Our Favourite thing to do at Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is to borrow a backpack. We used to borrow tool belts (filled with activities for the young explorers as they adventure through the museum) but we’ve sort of ‘graduated’ onto the backpacks.

These backpacks are intended for use by groups (i.e. school groups etc) but if you go with a few friends (or if you are there when it is quite) you should be able to borrow one to explore a particular part of the Museum.

Considering we are studying Penguins at the moment, the Antarctic display seems the most relevant for us to borrow, so here we go…

Head to the front counter (where you would check your bags) and ask to borrow a backpack. These are free; you just need to leave a name, contact number, and ensure you bring all the bits back fro the next person to use. If the antarctic backpack is available grab that one.

Head up to the antarctic display on the next level and find a quite spot to open your backpack. You will find a book with images of each item in your back, this book can guide you through a series of activities, all connected to the display around you.

Inside the bag you will find the cast of a Penguin egg, and will be asked to find the penguins on display. This one is always a winner whenever we take tots to the museum. Talk about the weight, the size, and how the penguins have to try and keep it warm on the ice for the egg to hatch. There is also the much loved ice for little fingers to feel. Chat about how much your tots know about how penguins keep warm. If you have already done our activity about Polar bears that might give them some ideas, or they may already know about huddling. Ask them how they would keep the egg warm if they were a penguin? And of course you can’t leave the museum without documenting what you have seen…