Advent activity 20 - a Victorian Christmas at Beamish

We headed out in dreadful pouring rain yesterday for a group workshop at Beamish with other home ed families. The workshop was held in a lovely warm farmhouse room with a burning coal fire. The children talked about what they do at Christmas and looked at how the Victorian room was different (no electric lights or TV, natural foliage decorations).

We had two staff dressed as Victorians to facilitate and the children split into groups and rotated between baking biscuits (which were actually baked in the oven in the room and were very tasty), playing parlour games (guess objects in the stocking and hide and seek with a bell) and decorating Christmas trees. It was really enjoyed by both children and adults and was a lovely pre-Christmas activity to do with our friends. 

We also saw a bit of Beamish (we haven't been before) and rode a tram back to the car park. We will definitely be going back to spend more time there next year - I think it may become an addition to my list of why the North East is such a great place to live!