Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

Over the weekend I visited the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardens. The gardens were filled with the rich reds and yellows of nature's autumnal palette. It was delightful to sit at the top of a hill within the gardens and look across at the Old Town of Edinburgh.

The recently completed John Hope Gateway building is located at the western entrance to the Botanic Gardens. The building is designed to promote sustainbility through the use of sustainable materials, energy saving measures and the production of renewable energy. It houses a wonderful array of exhibitions, restaurant, shop and education centre. A newly planted Scottish biodiversity garden surrounds the centre which has the feel of a highland meadow.

The exhibitions are beautifully presented and focus on biodiversity both in Scotland and across the world. There are a range of activities for children, some within an activities room and others within the exhibition area. A small tent type structure has been completely covered with children's drawings inspired by the exhibitions.

The main exhibition was on the surprising topic of fungi! Exploring everything from mushrooms to athlete's foot the exhibition looks at the role of fungi in mythology, medicine, brewing and as a hallucinogen. A very neat hand held audio guide is provided for free. The audio is activated using infra red light at various points through the exhibition.

The Gardens have worked closely with artists on a range of projects. A project with a local design school was on display- the students designed screen prints for tights, inspired by plants preserved in the Herbarium. In conjunction with the Fungi exhibition is "The Secret Sounds of Spores" a project supported by New Media Scotland . The project uses a video camera attached to a microscope to record the release of spores from a series of mushrooms. The recording is displayed on a screen adjacent to the Fungi exhibition. Alongside the screen are a series of microsopes where visitors can examine a range of fungi.

Children in museums

Over the weekend I visited a number of museums and was struck by a couple of simple approaches to children's activities. The National Trust of Scotland have two properties in Edinburgh- Gladstone's Land is a property bought and developed by Thomas Gledstanes in the early seventeenth century. Typical of properties in the Old Town of Edinburgh it is a six storey building which housed shops on the ground floor with a series of dwellings on top, accommodating people of various levels of society.

The Georgian House is a late eighteenth century property located within the New Town, developed in response to the desperate need for greater space within Edinburgh. This was the home of John Lamont, the 18th Chief of the Clan Lamont and an example of the much more expansive lifestyle that was possible with the development of New Town.

The National Trust have developed a program for children based around a dog called Gnasher. Cut out copies of Gnasher are positioned in various corners of the properties and children are encouraged to seek out Gnasher. Initially I did wonder what the cartoon cutouts of a dog were doing in a National Trust property but it was great to see the children noting Gnasher on their treasure maps as they went through the property. The Georgian House has a children's room on the top floor which had dress ups, a table of objects they could handle and a table where they could try their hand at writing with a quill. There were a number of couches in the room which no doubt provides a comfortable area for families to rest and withdraw from the more formal areas of the property.

The National Museum of Scotland has small activity tables and booths throughout their exhibition areas which I thought was a great idea. The museum is vast and by having small activity spots scattered discretely through the exhibition areas there are opportunities for children to engage with quite powerful collections in a way that makes sense to them. I particularly liked the addition of mirrors next to each dress up zone, allowing children to truly admire their new Viking self!