Travel through time with our family activities!
Time Travel Club is our family activities programme with events and activities designed for children. Learn, create and have fun with all the family.
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Plus, you can view and book all our upcoming Time Travel Club events via Eventbrite.
Time Travel Tots: Messy Play (2-5s)
- Friday 4 April, 10:30 to 11:30
- Friday 9 May, 10:30 to 11:30
- Friday 13 June, 10:30 to 11:30
£5 per child
Join us for a messy play session! We will use lots of fun sensory materials to spark your child’s imagination and creativity.
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Time Travel Tots: Sensory Storytelling (0-2s)
- Friday 25 April, 10:15 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 12:15
- Thursday 15 May, 10:15 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 12:15
- Friday 23 May, 10:15 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 12:15
- Thursday 19 June, 10:15 to 11:00 and 11:30 to 12:15
£4 per child
First session: 10:15 to 11:00 for 0-10 months (pre-walkers)
Second session: 11:30 to 12:15 for 11-24 months (walkers)
Come and join us for some sensory storytelling! The storytelling lasts for 30 minutes, with time for playing and chatting afterwards.
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Time Travel Tots: Musical Storytelling (2-5s)
- 26 February 2025, 10:15 to 11:30
- 26 March 2025, 10:15 to 11:30
Sing, dance and shake your way through time in a musical adventure!
Paul the musician will take you and your child on an exciting journey using music, songs and movement inspired by a historical document from our collection.
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Easter bunny storytelling (5-7s)
- Tuesday 8 April, 11:00 to 12:00
£5 per child
Join us for a storytelling adventure this Easter holidays. Use your imagination to help us find the Easter bunny hidden in the archive.
Along the way you’ll use music, props and games to have fun. You will get to see a real archive document from our collection and take part in a craft at the end.
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Craft Club: Easter Crafts (all ages)
- Tuesday 8 April, 10:30 and 13:30
- Thursday 10 April, 10:30 and 13:30
£2 per child
Spend time together being creative with crafts during the Easter break. Craft Club takes place in our café.
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Invisible Ink (8-11s)
- Thursday 10 April, 10:30 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 15:00
£5 per child
This event is part of the MI5: Official Secrets events season.
Join us for a brand new workshop looking at the secret world of invisible ink. What is it? Who invented it? How is it made? Learn about the history using original archive documents then get hands-on doing experiments to create your own. Who will you write a secret message to?
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Spying on Spies (8-11s)
- Thursday 29 May, 10:30 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 15:00
£7.50 per child
This event is part of the MI5: Official Secrets events season.
Step inside a world of secrets, gadgets and disguises, exploring spy files from our collection. You will follow the stories of spies in original archive documents, including those that feature in our exhibition. You can make your own spy disguise to take home!
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Craft Club (all ages)
- Tuesday 26 May, 10:30 and 13:30
- Thursday 29 May, 10:30 and 13:30
£2 per child
Spend time together being creative with crafts during the school holidays. Craft Club takes place in our café.
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Time Travel Club and Arts Awards (11-14s)
- Saturday 21 June, 11:00 to 15:00
£10 per child
This event is part of Richmond borough’s Arts and Ideas Festival
Working with an artist, and using archive documents as inspiration, you’ll create a piece of artwork exploring the climate crisis. By the end of the day you will have achieved Arts Award Discover, a nationally recognised qualification.
This event is for children age 11-14 who must be accompanied by one adult (only).
Find out more and book tickets on Eventbrite
Ministry of Time Travel – Online Mission
The Ministry of Time Travel is looking for new recruits brave enough to tackle any mission! But successful Time Agents are made not born, so you’ll need to learn the tricks of the trade.
Under the tutelage of the Chief Timer herself, this online adventure will see you complete five exciting challenges highlighting records, photographs and stories from The National Archives’ collection. Ideal for children aged 8 to 12 years, you can take part at The National Archives on our first floor or from home.
Time Travel Club
Our Time Travel Club family events are a great way for you and your children to learn and have fun.
From the Tudors to Second World War spies, find out about the fascinating and unique stories that make up the history of our nation. Interact with astonishing original records from our collection and enjoy creative craft activities as a family.
Activities to watch and try at home
We have a wide variety of family activities including online Tots storytelling videos, Craft Club videos and activities which tie into national initiatives, such as the Big Draw and Arts Award.
Time Travel TV
Discover our huge selection of Time Travel TV videos. Our TV series encourages viewers to explore archive documents from home with the guidance of members of the Education team. Throughout the series, you will learn about famous historical events and people, as well as the unusual documents we keep in our collection.
Each episode is completed with exciting follow-up activities, including a detective-based enquiry exploring other documents in our collection, and themed crafts.