Blue crab puppet made of paper and collage materials on white background. It's claws and body have straws attached for moving the limbs in a shadow puppet style

Create an ocean creature puppet

Create your own ocean creature that can move, swim, act and even dance… if you wanted it to. This page will show you how to make a puppet for all your underwater plays. Watch our Young Zoologists Puppet show for ideas: You will need: If you have a printer, print and use our activity sheet to make your crafting easier: Top tip: use a sharp … Continue reading Create an ocean creature puppet

A Children’s Anthology of Insect Recipes

Have you ever eaten a worm? Maybe a locust? Many insects provide more protein per bite than the types of meat and fish that we usually eat. They also take up far less resources to farm, with less land, water, feed, transport and labour going into their production, giving insect protein a much smaller carbon footprint than farming livestock. Caterpillars for dinner? The caterpillar of … Continue reading A Children’s Anthology of Insect Recipes

Create your own Scientist’s Notebook

Find animals in the Museum or in an outside green space and draw or write about what you see. Scientists do this when they explore the natural world. Scientist’s Notebook activity sheet Download our Scientist’s Notebook activity sheet and use the notebook template on there to help you explore the natural world Your Notebooks These Scientist Notebooks were created in the Museum of Zoology on … Continue reading Create your own Scientist’s Notebook

Butterflies through time title page

A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies

If you visit the Museum of Zoology Butterflies through Time exhibition (from 15 March – September 2022), you will be greeted by a magnificent collaborative artwork created by children from three Cambridgeshire Schools – The Grove Primary in Cambridge, Lantern Primary in Ely and Lionel Walden Primary in Doddington – led by artist Eleanor Chaney. Find out more about Eleanor and her project The Library … Continue reading A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies

Twilight with the Museums marketing banner featuring children's drawings

Build a Dormouse Den

Gather up your blankets, sheets and cushions to build a nest fit for a dormouse. Join the Museum of Zoology to discover how dormice create a cosy winter hide-away and have a go at creating your own giant nest, big enough for you to take a nap in.  Dicover more about dormice nest building behaviour from The People’s Trust for Endangered Species: Can dormouse nests reveal more about their … Continue reading Build a Dormouse Den

Winter Wildlife: Colourful Present Wraps

Everyone likes to experience the surprise of opening a gift from a loved one. Over the holiday period the United Kingdom alone throws away enough wrapping paper to reach the moon! That’s a lot of gift-giving but also a lot of waste. Last year we shared how you can create recyclable festival wrapping paper at home to help save on landfill waste. This year, we’re … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: Colourful Present Wraps

Pair of waxwings surrounded by berries in a tree

Winter Wildlife: Wonderful Waxwings

Our Young Zoologists Club members have been busy creating a waxwing irruption to feature in our Winter Wildlife: ZoologiCOOL livestream on December 1st. Why not make one yourselves at home and join in when you see these models flapping on screen. They are quite simple to make and don’t require any special materials or equipment. Just download the template and follow the instructions below to … Continue reading Winter Wildlife: Wonderful Waxwings

Recycled Rockpool

Did you make a rainforest with us last summer? With the end of the summer holidays coming, why not relive seaside memories and make your own rockpool habitat out of recycled materials? We have some inspiration and ideas for you here, but you can let your imagination run wild and make creatures from crabs to sea anemones, starfish to periwinkles… Read on to discover rockpool … Continue reading Recycled Rockpool

A hand holds a bird sculpture made of white clay. The hand belongs to a white male

Portals to the World: Exploring Breaking Point

Please note that the Breaking Point exhibition has now ended. These resources remain here to be stand-alone and hope to still spark conversations around conservation, plastics and the natural world. Explore our Breaking Point exhibition with dementia friendly resources. These resources have been created in partnership with Dementia Compass, for adults with dementia and their care partners in mind. While they were initially created for participants … Continue reading Portals to the World: Exploring Breaking Point

Banner image of nautilus craft and materials

Crochet a Nautilus: beginners guide

Volunteer Natasha says: This quick and easy little crochet shell is a brilliant way to use up those leftover scraps of yarn and would look great as a decorative addition to any crafty project, like on a cosy blanket or hanging on a mobile! You can use any fibre/material yarn of your choice but be aware that thicker yarns will produce larger shells and the … Continue reading Crochet a Nautilus: beginners guide

Complete tapir craft on cork board background

World Tapir Day: ‘Pin the Nose’ game

Today (April 27) is World Tapir Day, a day to celebrate these wonderous animals and learn a little about why we should be protecting them. What is a tapir? Tapir’s are large, herbivorous mammals that live in rainforests, grasslands, swamps and cloud forests. There are four modern species of tapir. The mountain tapir, Brazilian tapir and Baird’s tapir of South America, and the Malayan tapir … Continue reading World Tapir Day: ‘Pin the Nose’ game

Seven whale bookmarks in different colours

Whale bookmark: celebrating LGBTQ+ history month

February is LGBTQ+ history month and to celebrate the Museum of Zoology is sharing the story of how intersex whales are changing the way we think about ‘gender’ (or ‘sex’) in the animal kingdom. This page has been written with a young audience and families in mind. When we think of wild animals, one of the first questions we ask is, is it a boy … Continue reading Whale bookmark: celebrating LGBTQ+ history month

Dimetrodon illustration by Alastair age 7 3/4

On the Trail of a Creature…

There’s lots of animals to be found in the Museum of Zoology. Our Young Zoologists Club members show and tell you about their favourites and welcome you to explore the collection online and create your own. Download the trail and then use the links below to explore the collection online. Choose your creature to fill in the trail gaps! Delve into the collections online to … Continue reading On the Trail of a Creature…