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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:

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

Dinosaur rEvolution: Secrets of Survival

On now until 13 September 2020

Dinosaurs ruled the world for 169 million years and vanished 65 million years ago – but did they all go extinct?

Fossils found in China with skin and soft tissue, and even feathers and quills, provide evidence that birds were the last branch in the dinosaur family tree. They revealed secrets of an evolutionary arms-race: and only the smallest dinosaurs would fly away to survive extinction!

Come and see their fascinating skeletons, run your hands over fossil casts including a nest of dinosaur eggs, and unearth fossils from dig pits. Discover whether T. Rex really did have brown scales!

Three animatronic dinosaurs will sense you approach. Hear them roar and watch them move, but don’t worry, they won’t bite.

Exscite

Open 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.

Find out more about the exhibition

Inventors and Innovations: Waikato Bright Sparks

Open 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.

Find out more about the exhibition

Art

Public and Private: Photographs of People

On now until 30 August 2020

Public and Private depicts people through historical images. The private photographs are those we commission or take ourselves – the studio portraits or snapshots that we share only with our family and friends. They speak of our identity within this limited circle.

The public ones are those that are taken on our behalf or for other people. They show who we are in a social sense, as part of a broader group. They include team photographs, workplace gatherings, and people at public events. Such photographs are circulated to people we don’t know – often as published images – exposing us to public view.

The selection comprises 30 photographs shown in Te Papa’s large-scale exhibition New Zealand Photography Collected that was a popular hit from November 2015 to August 2016. They cover 100 years, from the 1870s to the 1990s.

Image: Brian Brake, Oriental Bay, Wellington, 1960, Te Papa.

Curator Notes

27 June - 6 September 2020

Waikato Museum has four curators, and together they curate exhibitions that showcase our collections in the four areas of Art, Social History, Science and Tangata Whenua.

But what does “curate” even mean? What’s involved? The curators are human after all, so how do their individual thoughts shape the display?

For each exhibition, there are a staggering range of topics and threads that could be covered, and decisions are made throughout the exhibition development process that shape the story into its final form.

In this exhibition we are opening up a window into their minds, using annotated notes to demystify the curatorial process, and illuminate their typically unseen craft.

Image: Detail, Tripetal, 1992, bronze, by Elaine Henry (b. 1938). Barry Hopkin’s Art Trust Collection, courtesy of Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato

Tangata whenua

Shaping Hamilton Huringa Kirikiriroa

On Now

Maps, historical artefacts, art, photographs and installations tell the story of the changing demographic and geographic shape of Hamilton.

The place we now know as Hamilton has been shaped by many layers of human intervention, changed forever by iwi agriculture, military officers, bridge-builders, and university students. Few of the features of Hamilton as we find them today are here by chance.

The exhibition traces key events that altered the geography and demography of the city, focusing on the decisions that shaped our region. You can position yourself in the shoes of the decision-makers who influenced its past at ‘voting stations’, and vote for the direction you would choose at each juncture.

The exhibition positions human agency at the heart of our history, welcoming visitors to reflect on their own role in creating their city’s future.

Image: City of Hamilton district plan map, 1963. Collection of Hamilton City Libraries 832.141 EDC

E Hina e! E Hine e! Mana Waahine Maaori/Maoli of Past, Present and Future

On Now

This unique international exhibition explores the contemporary and ancestral importance of Maaori and Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) women. E Hina e! E Hine e! draws on research from the University of Waikato and Waikato Museum and throws a spotlight on messages about environmental sustainability. Myths and legends Koorero Puuraakau are powerful teaching tools. They have strong characters and important messages. Explore myths and legends within this gallery space and immerse your students in this rich cultural exhibition.

Image: Courtesy of Lisa Reihana and Milford Galleries Dunedin

Social history

Shaping Hamilton Huringa Kirikiriroa

On Now

Maps, historical artefacts, art, photographs and installations tell the story of the changing demographic and geographic shape of Hamilton.

The exhibition positions human agency at the heart of our history, welcoming visitors to reflect on their own role in creating their city’s future.

Image: City of Hamilton district plan map, 1963. Collection of Hamilton City Libraries 832.141 EDC

Pre-school programmes

The Museum is a vibrant and engaging learning experience for students of all ages, and at Waikato Museum we appreciate and value our youngest visitors. We can offer a range of early childhood programmes focused on visiting exhibitions as well as our interactive science galleries Exscite and Waikato Bright Sparks. Trained teachers work with centre staff and visiting parents to provide interactive and fun programmes using music, storytelling, games and activities.

Teacher resources

Our Teacher Resource booklets contain information to assist in the planning of classroom units. They are in PDF format and are free to download.

These booklets ask teachers to explore any one of the four areas of interest at the museum: art, science, social history and taangatawhenua. In the booklets we suggest possible areas of study and how we can enhance your programmes by providing a comprehensive education package.