Visit the Learning Resource Room to take part in our Big Draw and decorate our giant paper with megalithic and cave art!

To mark World Autism Day, take part in our quite access Megalithic Big Draw drop-in workshop. Learn about the different designs, patterns and shapes that people in Stone Age Ireland used to decorate megalithic tombs, just like Newgrange. Create your own cave hand print to take home with you.
 
If you would like to find out more about Prehistoric and Stone Age Ireland, check out the Museum's Prehistoric Ireland exhibition or our range of resources for at home or in the classroom in our Museum at Home section.

No booking required. Located in the Learning Resource Room, First Floor. Not wheelchair accessible. This workshop is for families. Children must be fully supervised by a parent or adult who is in loco parentis.

What is a 'Relaxed Drop-In Workshop'?

• A relaxed visit to the Learning Resource Room at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street.

• This room is on the first floor of the Museum and is not wheelchair accessible. It is accessed by the stairs at the back of the Museum and is on the left hand-side when you reach the top of the stairs.

• The drop-in takes place from 10:30am-12:30pm. The Learning Resource Room will be open to families during this time, and they can come and go as they please during the two hours. There is no set time that a family needs or can stay in the room.

• During the drop-in, children with their accompanying adults, can complete the craft activity which will take between 15-30 minutes to complete.

• When you arrive at to the Learning Resource Room, you will be greeted by two Museum Educators.

• They will welcome you to the room and talk to you about the life in Stone Age Ireland, and the creation of rock art on large stones during this time. You can ask them questions about stone age and prehistoric Ireland, archaeology and the Museum.

• They will show you how to do the craft, which is decorating a very large piece of paper, that will be taped to the ground, using crayons and pastels ​

• You will be shown examples how you can decorate the large piece of paper.

• There will also be examples of shapes and patterns that have been found on stone art in Ireland. If you wish, you can use these examples to give you an idea of the decorations and patterns that you would like to create. 

• If you arrive the Learning Resource Room and the room is full of people doing the craft, you may be asked to have a look around the Museum and come back in 10-20 minutes when a family have completed their craft activity and have left.

• Throughout the duration of the drop-in workshop, all children must be supervised by an accompanying adult.

• Please click here to see a floor plan of the Museum, which shows the ground floor and the first floor of the Museum. The Learning Resource Room is located on the first floor.

• The Drop-In Workshop is based on the Prehistoric Ireland Exhibition, which is located on the ground floor.

• Only the ground floor of the Museum is wheelchair accessible.

• Toilets are available at the back of the Museum on the ground floor and includes an accessibility toilet. 

• Please bring along any PPE that you want e.g. ear defenders. the Museum galleries can get very noisy.

• There is also a shop onsite.

• Scroll down to the very end of this page to see a picture of what the outside of the Museum looks like.

What is a Drop-In Workshop?
Drop-In Workshops take place in the Learning Resource Room (first floor) or the Kildare Room, (ground floor) at the Nation Museum of Ireland. These workshops are designed with families and children in mind. Each drop-in session takes place over two hours and features an activity that will take about 15-30 minutes to complete. There is no booking required, and you can take part in the activity at any time, and for however long you wish. The activities that take place includes seeing and handling replica objects, colouring, or, a ‘make and take’ craft activity. Every activity is inspired by artefacts and exhibitions in the Museum.

For full details of our list of Drop-In Workshops and events, please see our Event Calendar. Please do make note of where the drop-in is taking place before you arrive as the Learning Resource Room is not wheelchair accessible.