Education programmes
Waikato Museum's education programmes explore and develop the curriculum through classroom-based sessions, exhibition tours and activities.
Explore Art, Science, Social History and Tangata Whenua history and culture through our changing exhibitions. We will work with you to develop a programme to meet your teaching and learning needs.
Read our Education Programmes for 2020:
Preschools
Primary Schools
Secondary Schools
Admission fees
Short education programme |
$6 per student |
Extended education programme (Big Day Out half-day) |
$8 per student |
Full education programme (Big Day Out full-day) |
$10 per student |
Exscite and Inventors and Innovations: Waikato Bright Sparks Education programme |
$8 per student |
Exscite and Inventors and Innovations: Waikato Bright Sparks + a gallery programme |
$10 per student |
Prices vary according to the programme selected, duration of your visit and consumables used.
Ratios
Early childhood - 1 adult: 4 students
Years 0-6 - 1 adult: 8 students
Years 7-10 - 1 adult: 15 students
Years 11-13 - 1 adult: 30 students
These ratios include teachers/supervisors.
NOTE: One adult per the ratios listed above may attend free as a supervisor; additional adults who wish to attend beyond that ratio are charged the student fee.
For information on class times, length, ratios and how to book, check out Information for teachers. Booking is essential for all programmes.
Our programmes
Bookings are essential, email education.museum@hcc.govt.nz
Science
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ExsciteOpen now The Exscite gallery is jammed-packed with great interactive ways to learn about science. The programme includes a classroom session (tailored to your group), exhibition tour and interactive fun – inclusive cost $8. |
Inventors and Innovations: Waikato Bright SparksOpen now People have brilliant ideas everyday but how do these ideas get transformed into something bigger and real? Inventors and Innovations: Waikato Bright Sparks examines some of our region’s problem-solving success stories through an immersive experience that will take you on a journey through time and space. Learn how bridges work then design and build your own. Power up an electric fence and find out what’s in the DNA of an innovator. This exhibition is sure to motivate the avid inventor and endless tinkerer in everyone. |
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Galileo - Scientist, Astronomer, Visionary20 February - 7 June 2021 Galileo Galilei was an Italian natural philosopher, astronomer and mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, strength of materials and to the development of This exhibition allows visitors to discover Galileo through interactive experiments. Developed by The Artisans of Florence, whose Da Vinci and Archimedes exhibitions we have shown previously, this exhibition is ideal for children, families, and school groups, keen to experience science hands on. Waikato Museum is pleased to be the first venue in the world to showcase this latest exhibition. |
Art
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Distant Kinship / Verre Verwanten NL / NZ - An exhibition of printmakers of Grafiekgroep Bergen and the Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand6 March - 2 May 2021 This exhibition Distant Kinship/ Verre Verwanten is an exchange between the Grafiekgroep Bergen (GGB), a collective of nine Dutch printmakers, and nine printmakers belonging to the Print Council Image: Detail, Landfall, relief print/collage, oil based printing ink on paper, by Beth Charles, 2019 |
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Ruth DaveyOn now until 7 March 2021 Printmaker Ruth Davey is one of Waikato’s leading artists. Davey’s works are ethereal, expressive, and engaging. They filter international trends through local soils to create works that simultaneously Image: Violinist, Ruth Davey, Etching aquatint, 1982. |
Social History
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Where Children SleepOn now until 9 May 2021 Venice-based British photographer James Mollison initiated an ongoing photographic project drawing attention to the poverty experienced by children around the world, but in so doing, shows us the joy that each child possesses and exudes in coping with their own lives alongside some in more privileged settings. To highlight their plight, he has photographed where they sleep. Not always in a bed, nor even inside a building. His compassionate focus privileges us with a rare insight into the individual places where they rest their heads. Where Children Sleep shares 25 photographs of their sleeping spaces from Nepal, provincial China to downtown New York. Exhibition developed and toured by Expressions Whirinaki |
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Shaping Hamilton Huringa KirikiriroaOn now Maps, historical artefacts, art, photographs and installations tell the story of the changing demographic and geographic shape of Hamilton. |
#mywaikatomuseumOn now until 5 April 2021 When COVID-19 meant Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato had to close its doors as the country went into lockdown, we began to think about the collections you have in your own homes. We asked you to share the objects you would include in a ‘museum of you’, using the hashtag #mywaikatomuseum on Facebook and Instagram. The items and stories in this exhibition spring from the #mywaikatomuseum campaign, and feature some of the best of your personal collections. |