November's Playday Won't Be What You Expect

Brighton Toy and Model Museum’s Last Playday was a Hoot, a Scream, And a Bump in the Night

We had a great turn-out of visitors who all got into the dress-up spirit and enjoyed all kinds of creepy games and activities on a Halloween theme. November’s Playday is going to be the same, but different.

Because it’s taking place on the second Sunday of November you’ll be thinking fireworks and bonfires, gunpowder, treason and plot, right? Well, actually, you’d be wrong. As we haven’t had an opportunity to mark the occasion until now, we’ll be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland.

Crafts will include colouring blow-ups of artwork by John Tenniel that was used in the first iterations of Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, making masquerade masks and crafting sculptures from play-dough. As well as these activities there will be the other regular diversions that Playdays are known for. And, as always, if you feel like dressing up, you’re free to do so! We’ve always found that putting on a costume helps to create a fun atmosphere and lets you show off your haberdashery skills. So if you feel like being Alice, the Mad Hatter, a White Rabbit or even the Queen of Hearts, then November’s Playday is the place to let yourself go!

If you want to join in then you can come to the Brighton Toy and Model Museum any time between two and five. Children's Play-days are held every second Sunday of each month. Admission is £5 per child and groups of up to 4 children can bring an adult for free, any additional adults would have to pay the regular price of adult admission.

Another event that we’ll be hosting in the environs of the Museum will be a performance by Harry’s Tricks, playing popular British and American music from the height of the Jazz Age. We’ll be opening our doors at 7pm November 21, tickets for the night’s performance will be £8.00 for adult audience members, £5.00 for children. To get a taste of what Harry’s Tricks we’ve added a little video. Seeing the band live is an altogether different experience, especially in the setting of the Museum.

It's The Flying Scotsman Running Day

Ghastly Ghostly Goings-On Will Feature in this Month's PlayDay

It surely goes without saying that October’s Playday is going to be Halloween themed. Because Halloween’s so much fun! It’s always been a favourite with kids as there’s so much to do, with games, crafts, dressing up and scary stories. And that’s why we’re going to be pulling out all the stops to make our Halloween Playday extra spooky!

If you’ve been to one of our Playdays before, then you’ll know that we like to make the event special and different from the last. The staff dress up, there are stories, facepainting, crafts and toys to play with. Because of the Halloween theme in October there will be pumpkin classes where you can learn how to safely carve a Jack o’ Lantern, traditional Halloween games like Snap Apples, Nelson’s Eye and everyone’s favourite: Eating A Chocolate Bar Using A Knife And Fork While Wearing Gloves.

Unfortunately, because of the inherent mess involved in pumpkin carving, we won’t be doing that. On the other hand we will be helping design pumpkin templates and masks which children can wear or put on pumpkins to carve at home. (We were going to blame Health and Safety, but here at Brighton Toy and Model Museum we encourage putting sharp objects in sticky little hands, we just don’t want to have to clear it all up afterwards!)

Because we’re an inclusive bunch here we won’t just be sticking with the traditional British and American Halloween entertainments, we’ll be drawing Sugar Skull designs, facepainting, telling stories, and a host of other traditional Halloween inspired crafts and entertainment. To find out more, you’ll just have to come along! There’s no need to book in advance and you can turn up any time between two and five. Children's Play-days are held every second Sunday of each month. Admission is £5 per child and groups of up to 4 children can bring an adult for free, any additional adults would have to pay the regular price of adult admission.