Funtime at the River & Rowing Museum this Summer!
- Museum's Kirkham Gallery Transformed -
- Become an Olympic rower and win the gold medal -
- Play giant Connect 4 with Toad and Badger -
- Time travel to Saxon and Victorian times -

17 July 2008: Design and make your very own Olympic logo; test your rowing skills; make your own gold medal; time travel back to World War II; attend a tea party with the Victorians; test your engineering skills and build a suspension bridge; play giant Connect 4 with Toad and Badger from The Wind in the Willows…The possibilities are endless at the River & Rowing Museum's Funtime, back again by popular demand this summer from 26 July - 31 August.

Funtime transforms the Museum's Kirkham Gallery into an action-packed play and learning environment for children under 14 and their families during the summer holiday season. It is crammed full of exciting, hands on, interactive things to do from designing and building to dressing up and rowing. Take part in the gallery trail to be in with a chance of winning a Nintendo Wii. All activities combine learning with enjoyment and are informative as well as fun. Parents and children can also enjoy the Museum's other galleries and exhibitions - including Wind in the Willows, as well as the Museum shop and Terrace Café - an ideal place to relax in the Museum's unique riverside setting.

Visitors can use the Museum all year round for the price of just one ticket. Each admission ticket provides FREE, unlimited entry to the Museum for 12 months from the date of the original purchase, providing great value for all the family. Tickets start from as little as £3.50 per adult and £2.50 per child over three years old. Children under three go free. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Funtime is part of an exciting range of events and activities for children, teenagers and families to enjoy at the River & Rowing Museum this summer (listed below). For full details of the summer and winter exhibitions and events, please visit www.rrm.co.uk.

Suzie Tilbury, Assistant Curator, River & Rowing Museum said: "At the River & Rowing Museum we are proud to be family friendly and to provide an innovative and accessible space for children and their families to enjoy all year round. Funtime brings together a whole range of interesting, fun and inspiring activities over the summer holiday season and is a great opportunity for children and their families to engage with sport, history and art in a way that is both educational and enjoyable."

As well as Funtime, the following summer events for children, teenagers and families are taking place at the River & Rowing Museum. Bookings can be made on 01491 415 605 or edbookings@rrm.co.uk. All paid for events MUST be booked in advance. No booking is required for FREE events.

Insects in Silk
Tuesday 29 July 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members) The fine structure and details of the insects from the Museum's collection will be interpreted in liquid wax on silk. Children will take home a stretched silk panel that will look beautiful hanging in a window.

Taylor Tug's Holiday Happenings
Wednesday 30 July 11am - 12.30pm
Age 18 months - 5 years £6.50 Come and enjoy the summer with Taylor Tug creating exciting things inspired by the Museum. Interactive sessions for parents to enjoy with their children.

Insects in Silk
Tuesday 29 July 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)
The fine structure and details of the insects from the Museum's collection will be interpreted in liquid wax on silk. Children will take home a stretched silk panel that will look beautiful hanging in a window.

Get your Kit on
Thursday 31 July 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)
Spend a day with Maddy and Laura getting ready for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Limber up and test your racing skills. Then design and decorate a t-shirt and baseball cap. Visit the Museum galleries and after lunch make yourself a racing mascot. You will need to bring two snacks, drinks and a packed lunch. Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)

Pop goes the weasel
Tuesday 5 August 10.30am - 12.30pm
Age 4-7 £8 (£7 members)
Meet a real preserved weasel from our mammal collection. Then make a model cardboard Wild Wood complete with pop up weasels. Make up some stories with your model during the light summer evenings.

Animals in Print
Wednesday 6 August 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)
Another chance to get inspiration from the Museum's natural history collection and spend a day printing on fabric and paper. Children will take home a range of block-printed and screen-printed designs and drawings from observation, including their own printed cotton bag.

Bags for Wildlife
Thursday 7 August 2pm - 4pm
FREE with admission + materials (£1 per bag)
Do you want to help stop plastic bags harming wildlife? Drop-in and decorate your own cotton 'bag for life' and stop using plastic carrier bags.

Fish in Print
Tuesday 12 August 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)
The marvellous collection of stuffed fish caught by A.E.Hobbs in the Thames, will provide the starting point for making screen prints and block- prints. The day will start with drawing from observation and the work will be developed into block-prints on fabric and paper. Children will take home a range of block-printed and screen-printed designs and drawings from observation, including their own printed cotton bag.

Feeling Prickly...Here comes hedgehog
Thursday 14 August 10.30am - 12.30pm
Age 4-7 £8 (£7 members)
Meet a real stuffed hedgehog from our Museum collection of mammals. Make a hedgehog from a big pebble with spines out, then make a curled up one
with a balloon.

Creepy Crawly Café
Tuesday 19 August 10.30am - 12.30pm
Age 4-7 £8 (£7 members)
Have you ever wondered what creepy crawlies love to eat? What tickles their tastebuds? What is a feast for a fly? Visit the Museum log piles then make a creepy crawly café to attract insects to your garden. Make yourself multi-colour mini beasts with pipe cleaners and card.

Meet Consuta
Thursday 21 August, 12pm - 4pm, Museum Jetty
FREE with admission
Come along to the Museum jetty to see Consuta, a beautifully restored working steam launch used as an umpire's launch for Henley Royal Regatta during Victorian times. FREE with admission

Fabulous Flying Machines
Thursday 21 August, 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)
Learn how to make a flying machine using recycled and scrap materials. Develop your construction skills and get guidance from an experienced sculptor.

Boat to Beijing
Tuesday 26 August, 10.30am - 3.30pm
Age 7-11 £16 (£14 members)
Visit the Sydney IV racing boat in the Rowing Gallery and then spend the day learning Chinese Crafts. Make a banner with Chinese Characters spelling out your name. Then make a lucky moneybox in red and gold. After lunch play some traditional Chinese games and end the day making a mask to reflect the Chinese year you were born. What animal are you?

Fairytale Fiesta
Thursday 28 August, 10.30am - 12.30pm
Age 4-7 £8 (£7 members)
Come and make a cardboard castle that opens out to make a stage for your favourite fairytale. Make some characters with pegs so you can act out stories with your friends. Find out about Kings and Queens who had their
homes on the river.

Toad's Picnic
Wednesday 20 August 1pm - 3pm
FREE with admission. Children under five must be accompanied by an adult.
Fill your picnic basket with goodies and bring the family to join Mr Toad and friends for a glorious afternoon on the Meadows with activities galore to celebrate 100 years of Wind in the Willows. FREE with admission. Children under five must be accompanied by an adult.

Beadylicious: Teens Earrings Workshop
Saturday 30 August 10.30am - 12pm
Age 12-16 £8 (£7 members) + materials (up to £5 per pair of earrings)
Suitable for beginners or build on your jewellery making skills to create gorgeous earring designs. Go home with between two and three pairs of finished, fabulous earrings, all made using sterling silver finishing's and semi-precious and glass beads. Age 12-16 £8 (£7 members) + materials (up to £5 per pair of earrings)

Artways art club
For 7-11 year olds 10.30am - 12.30pm Come and join a Saturday morning art club for 7 - 11 year olds.
Five-week courses will explore ways of making art in a wide range of media. The courses alternate between two-dimensional practice in drawing, painting, printmaking and mixed media work; and three-dimensional practice in clay work, environmental media, felt and construction. The course includes all materials and refreshments and is led by experienced, qualified tutors. Sessions must be booked in advance and start: Saturday 21 June, Saturday 13 September, Saturday 8 November 2008. Limited to 12 places. £50.

NEW! Art ways art club
For 11-15 year olds Saturdays 2pm - 4pm
A chance to work towards a recognised qualification in art. The Arts Awards are accredited at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. These five-week sessions are led by professional artists and educators and are designed to help you develop your skills and understanding of different ways of making art. You will get guidance in working from observation and imagination, developing and presenting ideas, using a sketchbook and working in different media. Five-week sessions must be booked in advance. Starting: Saturday 21 June, Saturday 13 September, Saturday 8 November 2008. Limited to 12 places. £60.

Taylor tug's under fives club
Wednesdays during term time 10am - 11.30am or 1pm - 2.30pm
Interactive sessions for parents to enjoy with their children. A range of creative activities including craft, stories, songs and free play which explore the Museum. Sessions are led by a trained teacher and are informal and fun for all. Sessions must be booked in advance for a half or whole term only. Age 18 months - 5 years. Half a term (5 weeks) £32.50, Whole term (10 weeks) £63. Booking line: 01491 415605.

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Booking information
Full information for all activities is available at www.rrm.co.uk. Bookings can be made on 01491 415 605 or edbookings@rrm.co.uk. All paid for events MUST be booked in advance. No booking is required for FREE events.

Press information
Press releases and pictures for the events and activities can be downloaded from http://www.kallaway.co.uk/rrm.htm. For further information please contact:

Amanda Dellor
01491 415642
amanda.dellor@rrm.co.uk

Katie Jackson
020 7221 7883
katie.jackson@kallaway.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The River & Rowing Museum (www.rrm.co.uk)
The River & Rowing Museum is one of the UK's leading regional and sporting museums, attracting over 100,000 visitors a year. The Museum, an independent charity, also has a purpose built education centre visited by over 20,000 children and adults a year.

The Museum provides superb value for money. Tickets start at £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children, and provide free access for one year.

The Museum celebrates three themes explored through a wide variety of exhibitions and events across four galleries and special exhibitions:

• The past, present and future of the River Thames
• The historic riverside community of Henley on Thames
• The international sport of rowing
• The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows exhibition recreates the timeless E H Shepard illustrations from Kenneth Grahame's famous novel. The exhibition has been a major success and the Museum will part of the national celebrations to mark the 100th birthday of this famous book, later in the year.

Since opening in August 1998 the Museum has received numerous awards including the National Heritage/NPI Museum of the Year award and the Sandford Award For Heritage Education.

Location, opening and ticket information
The River & Rowing Museum (www.rrm.co.uk), Mill Meadows, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1BF. Tel. 01491 415600

• The museum, terrace café and shop are open every day from 10am - 5.30pm in summer and 10am - 5pm in the winter
• Each admission ticket provides FREE entry to the Museum for one year from the date of purchase.
• Admission for the Museum Galleries: £3.50 for adults, £2.50 for children and £3 for senior citizens and concessions
• Admission for the Galleries and The Wind in the Willows exhibition: £7 for adults, £5 for children and £6 for senior citizens and concessions
• Free parking for visitors

The River & Rowing Museum is part of the Thames Valley Museums Group (TVMG) Family Friendly initiative - a scheme which brings together 29 museums across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, to promote their popular appeal to the whole family.

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