I make no secret of the fact that I am a fan of Roald Dahl (I recently included Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf in a Poetically Speaking post). I have also been enjoying reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory to our God Daughters – I suspect I look forward to the next installment as much, and probably more than they do.
Therefore my recent visit to The Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missendon with our God-daughters and two of our nieces was an excellent way to spend a day. Although this museum is aimed at children there really is something for everyone, with three packed galleries to explore, and ample interactive opportunities. I loved the Solo Gallery which mapped the life of Roald Dahl with the highlight being a replica of his writing hut. The younger members of our party probably favoured The Story Centre, a wonderful room full of colour, sound and of course words. In Georges Crafty Kitchen, children’s handy work loops across walls in a wonderful mish mash of colour and texture. All the activities are aimed at encouraging children to explore their own creativity by creating sentences, words, animations and stories.
On entering the museum, all children are given a Story Ideas Book to scribble inspiration and thoughts in as they move around the museum. I strongly encouraged the girls to sit in the replica of Mr Dahl’s Chair in a bid to absorb some of that story telling magic. Of course I’m hoping that just a little bit of that magic rubbed off on me too.
image via changing-pages