The Oxford Natural History Museum is good. The anthropology museum, the Pitts-Rivers, is connected right at the back of it, but closes half an hour earlier. One nice thing is the Touching exhibit. You can actually touch fossils and stuffed animals! That’s what the pictures are showing. Around November 10 Dad went with Lilli and Benjamin while the others were shopping for birthday presents for Lilli. Actually, what the kids liked best is the booth that’s dark inside so you can turn on an ultraviolet light and see rocks (and Benjamin’ shirt stripes) fluoresce.
Lilli has the smug look of a satisfied client – how much better modern museums are for children. Howard Christensen’s Old Barn Museum has organized Traveling Exhibits that visit schools and libraries – it’s called the Touch It Program. The program I saw was on Beads of the Ages – they passed around a prehistoric clay necklaces, Asian prayer beads, Amerindian shell beads, African trade beads, a bear’s claw necklace, a tiny basket made of beads, beads of jade and porcelain,with a couple dozen Touch-Its in all.