This course combines art history, creative projects, and role-play.

By bringing different activities together around one theme, it offers a natural, engaging, and joyful way to learn.

Each journey fully immerses children in a historical period, bringing the past to life through imagination and creativity.

This course is a series of time-travelling adventures through different historical periods.

We begin the year by exploring medieval inventions and then making an invention of our own — a time machine, which we will use throughout the course.

Then we travel through the medieval world in 5–6 session adventures: from Viking tribes and medieval kingdoms of Europe and Asia to the Aztec and Inca civilisations, Romanesque and Gothic art, and the opening of the way to America.

The route may gently change depending on the children’s interests and pace.

Once the time machine has been built, each session begins with finding our destination on a map and setting the time period. We then look at images of historical objects and artworks from that time and take part in a short imaginative role-play.

Next, the children create their own artworks inspired by the theme. We finish with a couple of improvisation games and child-led free role-play.

We begin with 3–4 weeks of preparation, briefly exploring the medieval world through its inventions: what was already known across Europe and Asia, what was newly invented, and how simple moving mechanisms worked. We then use these ideas to build our own time machine.

Once it is ready, we begin our first 5–6 week journey, travelling to Viking Age Scandinavian communities:

Ships and travel — building a collaborative Viking ship
Woodcarving and decoration — carving Viking-inspired patterns in soap
Clothing and jewellery and/or warrior equipment — making brooches, pendants, decorated shields, Viking helmets, or pretend swords and axes, depending on the interests of the group
Everyday life and crafts — trying simple weaving and embroidery
Runes and runestones — creating carved messages and symbols
Religion and folklore — making characters and objects inspired by Norse stories

After this, one 5–6 week journey will follow another, taking us to different times and places throughout the year.

Wear comfortable clothes that can get messy.
Bring socks or indoor shoes, a small snack, and your sketchbook (provided at your first class).
Apples and biscuits are available with parental approval.