What is a Home Educator day?
Our bespoke Home Educator days are created for families with non-school learners, giving them the opportunity to explore the Museum together and take part in specially-designed workshops. Our Home Educator days are accessible to visitors with special educational needs, including autism. The Museum will be closed to the public with quiet areas set aside especially for you.
What is The National Museum of Computing?
Step into the living story of computing at TNMOC, where the world's largest collection of historic computers whirs, clicks, and comes alive. Your journey begins with the groundbreaking code-breaking machines that helped win WWII, winds through the age of mainframes, and traces the revolution of personal computing that put technology in every home and pocket. From the first flickers of electronic computing to today's digital world, every machine tells a chapter in our shared technical heritage.
What to expect on the day:
During your visit, you will also have access to a variety of specially-designed STEM-focused activities, including programming, robotics and engineering. Please see the schedule below for more details. All activities are offered as drop-in sessions so learners can self-direct without the pressure of a formal schedule. . The day will include options for every age. You can learn more about the available activities below. Should you wish to attend a more structured day, we have dedicated spaces for Home Educators on our Digital Future Days programme.
The Museum will be open from 10:30am - 3:00pm, with workshops starting at 11am.
What's on?
Self-Guided Museum Explorations:
Our trails hub (located in the Pop-Up Gallery) will give you all the important information about the self-guided explorations available at TNMOC. If you’re struggling or need pointers, our experts will be on hand to help! Some trails are digital (please bring your own device, limited iPads available), and some are paper-based. Trails offered at the Museum are:
Robot Rescue! (6-10 years) - Explore the Museum and find all our mini-bots before their batteries run out and they’re lost forever! Grab a worksheet to record all of the mini-bot locations and fill in the missing words to identify a secret message which can only be deciphered using our Enigma machine!
Treasure Hunt (6+ years) - Become a geo-cacher using the Adventure Lab app and hunt for treasure boxes around the Museum. Decode our computer-related ding-bats to find the missing letters that form an anagram and win a small prize in our shop.
Codename: Cipher [Enigma & The Bombe] - The year is 1940 and you have been invited to Bletchley Park to assist in the war effort. Your first assignment is to catch the undercover spy operating out of the UK known only as Codename Cipher.
Internet Explorers - Are you ready to become an Internet explorer? Delve into the evolution of networked communication and connect with the history of how the Internet revolutionised communication and interaction.
Women in Computing - Discover the inspirational achievements of past and present women in computing and explore their impact on the industry.
Drop-In Workshops:
Sphero BOLTs (BBC Classroom) - Explore the digital realm by guiding your robots through the physical world, fostering hands-on learning of coding. Develop problem-solving skills as you direct your robot through progressively intricate instructions. Unleash your imagination and enjoy the playful process of programming with Sphero.
Beginner's Coding and OSMO (Innovation Hub) - Learn coding skills on our pocket-sized Micro:Bit computers to create LED images activated by buttons or ‘shake’ sensors. They can even communicate with each other!
Freeform MTA Creation (Meeting Room) - In this activity, students will use the MTA Kit to design and build innovative engineering solutions, applying critical thinking and hands-on experimentation to real-world challenges.
Through guided tasks and open-ended projects, learners will explore engineering concepts like mechanics, automation, and structural design. The MTA Kit empowers students to construct, test, and refine their creations, allowing them to see theory come to life.
