Minecraft Your Museum - families' favourite lockdown activity

Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales has been recognised for its fun family activities during lockdown in the Family Friendly Museum Award From Home.

The museum was one of five museums awarded top prizes today in an online awards ceremony hosted by TV personalities, Philip Mould and Professor Kate Williams.

Charity Kids in Museums has held its annual Family Friendly Museum Award for the past 15 years, recognising the most family friendly heritage sites in the UK. This year the charity created a special award to celebrate the extraordinary effort museums made to adapt to lockdown and support families. They asked families and museums to share their favourite lockdown activities – whether it was a film, quiz, game, craft or something else!

Over 400 nominations for the award were sent in from all over the world. In July, an expert panel whittled down these nominations to a shortlist of 26 museums.

Over the summer, families tested out the activities and their feedback, along with an expert panel, decided the winners of each category.

Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales won the award for the Best Social Media Activity for the Minecraft Your Museum Competition. 

"We are delighted that this work was recognised! The work the children created by taking part was phenomenal! The effort they put into creating their own Museums was clearly evident and they had used so many skills to make them. More importantly all children said how much they enjoyed making their Museums and all of our judges enjoyed visiting them!" Danielle Cowell - Lead for Digital Learning at AC-NMW. 

Whilst the Minecraft Your Museum competition has finished you can still take part by creating your own Museum in Minecraft.

Download a resource pack here.

Please share your creations with us on social media - so others can enjoy!

The video below shows entries from all our participants and highlights the winning entries.

Indivdual entries can be found on the Peoples Collection Wales website.

Philip Mould, art dealer, broadcaster and Kids in Museums President, said: “It is a pleasure to today celebrate how museums and heritage sites have sprung into action and brought culture to families during this challenging time. What all our winners have in common is that they have managed to bring the best of museums to families at home. These projects not only helped them with home schooling, but also supported their wellbeing and helped them have fun together. Many congratulations to all our worthy winners.”

Here is the full list of families’ favourite lockdown activities:

Best Social Media Activity

Highly Commended

· Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft – Virtual Museum Club

Winner

· National Museum Wales – Minecraft your Museum

Best Film

Highly Commended

· University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge - Zoology Live! Online Festival

Winner

· Cooper Gallery, Barnsley - Wow Wednesdays

Best Website Activity

Highly Commended

· National Galleries Scotland – Home is Where the Art is

Winner

· National Videogame Museum, Sheffield – Create Your Own Pixel Art Character

Best International Digital Activity

Highly Commended

· Andy Warhol Museum, USA – Warhol Making It Videos

Winner

· The Glucksman, Republic of Ireland – Creativity at Home

Going the Extra Mile

Highly Commended

· Colchester and Ipswich Museums – Museum From Home Activity Packs

· Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books, Newcastle Upon Tyne – Something to Smile About: Supporting Families in East Newcastle

Winner

· The Whitworth, Manchester – Still Parents