With children of all ages studying from home once again, our friends at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum decided to pull together some of the free educational resources available from Ireland's top museums.
And because they are so keen to spread the word on all the great things to see and learn online they sent it on to RTÉ to celebrate the wonderful work still going on even in these tough times.
Unsurprisingly, there’s lots of materials covering art and history. But there’s some for English, Irish, science and maths too. There's over 20 museum websites offer plenty of ways to engage students and make most of e-learning.
Just click on the name of the venue and you will see all their resources and materials.
Age group: Pre-school and primary school students
Subjects covered: Maths, art, science and history
Under the 'Play’ and ‘Learn’ sections of its website, Marsh’s Library offers colouring sheets, online jigsaw puzzles, sewing projects and other artsy activities. There’s also some maths challenges for primary and pre-schools children. But, best of all, there’s an online mini figure hunt and a tricky escape room activity for 5th and 6th class students.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
Age group: Primary and secondary school students
Subjects covered: History
EPIC’s history-at-home packs are full of facts, puzzles and games which will help young students learn about Irish culture, while also developing their literacy skills. Suitable for ages 8+, they cover topics like the Easter Rising, the Age of Exploration and famous computer scientists.
Older students can also take advantage of EPIC’s workshops, videos and articles. They can also do a virtual school tour and fill out the 14-page worksheet afterward.
Check out more of their content here: History At Home Pack
Age group: Primary school and Junior Cert students
Subjects covered: History
Dublinia’s e-learning resources include interactive maps, quizzes, animated videos, tasks and topic recaps. There’s content for 3rd and 4th classes, 5th and 6th classes and Junior Cert students. For teachers, there’s also extra resources like timelines, questions and fun facts.
Age group: Primary school children
Subjects covered: Art
The Glucksman #CreativityAtHome initiative has seen children making masks, drawing posters and growing grass hair. The museum even won an international award for the series back in October.
Each video comes with a worksheet and connects to the Irish curriculum.
Check out their collaboartion with RTÉ Learn: Creativity at Home
MoLI - Museum of Literature Ireland
Age group: Primary and secondary school students
Subjects covered: English
For younger children, MoLI’s Bright Sparks series provides warm-ups, word games and story prompts through 10-minute videos and complementary worksheets. They’re taught by children’s author and creative writing teacher, Sarah Webb.
Then there’s also classes for teenagers presented by successful writers like Darren Shan and Dave Rudden. They aim to help budding writers with everything from character development to dialogue. There’s even one as Gaeilge from bilingual writer Éilís Ní Dhuibhne.
Age group: Primary school and Junior Cert students
Subjects covered: History
The Butter Museum in Cork offers some worksheets focused on the Junior Cert history syllabus. There’s also lessons, activities and flashcards for younger children which link to science, geography and history.
Age group: Pre-school, primary and secondary levels
Subjects covered: Art
Inspired by its art collections, the Chester Beatty has put together a range of online workshops, how-to videos and art activities for all ages. They cover everything from water colours and 3D drawing, through to origami and finger puppets. They even go beyond art to include cooking, music and wellbeing.
There’s activity packs for ages 3+, 5+ and 8+, which include puzzles and colouring sheets. Then there’s also a 12-page drawing pack for teenagers. This covers topics like outlining, shading and perspective.
Age group: Primary school and Junior Cert students
Subjects covered: Art and history
The National Print Museum offers loads of arts and craft resources for primary school students. Think activity packs, fact sheets, word searches and videos. They can even learn how to make stamps or create their own prints.
There’s some worksheets about the printing press for Junior Cert students too.
Age group: For primary and secondary students
Subjects covered: Art and art history
The Hugh Lane has crafty activities and a virtual tour designed specifically for primary school children. It’s also got some useful resources for Leaving Cert students, including artwork talks and material on the Leaving Cert Gallery question.
Learn about Harry Clarke's stained glass art here: Harry Clarke
Coleraine Museum - Mountsandel
Age group: Primary school and Junior Cert students
Subjects covered: History
This website explores life at the Mountsandel settlement during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. It includes activity sheets, maps and archaeologist interviews.
This site was designed for primary school students in Northern Ireland. But if you’re looking for extra content for older students, Clare County Museum also has a great eight-page worksheet on this topic.
Age group: Junior Cert students
Subjects covered: History
While the primary school pack primarily covers Kilmainham Gaol itself, the resources for secondary school students cover Robert Emmet, the Easter Rising and the period from 1796-1849. These activity packs are full of primary and secondary source documents too.
IMMA - Irish Museum of Modern Art
Age group: All ages
Subjects covered: Art
IMMA has put together lots of at-home activities for children, including step-by-step guides to make your own crystals and create your own hanging mobiles.
For classes that check out IMMA’s collection online, there’s also study packs for primary, secondary and third-level teachers.
Age group: Leaving Cert students
Subjects covered: Science
If you want to cover something topical, the Science Gallery’s latest exhibition Speed of Science is about vaccines and immunity. Right now, it’s website features podcasts, articles and engaging infographics on the topic.
Its YouTube videos also cover a range of subjects, from plastic to automation, which could help supplement the content in your science book.
Age group: All ages
Subjects covered: English, Irish, history, geography and CSPE
The IFI Player features tons of newsreels and video clips which can help with a wide range of secondary level lessons. There’s also some short animations that are ideal for primary school children.
On its main website, you’ll find film study ideas and a selection of guides for French, English, Spanish and German movies as well.
Age group: Primary and secondary school students
Subjects covered: English and history
The National Library’s website features online exhibitions on W.B. Yeats and the 1916 Rising, as well as worksheets for primary schools and documents-base case studies for Leaving Cert students. There’s also some podcasts and video games covering a range of subjects, but which will be particularly helpful to secondary school students studying the poetry of Seamus Heaney.
Age group: For primary and secondary students
Subjects covered: History
14 Henrietta Street lays out different tasks, games, activities and reading materials for students in primary school, Junior Cycle, Transition Year and Leaving Cert. Junior Cert students who are studying ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’ by Sean O’Casey may also appreciate the museum’s upcoming talk on the tenement world it is set in.
Age group: Primary and secondary school students
Subjects covered: Art and art history
The National Gallery at Home hub features virtual tours, audio guides, videos, podcasts and playlists. Children can learn about the Renaissance or create their own stained glass artwork.
There’s also project ideas, worksheets, colouring sheets and sensory activities designed specifically for students. The school resources, which are available in both Irish and English, link directly with the current curriculum.
Age group: Primary school students
Subjects covered: History, art and environment
The museums of Archaeology, Country Life, Natural History and Decorative Arts and History are all offering online educational resources. These include activity sheets, art projects, word searches and talks - most of which are made for young children.
The Design & Crafts Council Ireland, which has a contemporary collection with the National Museum, also offers lots of lesson plans for all ages.
Age group: Primary and secondary school students
Subjects covered: History
The archives offer tips and questionnaires for conducting interviews and historical research. For younger students, there’s also lessons on life in 19th century Ireland. For second-level students, there’s study packs on the 1916 Rising, the Flight of the Earls and the Ulster Plantation.
Some of the resources relate to the local area, so they’re particularly useful for students based in Donegal.
Age group: All ages
Subjects covered: Art
The Crawford Art Gallery is big on school resources. There’s colouring sheets, art activities and prompts for primary school students, as well as drawing classes and case studies for second-level students.
There’s also lots of worksheets for teachers, which cover artists like Jack B. Yeats, Harry Clarke and Eilis O’Connell.
Irish National Stud and Gardens
Age group: Primary school students
Subjects covered: Science
The INS in Kildare has four horse-related worksheets on its website. They include a word search and a guide to equine anatomy for young students.
The Central Bank's website has lots of information on banking in Ireland, including some short animations explaining its work using simple language and humour.
It also has some short, but helpful, explainer articles on various topics like monetary policy and quantitative easing.
You can check out EPIC’s e-learning resources HERE!
Or you can spread the word and share your favourite materials using the hashtag: #IrishMuseum
Thanks again to our friends at EPIC for putting the call out.
