Prehistory

Standard / non-member rates

For groups of 15 or more children
2-hour experience – £7.75 per child
4-hour experience – £13.70 per child

For groups of fewer than 15 children
2-hour experience – £116.25 per group
4-hour experience – £205.50 per group

Magical Museums member rates

For groups of 15 or more children
2-hour experience – £4.36 per child*
4-hour experience – £8.72 per child*

For groups of fewer than 15 children
2-hour experience – £65.40 per group
4-hour experience – £130.80 per group

*If available, your member school's free hours will be used first.

Please note: SEND groups are charged at our Standard per-child rate plus a £10 administration cost.

What to expect from your Experience Day

Take trip to Prehistoric Britain and explore what life was like through the ages. Come face to face with life-size woolly mammoth. Discover how bronze was made and how it changed life for people in the Bronze Age. Or find out about Iron Age warriors and the kind of food they ate.

Choose 2-hour led session to introduce your pupils to your chosen 'age'. Or make day of things for the full Prehistory experience!

2-hour led session includes:

• Introduction to our site and setting the scene about the historical period
• An interactive tour of our world-class archaeology collections
• chance to get hands-on with the artefacts

Plus, choose ONE of the following when you book:

• Stone Age and Bronze Age – try out bow drills and work together to create cave-inspired artwork
• Iron Age – meet Celt and discover more about their daily life. Then dress up and have go at willow weaving
• Plenary and evaluation

4-hour led session includes – all the above!

Group size

We can accommodate up to two groups from your school per available date – with maximum of 35 pupils per group. If you’ like to bring more than two groups (70 pupils), please book additional days.

Timings

The timings for your Experience Day will depend on the size of your group and the length of session you book. 

2-hour session
We deliver sessions from 10am–12pm for the first group, and 12.30–2.30pm for the second group. If you’re bringing two groups to/from the museum at the same time, we strongly recommend you book self-directed time (you can find out more about this below).

4-hour session
We deliver the led session from 10am–12pm for the first activity. You'll have 30-minute lunch break followed by activities in the afternoon from 12.30–2.30pm. If you’re bringing two groups, your groups will swap activities after the lunch break.

Make full day of your visit

When making your booking through Eventbrite, you’ll be asked if you want to book space for lunch and self-directed time (if booking 2-hour session).

Self-directed time is essentially booking to explore the museum in large group. You need to book it in so we know we can accommodate your class alongside other visitors. It does not include any activities led by museum staff – so please plan your time accordingly.

Pre-visit info

To make the most of your visit, make sure you download and read the following documents. These include detailed information on what to expect from the day. For example: timings, locations, &Cs and risk assessment.

Schools Visit Pack (PDF, 350kb)
Prehistory Experience - Full day info pack (PDF, 238kb)
Prehistory Experience - Iron Age info pack (PDF, 239kb)
Prehistory Experience - Stone and Bronze Ages info pack (PDF, 239kb)

A link for these will also be included on your confirmation email and ticket.

We also have the following resources and documents available to help with your visit planning:

Book the Prehistory Experience Day for your school

We are currently using Eventbrite for bookings while we move over to a new system. Any reference to FREE on the Eventbrite system relates only to not being charged at the point of booking. These sessions are NOT free – all schools will be invoiced following your visit based on the booking details you provide. Prices are listed above and on the event pages.

Bookings are now open for all schools to book for the Autumn Term. Our bookings for the Spring Term will open up to Magical Museums member schools in late Autumn 1 half term, and to all other schools in late November 2024. 

Cancellation policy

If you need to cancel or change your booking, you can do this by logging into the Eventbrite account you used to make your booking.

Our cancellation policy states: If you accept this visit but are unable to attend, please cancel your visit via Eventbrite by logging into your account and cancelling your booked ticket. We ask that where possible, you do this within 7 working days of the visit to free up the slot for another school. 

Please note: if you cancel your visit with less than 24 hours’ notice of the booked slot, you will be charged £50.