Young people became junior curators for the day in CHI’s Collecting and Connecting Project in 2005.

The aims of the project were:

The pack was aimed at young people aged 7-18 years old and was an introduction to museum curatorial skills. It gave ideas to young people on how activities could be carried out in the home with low cost materials, as well as explaining resources and techniques used professionally.

Young people were also invited to display and talk about their collections at a open day organised at Melton Carnegie Museum. Prior to the event, a drop in session was arranged to give participants the opportunity to receive help and advice on displaying their collections.

In order to encourage families to get involved, adults as well as young people were invited to display their collections at the museum. A total of 11 exhibitions were displayed and six young people took part.

Collections included; freshwater shells and precious stones, bones and skulls.

During the open day the junior curators talked to visitors about their collections. Other activities were also organised which included paper making, badge making, quizzes and poster design.  Participants were also given a camera so they could make their own record of the day.

A photographer from the Melton issue of the Leicester Mercury attended the event and photographed the children and their collections.

At the end of the day the young people received a certificate and a book.  As a follow up they were also sent a pack containing photographs of the day taken by themselves and museum staff. Displays about the event were produced and used by CHI at public events throughout the county.