December’s Christmas Themed Playday Sunday 7th 2pm - 5pm

It’s almost time for another of Brighton Toy and Model Museum’s Playdays. December’s Playday takes its theme from Christmas so there will be lots of seasonal things for kids to get up to.
As usual, there will be toys to play with, arts and crafts to create, including greetings cards and a story performed by one of our fascinating storytellers. As well as these activities there will also be a facepainter making children into elves, princesses, pirates and penguins and a Loom-Bandologist teaching us how to make beautiful pieces just in time to give us plenty of ideas for things to make for Christmas gifts. Each child can take their bracelet or Loom gift away with them.


The Playday is on Sunday December 7th and starts in the museum at 2pm and finishes at 5pm, although the doors will be open throughout. Admission is £6 for this event and includes craft materials, loom bands and light refreshments. Naturally, since the Playday is taking place within the museum, children have access to all of the exhibits as well as taking part in activities. This includes our model railways, stuffed toys, construction kits and model aircraft. As usual, the museum shop will also remain open, with a great selection of toys and models, including pre-owned trains and trackwork, Star Wars toys, buses, cars and tanks as well as new toys and seasonal gifts.

Each child or group of up to four children will be entitled to have one adult guest come along free to accompany them. The Playday is targeted at children from 3 to 12 years of age, children under 8 will have to bring someone over 18 to look after them. Faces cost an extra pound to paint and some activities may cost a little extra if additional materials or products are used. Healthy refreshments will be made available too.

Admission to this event is half price for Junior Members.

Museum Junior Membership is £20 per annum for children and includes access to running days and other special events hosted by the museum including free access to the museum on all ordinary days of business. If a Junior Member brings along an adult, on an ‘ordinary’ day, who isn’t also a member then the adult pays £1.00 instead of the normal admission price of £4.50 (£3.50 for students and senior citizens).

Ooh La La Board For Brighton!

Vintage car collectors, owners and enthusiasts are often compared to big kids tinkering with their toys. This being so, the Committee at Brighton Toy and Model Museum thought that the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run was the perfect cue to get their trainsets running again.

Brighton Toy and Model Museum will be holding another of their ever popular Train Running Days on November the 1^st to entertain all vintage enthusiasts and the nostalgic who will be on the South Coast for the London to Brighton rally the following day. Running days at the museum are unfortunately infrequent because the time and effort put into making sure the trains are properly maintained means that they can’t be run on a regular basis. This running day will be different from the running days that the museum are occasionally able to host thanks to a French inspired theme. The museum will be unpacking its rare French made models from the first half of the last century and will be running them alongside more familiar British makes.

For those dedicated Francophiles among us, the French theme continues after the museum’s normal opening hours: In the evening the Museum will be laying on a French soirée with authentic French music and chanteuse entertaining guests. A buffet of French foods including cheeses and wines will also be available.

 The Running Day on the first of November will be much like any other day at the museum except that many of the old, rare, and delicate trains which are normally only displayed behind glass in the central layout will be running. The glass will also be removed so visitors can get a really great unimpeded view of the trains as they go. There will also be staff and museum members on hand throughout the day to talk about the collections, their history as well as offering guidance and advice to any budding model rail enthusiasts.

Admission to the Running Day will be £10 per person, admission for those who wish to attend both the running day and the evening’s entertainments (which includes access throughout the museum) is £16.00. Tickets for the evening’s event will be £8.50 and will include a complimentary glass of wine.

For more information about booking tickets please see our Eventbrite pages. One allows you to book tickets for the running day while the other allows you to book for the evening of song or buy tickets for the entire day's schedule of events.

Half Term Special Activities - Fun with the Teddy Bears...

The event's "Teddybear" poster

What a great atmosphere here at the Brighton Toy and Model Museum today! It is lovely to see lots of kids and their families enjoying spending time together and talking about some of our wonderful exhibits, mainly the Teddy Bears. Well of course that is what we are focusing on this half term and it has sparked all these nostalgic memories that are taking our older visitors back to their childhood and of course sharing it with the younger generations. We have Steiff bears, cartoon bears, toy shop bears, storybook bears, rare and special bears, famous bears, the list goes on... I have certainly learnt some amazing facts, and I can guarantee that anyone visiting during this exciting week will learn at least one new thing to take away with them.

By Nazie, Aged 6 Years Old

Oh and some of the talented artwork that has emerged is really encouraging! We have been asking the kids to find their favourite teddy bear in the museum and to draw a portrait of them and then suitably name them. Among my favourites so far are 'Boo Booo', 'Fuzzy' and 'Loopey'. It's delightful to see the kid's imaginations come to life with the colours and the flair, you can actually envisage the concentration and thought behind each one. What a pleasure it has been to give a prize to each and every drawing submitted. Those with permission will certainly be heading onto our website for us to proudly display.
The activities will be running until Saturday 3rd November so if you fancy joining in then pop down for a visit. Our normal opening times and admission applies with a further £1 entry fee on the drawing activity if you choose to participate. Hope to see you soon...
Stacey