Press Releases

Enjoy reading with the dinosaurs

As part of celebrations around World Book Day on March 5th 2015, learning officers from National Museum Cardiff take the magic of reading and writing to Merthyr Tydfil this year to, take part in  the annual arts and literature festival, Spread the Word festival hosted by the Stephens and George Centenary Charitable Trust.

Using dinosaurs as a focus to enthuse young people with the pleasure of reading and writing, National Museum Cardiff will be delivering workshops to schools from the local area throughout the day. The workshops have been developed alongside the first book for children published by the Museum ‘Albie the Adventurer, a dinosaur in the forest’.

During the workshops pupils will take part in fun, practical activities and gain first-hand experiences through play and active involvement that will enable them to be creative, imaginative and have fun while learning.

This popular children’s book tells the story of Albie, a dinosaur scared of the strange sounds from the forest and explains young people how paleontologists deduced the sounds that dinosaurs made based on diet - as herbivores and carnivores made completely different sounds.

Learning officers from Amgueddfa Cymru will also bring with them objects and fossils from the Museum’s palaeontology collections usually displayed in Cardiff for children to explore them.

Grace Todd, Senior Learning, Participation and Interpretation Officer at Amgueddfa Cymru and author of “Albie the Adventurer”, said:

Spread The Word Festival has been immensely popular with the local community.

These workshops will be an invaluable opportunity to take our collections and activities to the children who might not have visited National Museum Cardiff before.”

The Stephens & George Centenary Charitable Trust has been established since February 2012 to improve literacy levels in and around the Merthyr area. The Trust runs a series of literacy projects across the local area, designed to bring communities together, to inspire young people with the enjoyment and benefits that literacy can bring and to produce creative resources for distribution across the area.

Mrs Vanessa Jones, Trustee at the The Stephens & George Centenary Charitable Trust said:

“We are delighted that National Museum Cardiff is playing a key role at our Spread The Word Festival.

“The more varied and interactive experiences young children have, the more it will help stimulate them and enhance their learning and development.”

Entry to the Museum is free, thanks to the support of the Welsh Government. 

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven museums across Wales National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Drefach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.  

– Ends –