Marvellous May Half Term with Wakefield Museums and Castles

Learn about history where it happened with a tour at Pontefract Castle!

The Dungeon Tours take you into the castle’s eerie underground chambers. See where Civil War prisoners scratched their name into the rock. Learn about the many uses of the dungeon, including it being a liquorice store!

On a Castle Explorer Tour a guide brings to life what the castle used to look like. Hear tales of royal scandals and terrifying sieges. The Explorer Tours are fully accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

You can book tickets in advance online, or buy them from the Gift Shop on the day (subject to availability).

📍 Pontefract Castle, Pontefract, WF8 1QH
📅 Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday
📅 Bonus tours on Monday 26 and during May half term
🕛 Dungeon Tours at 10:45am
🕛 Explorer Tours at 2pm
💰 £2.30 to £4.40 per person

Calling all future chemists! Did you know that there are so many amazing colours that can be created from plants?

Learn about acids and bases using a natural Ph indicator. Experiment on fabric and paper using turmeric and red cabbage.

10am is an SEND session. There will be reduced numbers and a more relaxed atmosphere.

This STEM workshop is funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

📍 Pontefract Castle, Pontefract, WF8 1QH
📅 Tuesday 27 May
🕛 10am (SEND) and 1pm
🧒 Suitable for ages 5+
💰 £2.50 per child, accompanying adults free
🔗 Book Colour Chemistry from Nature’s Rainbow

The Romans had a god or goddess for everything – even door hinges!

Discover different Roman gods and explore their legends and stories at Castleford Museum.

Learn about their special symbols and what they meant. Make a wristband or headband decorated with your favourite symbol! Get yourself ready for the Castleford Roman Festival at the weekend.

*Friday 30 May is an SEND relaxed session. SEND groups are welcome at all sessions, but these sessions are run for visitors who prefer a more relaxed atmosphere.

📍 Castleford Museum, Castleford, WF10 1BB
📅 Tuesday 27, Thursday 29 and Friday 30 May*
🕛 10am – 3pm
🧒 Suitable for all ages
💰 Free and no booking required

Get your hands dirty and dig into some fantastic facts about worms!

Find out how they are garden heroes, making compost by turning scraps into soil.

Meet some wiggly worms and make your own mini wormery experiment to take home from Pontefract Castle!

Join friends form Wakefield Recycles and learn all about how nature recycles its own rubbish.

10am is a SEND session – booking required. SEND families are welcome at all sessions but we are running this SEND session for those families who require a more relaxed atmosphere, with restricted numbers.

📍 Pontefract Castle, Pontefract, WF8 1QH (in the stretch tent on the bailey)
📅 Wednesday 28 May
🕛 10am (SEND session) and 11am to 3pm (drop-in)
🧒 Suitable for all ages 6+
💰 Free – booking required for SEND session, drop-in after 11am

Puppets are a brilliant way to bring a magical story to life. Be inspired by the stories from pantomimes past at Pontefract Museum.

Make a super stick puppet and put on a show!

From Aladdin to Jack and the Beanstalk, what character will you choose?

📍 Pontefract Museum, Pontefract, WF8 1BA
📅 Wednesday 28 May
🕛 10:30am – 3pm
🧒 Suitable for all ages 3+
💰 Free and no booking required

What stories can stones tell? Explore some of the oldest objects in Wakefield Museum and find out!

Touch real ancient fossils and handle Stone Age tools. Find out why Wakefield rocks, through historic rocks!

Decorate your own special stone object to take home and tell your story.

📍 Wakefield Museum Learning Zone (inside Wakefield Library), Wakefield, WF1 2UP
📅 Wednesday 28 May
🕛 10:30am – 11:30am and 1pm – 2pm
🧒 Suitable for all ages 6 – 11
💰 £2.50 per child, accompanying adults free
🔗 Book Stone Stories

Tots love rocks! Enjoy storytelling and sensory fun inspired by stones for ages 2 to 5.

Join in with a story and help us mix up a special stone soup.

Follow the museum trail and spot the super stones.

Use stones for making, drawing, building and sorting, then make a pet rock to take home.

1pm: This is a relaxed toddler session. It will have reduced numbers and there will be more space.

📍 Wakefield Museum Learning Zone (inside Wakefield Library), Wakefield, WF1 2UP
📅 Thursday 29 May
🕛 10:30am – 11:30am and 1pm – 2pm
🧒 Suitable for all ages 2 – 5
💰 £2.50 per child, accompanying adults free
🔗 Book Stone Soup

The ecosystem is amazing! Find out more about how it works.

See some little critters that help with the decomposition of leaf matter.

Make your own terrific terrarium to bring nature into your home.

This is part of Wakefield Museums & Castles’ programme of activities for 12-16 year olds. Accompanying adults are welcome but not essential.

📍 Pontefract Castle, Pontefract, WF8 1QH (in the Activity Zone in the Visitor Centre)
📅 Thursday 29 May
🕛 11am – 12:30pm and 1pm – 2:30pm
🧒 Suitable for all ages 12 – 16
💰 £2.50 per teen, accompanying adults free
🔗 Book Build a Terrarium

Where do bugs like to live? Discover what habitats different minibeasts like and why.

Make your own mini bug hotel to take home.

Help build a big bug hotel at Pontefract Castle for all your minibeast friends!

10am is a SEND session – booking required. SEND families are welcome at all sessions but the team are running this SEND session for those families who require a more relaxed atmosphere, with restricted numbers.

📍 Pontefract Castle, Pontefract, WF8 1QH (in the stretch tent on the bailey)
📅 Friday 30 May
🕛 10am SEND session, 11am to 3pm drop-in
🧒 Suitable for all ages 3+
💰 Free
🔗 Booking required for early SEND session

What’s in a memory? Join Wakefield Museum to investigate museum objects that tell family stories.

Be inspired and create your own personalised memory cabinet to keep your own family photos and mementos in.

Use sturdy, reused cardboard boxes to build your environmentally friendly cabinet. Decorate your cabinet in your family style using colourful craft materials.

Children and adults will work together in this workshop to build and decorate one cabinet per household.

📍 Wakefield Museum Learning Zone (inside Wakefield Library), Wakefield, WF1 2UP
📅 Friday 30 May
🕛 10am – 12pm and 1pm – 3pm
🧒 Suitable for ages 5+
💰 £2.50 per child, accompanying adults free
🔗 Book Let’s Create Memory Cabinets

Meet some time-travelling ancient Romans at Castleford Museum!

See metal-working and book-binding demonstrations.

Make your own jewellery or mini book to take home.

Discover real Roman artefacts found at Castleford and touch a piece of the past.

This activity is part of Castleford Roman Festival.

📍 Castleford Museum, Castleford, WF10 1BB
📅 Saturday 31 May
🕛 11am – 3pm
💰 Free and no booking required