We have enjoyed a busy and fun filled half term, with horses, puppets and a re-enactment of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse in the Ambassador Room! All activities were inspired by our current Main Gallery exhibition ‘The Horse at War: 1914 – 1918’ where the life size puppet ‘Joey’ from the National Theatre’s stage production of War Horse takes centre stage.

On Tuesday we had an incredibly busy day and loved having Fonz the horse visit from Merrist Wood College, he spent the day in the courtyard being pampered and fed a constant supply of carrots (so constant that by 4.00pm he was a bit full!).

Fonz was an absolute star and it was wonderful for our visitors to be able to visit the Horse at War exhibition with Joey, the life size horse puppet from the National Theatre’s ‘War Horse’ and then see a real horse in the courtyard, it was a brilliant way to bring the exhibition and the harsh reality of the horse at war, to life – so thank you to Merrist Wood!

Also on Tuesday, Sarah Jane Lee from the National Theatre hosted Interactive Storytelling and brought to life Michael Morpurgo’s story of Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, sold to the cavalry and shipped to France at the start of World War One. Albert cannot forget him and he embarks on a treacherous mission to find Joey and bring him home. Parents and children alike got really involved in re-creating scenes from the story, including a trench in the middle of the Ambassador Room!

There were also plenty of workshops, including creating animal masks, horse puppets, mini rocking horses and learning to draw horses. As always, we were impressed with the creativity of our young visitors and loved seeing all the different interpretations of the activities.

Keep an eye on our Children and Families page for more future half term workshops.