Explore the role of play and its purpose in museums. If museums want a better future they must be welcoming, playful, social spaces.

THIS STUDY DAY IS SOLD OUT

Join interpretation specialist Anna Ravenscroft for a day that invites you to rediscover the power and purpose of play in museum interpretation.

If museums want a better future, they must be welcoming, social, and joyfully curious spaces. Play is not childish, it’s child-like: it sparks wonder, fuels discovery, and invites participation. When we design playfulness into our galleries, we open the door for everyone, not just children, to learn through doing, imagining, and connecting, and to enjoy doing so.

In this lively, hands-on session, Anna will guide you through imaginative exercises that stretch your creative and interpretive muscles. Together, you’ll experiment with playful ways into content, unlocking new routes to meaning-making that go beyond labels and panels. The session will leave you with a renewed sense of energy, confidence, and possibility: ready to bring this spirit of play back into your own workplace.

Drawing on her experience developing world-class interpretation for the Science Museum, Imperial War Museum, and Natural History Museum, Anna will share insights from her own and other projects that use playfulness to promote learning. Her work explores how playful, intergenerational learning transforms the way people interact with content, and how these principles can inspire richer experiences for all audiences.

Explore how playful experiences change the way all audiences interact with content and create a manifesto for less text and more play, as well as a tool kit for putting that into action at your museum.

• Engage with Practical Exercises: Engage in practice-based exercises that will help solidify your understanding of the role of play and how it can be approached in your own museum.

• Case Studies and Real-World Examples: Gain inspiration and understanding from a variety of case studies showcasing a range of playful approaches to museum interpretation and the lessons learned from them.

• Reflect and Collaborate: Work in small, supportive groups to reflect on your ideas and activities. This conversational and relaxed setting encourages open discussion and peer learning.

• Actionable Next Steps: Leave with a clear ideas to help you approach your own playful approaches to museum interpretation.

Playful Approaches to Museum Interpretation: Life Outside the Text Box
Study Day, 24 February 2026, Central London
Led by Anna Ravenscroft

About the Workshop Leader

Anna Ravenscroft believes that her experience of delivering interpretation for and with young people has developed her practice, and that the principles that underlie this approach improve interpretation for all audiences. Work with her to create a manifesto for less text and more play, as well as a tool kit for putting that into action. All outputs will be shared with the group after the session as a draft you can use and adapt to your own settings. Anna has delivered world-class interpretation for Imperial War Museum and Science Museum masterplan galleries. In her freelance capacity she has worked with Natural History Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Science Museum, Barts Health Archive Trust and more. For this workshop Anna will draw from her experience of working on Technicians Gallery at Science Museum and the development work on a forthcoming Children’s Gallery at Natural History Museum. In developing an intergenerational learning strategy she has spent a lot of time observing playful experiences and how this changes the way all audiences interact with content.

Book Tickets

THIS STUDY DAY IS SOLD OUT

Click ‘Select options’ below to book your place on the study day. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from £137 – £177. Book with colleagues for multiple delegate discounts. Book your ticket online below or email info@museum-id.com if you prefer to be invoiced.

20% of tickets are available at a reduced rate for museum workers who may often be excluded from training and professional development opportunities, including people of colour, LGBTQ+ members of staff, students, freelancers, and those working at small independent museums. Reduced rate tickets are £97 – email info@museum-id.com to check availability and to book a ticket at the reduced rate.

Tickets are non-refundable but may be swapped between colleagues at the same organisation and between different study days (if places are available). If the workshop is postponed, your ticket remains valid for the rescheduled date.