Splashes of colour amongst those dark satanic mills

Culturebaby and I are currently in exile, due to the compulsory building work everyone seems to inflict on themselves a couple of months before giving birth. Last week we were up north, and as the weather was rather grotty on Tuesday, we thought we'd take the opportunity to retrace some of my own toddler steps and investigate Oldham Art Gallery, rechristened GalleryOldham.

Oldham, let's face it, isn't a tourist hotspot and is rather a depressing place these days; but it does have an interesting history and rather a distinguished list of former residents from Brian Cox, Inspiral Carpets, Philip Schofield and Mark Owen, to artist Helen Bradley, at least two famous suffragettes, and the Artful Dodger from the 1960s classic musical of Oliver! For fellow lovers of the mighty chip, Oldham is perhaps a worthy place for pilgrimage - Britain's first fish and chip shop was situated in Oldham's own Tommyfield Market. It was also a major mill town of the industrial revolution and the cotton spinning capital of the world, and in the 1900 general election Winston Churchill began his political career here. 

  As a result, Oldham has a fascinating collection of local history and also some great art. Its art gallery is cleverly housed above its central library, it is free and extremely accessible and relaxed. I can remember visiting the old gallery often as a child, and I recall that they had a pretty decent collection of watercolours and Victorian art - including some Pre-Raphaelites (due presumably to its prosperous past as a major player in the industrial revolution), and I was disappointed to find that much of this was not currently in display. However, we were delighted to discover that there were actually some really creative spaces for children, a couple of really good exhibitions and a plethora of opportunities for toddlers to engage with the collections.

I read somewhere recently that, when entering a new gallery space, toddlers often need the chance to dart around, explore and orient themselves before they start to examine the contents, and this is certainly the case for Culturebaby. Some galleries are better than others at handling this, and I was really impressed to find how relaxed, safe and accessible a space Gallery Oldham is. Culturebaby started by having a wonderful time walking along grills on the floor, running through corridors and looking out of the windows to the panoramic views beyond. She then took the time to really engage with some of the collections on display, including leading CultureGrandad around to various items that caught her eye.

As a child one of my favourite books was Rodney Peppe's The Mice Who Lived in a Shoe. Peppe is a model maker and author of over 80 children's books, and I was delighted to find this book and the wonderful model boot I remember returning to again and again on the back pages as part of a really exciting and impressively large exhibition of Peppe's work. The exhibition includes books, models, videos, toys and automata from throughout his career and to our joy included a number of mechanical toys with the express invitation "Please Touch". What a welcome sign for children in a gallery space! These were at the perfect height for Culturebaby and she loved turning various handles to make cogs whirl and birds dance. There was also a great creative area for slightly older children (or toddlers in the mood to concentrate), with materials to produce artwork, an invitation take part in a thumbprint circus, and wooden toys and models to handle.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-death-of-cleopatra-90546

Just beyond this gallery I was really pleased to see on display a painting I loved as a child, with some inventive interpretation material for children. Right in front of this huge painting of Collier's The Death of Cleopatra, little viewers were invited to touch and identify a number of textures and materials visible in the painting. Next to this they were also encouraged to work out and place on a map of the ancient world symbols of a number of everyday items invented by each of the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. Who knew the Romans invented socks and the Ancient Egyptians, marshmallows? There were also worksheets for writing one's name in hieroglyphics and other puzzles. I was really impressed with how this painting was made so accessible and alive to young viewers, and found myself wishing some of our London Galleries did more of this themselves.
 

Culturebaby then moved on to the local history areas, housing a number of interactive displays. Everywhere we turned there was an opportunity for sensory experiences or the chance to draw or colour. There was a display of stuffed owls (Oldham's symbol) with the chance to listen to a variety of owl calls and, for slightly older children, an owl activity bag. Another highlight was a reconstruction of an old Pharmacy, complete with parcels to handle and draws to open, each containing details of various herbs and products (with real smells).

We also discovered a great collection of inspiring artwork by schoolchildren and an exhibition of work by Oldham artist, Brian Clarke, who attributes his love of architecture first to his love of cotton mills. Some of his images, especially a series of aeroplanes were excellent for toddler counting practice - with different numbers of similar images on 4 or 5 canvases.

We finished off our visit in the library below, and just as we found in the galleries, the children's spaces were really well thought out. Far from housing just books, these spaces had giant trays of Lego and Duplo, buckets of toys, miniature tables and chairs and even bookcases with tunnels inside. Of course, this meant that Culturebaby didn't actually read anything on this occasion, but she had a wonderful time exploring the space!

We were really impressed to find what GalleryOldham have done and how lovely, bright and welcoming their space is for little ones. The only sadness was that there were not enough Culturebabies using the space - just a handful. Hopefully this was a blip, but if you are reading this and live anywhere near, we'd really recommend a visit. We were certainly pleasantly surprised to be reminded that there's still plenty of colour to be found between those dark mills, TKMaxx and the Metrolink building site.

Tate for Toddlers - Gaba for Babas

More than any other gallery space, the Tate Modern has become our playground. At six months, strapped into a Baby Bjorn, Culturebaby bounced and cooed at the bright images; at a year she clambered up and down steps and explored the toddler play area; and at 18 months we used Lichtenstein to identify and discuss familiar images. We've seen some amazingly bright and powerful exhibitions, perfect for little senses (especially Hirst and Kusama - see here and here) and today was no exception. At 22 months, Culturebaby seems to get more and more out of every visit, especially as she can walk where she likes and is beginning to articulate her interests. This does mean at times that her frustration increases as she can't understand why she can't cross, run along, or pull the (far too) tempting toddler-height barriers, but there is always something new that she can touch and engage with to make up for this.

Today she invited along her 13 month old friend for a toddle around the galleries. They had a great time exploring the hallways with their ramps and steps, and, as some of the gallery spaces are so big, they were able to crawl around a number of these together. They both loved Dan Flavin's light installations, especially his Untitled work with coloured fluorescent light. Culturebaby is learning her colours at the moment and loved walking up and down identifying each of the pink, red, green, yellow and blue pieces. We've found in general that light installations are great for this age group, and there are often a number to be found at any one time. 

Our great find today, however, was the free exhibition Meschac Gaba's Museum of Contemporary African Art. From the title, you wouldn't necessarily expect to stumble upon a playground for adults and children alike. Gaba's work, as the Tate notes, calls into question the nature and function of the museum and our relationship to it. It is conceptual and interactive, and fantastical. Tate says that "Gaba’s museum is a space not only for the contemplation of objects, but for sociability, study and play in which the boundaries between everyday life and art, and observation and participation are blurred". This was certainly what we observed as we meandered through the various spaces Gaba has created - from bars, to libraries and games rooms. At times one wasn't entirely sure on entering whether the next space was a shop or cafe, or part of the installation. Some items could be interacted with and others were off limits, and it wasn't just the toddlers who were unclear. This, albeit with some hairy moments of chasing and grabbing Culturebaby as she attempted to scale ladder like structures, rather added to the interest of the space, and there was much that they could actually play with too...

In the 'Architecture Room' there was a floor area filled with wooden building bricks - perfect for babies and children to engage with (alongside adults clambering around building elaborate architectural creations), then in the games room we found a piano to play, small furniture and tables and cabinets filled with interesting objects, and rather excitingly - sliding puzzle tables that the little ones could sit on and move around. There was also a beautiful little children's reading area, complete with a huge bookshelf of exciting-looking picture books to read. Although with a toddler leading the way I have much less time to read and understand the exhibitions as I may have done in the past (though some of this I can do afterwards) what is so wonderful is that I am forced to look at what is appealing to her and consider why. Experiencing space in this way, is actually just as interesting and exciting, and brings a whole new dimension to my enjoyment of art too - and I find that I scrutinise and remember certain works more than I might ever have done otherwise.

There is always something new and surprising to discover at Tate, and it increasingly feels rather like a home from home. As my good friend noted today, wielding her glass of wine and looking out at the unparalleled view of the river afforded by the Tate Members Room, as with perfect synchronicity our toddlers both conked out after a good few hours of exciting play; it is days like these that remind you why maternity leave and the tiring days with toddlers can be so amazing. We love it, they love it, and it is brilliantly educational too. Why would you ever just hang out at the local soulless soft play?

All about Mummy...

In February, Culturebaby was in an adorable pointing phase, and as a lifelong lover of all things Egyptian, nothing made me prouder than when (alongside her pigs, cows and crayons) she identified Tutankhamun, waved good morning to him, gave him a kiss and fed him a rusk. Little did she know that this would have made little Tut extremely happy, and that she was following the traditions of ancestors thousands of years old. Ancient Egyptians took real food with them into the afterlife, and relatives were expected to continue to replenish this to ensure that the soul of the deceased had food for eternity. This innocent act may also have rather irked the grander men who followed the famous boy king's reign and took pains to erase the memory of him and his Aten worshipping predecessor Akhenaten (belief in one god was seen as heresy then). Ironically of course, the reason why Tut is a household name is not only because of his great treasures (fabulous as they are, they would have been pretty meagre when compared with the grave goods of grander Pharaohs) but because they were found in tact. And why? Because his small tomb was hidden below rubble from the construction of tombs for later grander kings, which were robbed of their treasures in antiquity. Happily this neglect saved the young Pharaoh, and consequently Tut and his friends are alive and well in our household... well in our picture books anyway.

Much of Culturebaby's experience of Egypt to date had been from a small but much loved trio of picture books, which we review below. So with that in mind we went to see the mummies at the British Museum in the flesh (quite literally). We had popped into the collection here and at the Ashmolean when Culturebaby was much younger, but at 16 months, walking and understanding so much, it was just the right time for her to find the experience really exciting. A great way to start unlocking the Egyptian collections is to focus on the familiar. Culturebaby is a huge fan of animals, and so we went searching through the collections for our favourites. At this stage, Culturebaby had quite a repertoire of animal noises and loved pointing at the correct animal when asked "where is the...?" We had a great time finding mummified cats, crocodiles, cows and birds; bright green models of hippos; coffins with images of snakes and beetles; and depictions of gods with the heads of dogs, hippos, crocodiles, hawks and cats (to name but a few). Several of the cases are also at toddler height, and as Culturebaby loves walking so much, she was able to take my hand and lead me (narrowly avoiding being stomped on by bigger Egypt enthusiasts) to what she found interesting too. With the help of action songs we were also learning parts of the body, and we thoroughly enjoyed identifying ancient heads, shoulders, knees and toes in a number of gallery locations!

 Beyond our fab trio, I've been shocked at the lack of decent Egyptology books for under fives. My love affair with Ancient Egypt began, not at a sensible nursery or school age when a deluge of great books already soak the shelves, but apparently, according to Culture Grandma, from the age of one. I mentioned in an earlier post that The Manchester Museum Egyptian galleries were my favourite space, I was on first name terms with the mummies before I was two and have been captured on numerous photographs sporting an Egyptian headdress and clutching a portrait of Tutankhamun. Yes, perhaps I was a little odd, but perhaps not. Perhaps my mum just supported my early interests, took me to such fascinating and stimulating galleries, read to me, did projects with me and used her creativity to bring this magical civilization alive. I don't think children should have to wait until they are older to have the opportunity to fall in love with this infectiously wonderful topic, but parents need the materials and ideas. With this in mind, we were delighted to discover a February half term session for Under 5s at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This was enagaging and well designed and should be replicated everywhere!

First we were invited into the education rooms for a creativity session. Culturebaby's older pals made cobra head-dresses, necklaces and decorated mini coffin lids. They also made their own mummy puppet-on-a-stick. Younger toddlers were also not neglected. There were Egyptian themed treasure-baskets, sticklebricks to build a temple, and, most excitingly, a sandpit full of Egyptian statues to excavate. Culturebaby threw herself into the task, quite literally head first, and proved to be an adept little Egyptologist, uncovering a number of interesting objects. We were then offered a tour of the Egyptian galleries for the under 5s. They had clearly thought about their mini enthusiasts' interests very well, and provided a voyage of discovery around the collection with an animal theme. The children were encouraged to identify the appropriate statues, compare them to modern photographs, make animal noises and look for interesting details, as well as learning a bit about them. Culturebaby was really able to engage with this, pointed and made the appropriate noises and when she was asked to identify a snake on a crown, she pointed and then touched her head. This tour then culminated with another great activity. The floor had been covered with a really big sheet of paper with tissue paper nile, trees and desert. The children were invited to select an animal they had just seen, colour it in and add it to the appropriate habitat on the floor. The children loved this activity, and even Culturebaby was able to join in. We were really lucky to be able to be part of this session, but even if you can't find anything similar - you can do some of it yourself easily. 

So, here's our three must have books for your toddler Egyptologists:

1. One Blue Hippo, An Ancient Egyptian Counting Book - This beautiful little board book is produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, based on their collections, though we picked up our copy at the British Museum Shop. The recommended reading age is 3+ but this was a favourite with Culturebaby from very early on as it is compact, sturdy, colourful and contains simple but beautiful photographic images of creatures from Ancient Egyptian Art. Starting with the iconic blue hippo (a version of which Culturebaby clearly recognised in the BM collection) and then counting to ten from cats to cows and beetles, this book can engage the very young but also those learning to count. It prompts the reader to search for and recognise its contents in museum collections, and (as the activities we mention above also did so well) it plays on the interests of this age group - making the ancient accessible and relevant. There's also a handy two pages at the back with information on each artefact for the parent or slightly older child.

2. Tickle Tut's Toes by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo - This fabulous little book, from the 'Touch the Art' series, was an amazon discovery. Though it is aimed at ages 4+ because it has parts that can unravel, I'd really disagree with this and say the best audience is a supervised 1-2 year old. Like the engaging 'That's not my...' series, the appeal of this book is the touchy feely elements. Little paws can explore mummy wrappings, sandy sarcophagi and corrugated pyramids. It contains photographs, and a simple rhyming text. Whilst I'd say the design isn't perfect and the text is a little American, it is commendable in that it is the only thing of its kind that I've found. And it was this book, well thumbed already, that prompted Culturebaby to recognise and feed its striking eponymous hero, which is frankly good enough for me. Again there's a section at the back with context and information for each image.

3. We're Sailing Down the Nile, a Journey Through Egypt by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson - Barefoot Books are gorgeous. They aim to create bright, colourful books for children that combine beautiful artwork with captivating storytelling and this one is no exception. This beautiful book was a gift from a friend who clearly knows me extremely well!. Again aimed at the slightly older child, and with several pages of accessible factual material at the end which would be perfect for a primary school project, this book would have several lives in any household as it is also perfect for a toddler. The initial part of the book combines beautiful illustrations with the story of a family's (geographically accurate) journey down the Nile from Abu Simbel to Cairo. It is so accessible because it is bright and simple, with characters, and its text has a repetitive and rhyming progression.

If you're also interested in something slightly more lighthearted, we can also recommend a trio of other fun items. The British Museum has produced a series of historically themed rubber ducks. 'Ra' and his Viking and Roman pals Canute and Augusduck Caesar are now permanent fixtures in our bathtub. We also discovered a great 'dress up Tutankhamun' set of fridge magnets at Manchester Museum and finally in TKMaxx we fell across 'Tutankhamouse' a Pop-up Adventure. Again rhyming and with fun paper engineering, this small book seems to be loosely based on the biblical story of Joseph and culminates with a Sphinx made of cheese. Accurate it is not, but a fun intro to Egypt it certainly is. Sadly several statues have been beheaded (do supervise)...

Come and have a MOSI

Manchester's museums made me. Their collections are my points of reference for so many things. In a previous post, I wrote about my childhood love affair with The Manchester Museum and its mummies, and how exciting it was to take my daughter there. Last month I took my walking, almost talking, toddler to another of my playgrounds - The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI).This fabulous museum comprises everything from a hands-on science space and a walk-through sewer system to a powerhall full of wheels and trains. It oozes with pride for its pioneering city, and although it needs some renovations in certain areas (and deserves some lottery funding), it is simply wonderful. Since I introduced Culturedad to MOSI, it has become one of his favourite spaces. It is dynamic, hands-on, informative and brilliant for toddlers.


If we lived in Manchester we'd never need to go to a souless soft play centre ever again. One of the most baby-friendly spaces in the museum is an area called Experiment. This has existed (albeit in various forms) since I was younger, we always headed there first, and it is still fun for adults and children alike. Situated next to the cafe (which incidentally serves really good food, has an army of high chairs and also has picnic space), Experiment has a wide range of interactive experimental machines, puzzles and other apparatus. Toddlers can run through sound beams (which, when disturbed, play an instrument), produce giant bubbles, experiment with bounciness, colour and reaction times, and play with puzzles. Culturebaby particularly loved the musical beams (and we loved laughing at Grandma as she inadvertently performed a strange sort of arabian style-dance whilst trying to activate the instruments). We were also delighted to find a readymade playgroup- a well populated interactive toddlers' soft play area. This could use a few extra items, but nonetheless Culturebaby was over the moon to find blocks and puzzles, cogs to turn, mini armcairs to sit in and soft mats to run and jump on. It looks like the museum runs special 'Experitots' events for toddlers in this space once a month (*looks wistfully northwards). When Culturebaby finally passed out after lunch the adults also got to play. There are several fabulous large 3D brain puzzles and games dotted around the area, and there was a large selection of oldies like us trying them out...

Other parts of the museum that really caught Culturebaby's eye were the new hi-tech Revolution Manchester gallery spaces - particularly the accessible keyboards and huge spiral digital sculpture which took our picture and displayed us as part of the installation in various locations - perfect for a toddler in the pointing phase! And nothing can beat the Powerhall for awe inspiring scale, motion and exploration potential for toddlers. The large waterwheel was as exciting to Culturebaby as it was to me as a child. There was also a wheel operated by the emptying of a tank, filled by a (Grandad powered!) water pump (we were slightly worried for him by the 4th 'again'), steam and oil powered machines -  brought to life by the touch of a button - and several trains to get into and explore.

Free admission of  museums is a wonderful thing. When I was younger we had to pay to visit. Now it is free. You can drop in or spend a day. Like Manchester, this museum is at times polished, at others rough and ready, but always inventive, creative and forward looking. Really worth a visit (or many). Go and have a MOSI....