Explore & Learn
The National Museum of Ireland is a key learning resource for children, youth, adults and families.
The Education and Outreach programme and services facilitate people to engage meaningfully with the exhibitions and collections through handling objects, storytelling, art, drama, creative writing and other arts media.
Participating in the Museum's education programme enables people to:
- Learn through observation.
- Investigate how scientists come to understand the natural world.
- Look for evidence and discover what can be learned by examining handling objects and through 'discovery' learning.
- Engage with objects through handling and other sensory-based experiences.
- Study science, geography, biology, environmental issues, geology and a range of other topics and disciplines.
- Make links across a range of subjects through an integrated and cross-curricular approach to learning.
New Resources and Learning Spaces at Natural History
While Natural History was closed, the Education and Outreach Department developed two new learning spaces, the Discovery Zone on the ground floor and the Reading Area on the first floor.
These spaces facilitate the visitor to handle objects and to read and discover more about Irish natural history and the world of science. The Discovery Zone will host Inspectoriums for families and workshops for schools and other groups. These will be led by artists and museum educators.
Self learning resources, such as activity sheets, are available for primary schools and even more resources and workshops are planned for the autumn term. These activities and resources will bring the specimens alive for audiences of all ages and help people discover more about the exhibits on display and the world of natural history.
For further information on resources for schools and teachers check out Schools & Colleges.
For further information on resources for families check out Families and What's On.