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Hello everyone, Several people expressed an interest in reading the responses I received to this discussion so I am sharing them below. Thank you very much to those who contributed :-) If anyone wants to continue the discussion, or respond to any of the info shared, then feel free to do so. Kind Regards Emma Metcalfe Designer & Illustrator of Fun Resources for Children www.emillustration.co.uk RESPONSES 1. I’ve put some of my own thoughts together into a PDF guide called ‘ON THE TRAIL: Things to Think About When Designing Trails for Children & Families’ which, if of interest, can be downloaded from my website at - http://www.emillustration.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=On-the-Trail:-Things-to-Think-About-When-Designing-Trails-for-Children-&-Families---downloadable-PDF-resource I don’t claim to have all the answers, but have highlighted things which I think are important to consider when planning a trail. 2. Caroline Marcus, Museum Learning Consultant very kindly shared the following links to trails she’s created for the National Gallery. “I created the Katie trail in collaboration with author/illustrator James Mayhew and it's still selling in the shop and has been reprinted a number of times. I'm unable to tell you if there's been evaluation of the trails but my colleague may be able to give further information if required. I collated lots of info from a study of best practice in children's trails from other museums, galleries and heritage sites." http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/printed-trails/katies-national-gallery-adventure-printed-trail http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/marvellous-blooms-printed-trail” 3. Catherine Stevenson from Royal Museums Greenwich made the following fantastic contribution – “We currently have two trails - one is an animal hunt, the other is looking at shapes around the ship (quite open ended). Both use images more than words, b&w A4 sheets which fold to A5. They both worked really well when they were first introduced as they linked directly to a theme (animals were for Chinese New Year) or activity (shapes were linked to a patterns workshop). They made sense in that context and families were keen to complete them, and they encouraged families to look closely at the ship. We now offer them to all visitors for free, but have two main issues: 1. There's plenty on the ship to keep children interested, so they tend to either forget about the trail or do it on their second trip round 2. Most of the trail content is on the upper decks, so children's attention isn't straight away (when the enter the lower deck). We need to do some focused evaluation, but I think we either need to make the trail itself into an more appealing thing (like the stampertrail at London Transport Museum), or create more focal points around the ship that clearly link to a trail. I will also be reviewing the logistics - e.g. where they're given out, supporting information for adults etc. as that all makes a difference too. The best trail we've had here was an egg hunt last Easter (literally just plastic eggs hidden around the ship). It was a really simple event (with a prize!) but families loved it (and although not exactly a way to learn lots about the ship, it wasn't entirely random as we do have chickens on board!!).” Thanks everyone! + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + GEM list: Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask] For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=GEM + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +