February is LGBTQ+ History Month and to celebrate the Museum of Zoology is sharing the story of giraffes and the work of scientist Anne Innis Dagg. Read on for our tutorial on how to create your own rainbow giraffe fabric, perfect for your next sewing project! When we see wild animals behaving in a particular way, one of the first things we ask is ‘why?’. … Continue reading Giraffes: celebrating LGBTQ+ history month
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
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
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
Ever wonder what to do with all of the lovely cards that you get for birthday’s or holidays? The good news is that most are recyclable, minus those covered in glitter of course! But let’s go that little bit further for our planet and give these cards and underrated bits of mini-artwork a new lease of life! Gift tags for next year Find cards with … Continue reading Give Cards a New Life
Take a look out of your window – what wildlife can you see? Over the next 12 days we will be exploring local wildlife over the colder months, giving you some tops tips on how to support it, and also celebrating winter wildlife with sustainable crafts and more. Catch up with our live launch of the 12 Days of Winter Wildlife that took place on … Continue reading 12 Days of Winter Wildlife
This year we are taking our Winter Wildlife event online. Join us for the live launch on our YouTube channel at 4.30pm on Tuesday 1 December or catch up here: Get your questions ready for a LIVE Q&A with Rob Jaques from the British Trust for Ornithology, who’ll be talking about birds and other winter wildlife, and ways you can get involved collecting important data … Continue reading Coming Soon: 12 Days of Winter Wildlife
At this time of year, people across the world will be celebrating Diwali or Deepawali, also known as the Indian festival of lights. Create a lantern bug light holder to celebrate the festival together. What is a lantern bug? Lantern bugs, Fulgora and Pyrops, (also known as lanternflies) are found across south and south east Asia, and the Americas; mostly in tropical regions. They are part of … Continue reading Lantern bugs for a Festival of Lights
Follow our top tips on how to use and dispose of your pumpkin in a sustainable way; looking after you and the planet. Plus, we’ve got four awesome autumnal animal stencils and a step-by-step guide for carving your own pumpkin lantern. Sustainable pumpkins There’s plenty of things to do with the leftover seeds and fibres after pumpkin carving. Here’s some top tips on where to … Continue reading Proud Pumpkins: making sustainable choices
What’s black and white and likes eggs for dinner? The UK’s largest land predator of course! This week we celebrate the European badger; an omnivore that likes to snack on small mammals, birds’ eggs, worms, fruit and plants. Discover more about how scientists are Conserving Britain’s Carnivores here or delve into the details of a badger’s skull with our Exploring Skulls video: Creating your badger … Continue reading National Badger Day Mask
Rhinos are big herbivores (plant-eaters) that have a huge impact on their habitat, by spreading around seeds and walking through, pushing and shoving the vegetation, which helps other animals in their environments. They have also had a big impact on human culture, appearing in all sorts of art for at least 700 years! There are five species of rhinos alive today, but sadly four of … Continue reading A ‘crash’ of rhinoceroses
Have you seen any bumblebees this summer? They often look more round and furry than other bees. They visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen, helping to pollinate plants as they go! Learn more about bumblebees from Ed Turner in the video below, or scroll down to get started on your Crafty Creature: Creating your bumblebee… You will need: Cardboard Wool or string(we’ve used yellow … Continue reading Create a Bumblebee
Build a mini-habitat using a cardboard box and recyclable materials from around your home. The guide below will give you some ideas to get you started, but the rest is up to you! You will need: Cardboard box Old magazines, greetings cards, scrap paper. Pens or pencils Scissors Glue Once you have gathered all of your materials, watch the video below for museum learning assistant, … Continue reading Habitat in-a-box
The okapi is the only living relative of giraffes and looking closer you can see the similarities. It has camouflaging body patterns, large ears and the males have stout horns above the eyes (ossicones). They even have a similar long, prehensile (meaning that it can grasp things) tongue, just like a giraffe. This helps them to quickly strip leaves from tree branches. They are however, … Continue reading Okapi? Okapi!
Join artist Kaitlin Ferguson as she talks you through how to Look, Copy, and Make with the Museum of Zoology’s fin whale skeleton. You will need: Paper Pens or pencils Scissors Kaitlin’s whale tail template Video of fin whale skeleton: https://youtu.be/CEb2UyXZq_w These activities can be enjoyed by anyone and have been made with young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) in mind. See … Continue reading Look Copy Make – Fin Whale
Museum of Zoology Blog 