A hugely popular running feature of Bailiffgate with children is our “Hunt the Mouse” competition. It gets them wandering around all 3 floors looking for the elusive mice, and hopefully viewing all sorts of interesting exhibits in the process. We run mouse hunts all year, but in the summer we love to tailor one especially to the exhibition theme. It is also an opportunity to get the town traders involved, since we scatter the dressed-up mice not only around the museum, but also in many shop-windows, requiring children ( and their parents) to cover even more ground to find and tick off all of usually 40 different mice characters.
Some summer exhibition themes scream out for the full treatment. Our Fashion exhibition was one, with every mouse in a different -and beautiful- costume. Vikings has proven to be another, with some really strong and varied characters for all ages to enjoy, as I think you will agree. (Although you can click on each mouse and enjoy their story, regrettably you cannot now adopt one to keep as every little mouse is now taken. We have visitors from hundreds of miles away who are steadily building up a collection over the years, so you need to get in fast each early summer!).
In addition to the pleasure of filling in every line in their mouse chart, children also enter a competition for a bundle of exhibition-related prizes, including a book token and several worthwhile items from our museum shop. We have just presented one prize bundle to a delighted winner, and there will be another winner drawn at the end of the exhibition run. If you have children, grandchildren, or even great grandchildren, be sure to let them have a go…..