's great to share memories between generations. It's a lovely sheltered space particularly on wet days for families to come and play - school children and summer clubs also love this gallery'.
Lucy Felton – Business Development Manager for Lloyds Bank said:
'Lloyds Bank is very proud of its sponsorship of Manx National Heritage. The newly opened Exploratorium is a perfect example of how skilful the team at Manx National Heritage are at creating environments where learning about our Islands history can be great fun. It was a real pleasure for the team from Lloyds to see everyone who attended on Saturday enjoying the Happy Holidays exhibition and I would encourage anyone who hasn't visited to pop along'.
The Exploratorium Family Activity Trail is now available at the Manx Museum and in the Lloyds Douglas branches for families to enjoy on their next visit. A visit to the museum is free – although donations are welcome to the Manx Museum and National Trust.
The Happy Holidays Exploratorium will end 8 August to make way for 3D art by prog rock artist Roger Dean.
Jade Foster, continued:
'It's a great space that we can change and adapt and give residents reasons to revisit the Manx Museum'.
