Bricks 4 Kidz is an amazing workshop where children get to build motorised models from Lego technic! It's all Star Wars Themed and you'll get the chance to build some of your favourite characters and watch them come to life! During the session, there will be other other themed Lego Activities to help vring your imaginations alive!
May The Lego Be With You!
Make puppet or toy theatre to put on your own show
The training shoe has been around for over 100 years but in the last 50 years it has developed into a multibillion dollar global industry. In this exhibition we take a closer look at the design, technology, cultural influences and environmental impact of the trainer and showcase our own trainer collection, the largest owned by a public institution.
Friday 16 September – Friday 21 October 10.15 - 11.45am £4 per child per session and £24 for a series ticket (includes refreshments) Join us for hands-on fun sessions for the under-fives. Explore the museum with stories, music and art and craft activities, whilst making new friends and creating memories in an engaging and family-friendly environment. With a different theme and activities each week. These sessions are for pre-school children (2-5 years) and their parent and carers. Booking essential as places are limited.
Art history lecture series Friday 30 September – Friday 21 October 10.15am - 12.15pm £6 per lecture or £20 for the whole series ticket (includes tea/coffee and biscuits) Enactment, the public display of theatre and makebelieve, have long been part of human social and religious interaction, fostering communal participation and understanding as well as different forms of interpretations and ways of seeing. Join us as we explore four distinctly different phases of public display and storytelling through the art historian’s eye. Our journey starts with the enactments of medieval mystery plays, halts at the Italian Commedia dell’Arte and its importance particularly for the arts of Rococo Europe, reaching its apogee in exploring how William Hogarth and Richard Garrick immortalized the theatre. Our final session will address the use of art in the theatre of war. Please note that this lecture series runs in conjunction with the current exhibition at Abington Park Museum which until December 2022 charts the history of Northampton’s Masque theatre group. Booking essential.
Saturday 19 November 10am - 1pm £30 including all materials In this workshop on the weekend of ‘Stir up Sunday’ Carmela will demonstrate how to make her delicious festive rocky road fridge traybake and her intricate twisted biscuits, studded with blanched almonds. You will be able to enjoy both of these treats with a cup of tea or coffee. This will be followed by chocolate truffle making, dipping chocolates into crumbled pistachio nuts, cocoa powder and smashed hazelnuts. Perfect to give as any gift. Carmela will finish by demonstrating to you all, how to make her signature amaretto and cranberry Christmas pudding, and you will all make this plump fruity pudding to take home and steam. All ingredients supplied. You will be advised on booking of all equipment you need to bring with you Booking essential.
8 September - 15 December 2022 10.30 - 11.30 am £3 per talk, £24 whole series ticket. A series of talks on various subjects with tea/coffee and biscuits. Booking recommended.
Trainer trail Saturday 22 – Sunday 30 October During opening hours £2 Get your trainers on for a themed trail around the museum – find all the iconic trainers hidden around the building and some fun trainer facts to win a prize.
A one-day workshop based on a step by step process to create a portrait from a photographic reference.
Saturday 22 October 10am - 4pm £65 A one-day workshop based on a step-by-step process to create a portrait from a photographic reference. The process will cover: Using oil paints The typical proportions of the face Measuring and mapping out key features from the photograph The use of line, tone, and value to create the portrait Cordell is an experienced painter who will also provide supporting handouts as part of the workshoto explain and demystify the technical terms and techniques involved. At the end of the workshop you will have created a portrait that you will be able to take away with you. Tea and coffee will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch or lunch is available to purchase from the museum café. Price includes all materials. Booking essential.
Saturday 29 October 10am - 12pm and 1 -3pm £4 per child In this workshop you will be supplied with all the materials to make your very own pair of cardboard trainers based on a pattern by designer Bobby Nangla. Create your favourite high-tops by decorating them with a distinctive design inspired by the trainers on display. Ages 7 – 12 years. Booking essential.
Wednesday 2 November 10.30am-12pm Free An exploration of the Northamptonshire Regiment and Northamptonshire Yeomanry through recently donated objects to the collection. Led by Jon-Paul Carr, our Military Registrar, volunteers will talk about objects that they have researched as part of a project to catalogue and safely pack objects recently donated to the Northamptonshire Yeomanry and Northamptonshire Regimental collections. Suitable for over 14 years. Booking recommended.