Families can step through the looking glass at Alice in FUNderland, a day of Victorian parlour games and Lewis Carroll inspired science at Preston Manor in Brighton on Thursday 29 October, from 10am to 4pm. The October half term event is run by Brighton & Hove Museums in partnership with Brighton Science Festival and is suitable for all ages.
Carroll is best known for Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but he was also a mathematician and scientist. That’s why his stories are surreal in a surprisingly scientific way, and this event sets out to prove it.
Six impossible things before breakfast at Preston Manor
Visitors can explore the science of shrinking and growing, find out how the Cheshire Cat’s smile could disappear, and try a few impossible things before breakfast. Could milk pour sideways? Could you grow so tall your feet look miles away?
Different rooms of the historic house will take on different corners of Carroll’s world, with puzzles, paradoxes and wordplay along the way. Families can also meet some famous creatures from the Booth Museum collection, and perhaps a few familiar characters too.
Preston Manor is also said to be one of the most haunted houses in Britain, so the organisers say its ghostly residents have been invited as well.
Old school parlour games
The day revives the Victorian parlour game as an alternative to screens. Families can try classics such as Battleships, Twenty Questions, Boxes, Nim, Sprouts, Squiggles and Consequences. They’re sociable, and they cost nothing at home if you have a pencil and paper.
Tickets and prices
Alice in FUNderland is free with standard admission to Preston Manor. Admission is currently listed at £14 for adults and £8.50 for children aged 5 to 18, with a 5% discount for booking online and reduced rates for Brighton & Hove residents. Standard tickets also give free return visits for a year. Preston Manor is card only.
Preston Manor is on Preston Drove, Brighton BN1 6SD, on the edge of Preston Park. There’s free parking on site, and it’s a 10 minute walk from Preston Park station.
Find out more about Alice in FUNderland or book tickets here.
Are We Nearly Here Yet? A trip through 14 billion years
Straight after half term, Brighton Science Festival launches Are We Nearly Here Yet?, a six-week family series on Zoom starting on Monday 2 November. Festival director Dr Richard Robinson tells the story of the universe from the Big Bang, through the first stars, the formation of Earth and the dinosaurs, right up to you.
The twist is that you were there all along, starting out as a single atom of hydrogen. Children get a riddle to solve on the way: what were you?
The sessions include videos, games, chat, Q&A and simple experiments using things from around the home. The series is aimed at children aged 7 to 11 and their parents. The whole series costs £14 per family.
Find out more or book Are We Nearly Here Yet?
Help build a Sussex half term science guide
Brighton Science Festival is putting together a special page and newsletter of hands-on science activities around Sussex this half term. They’re asking families to send in anything they discover, from workshops and demos to craft sessions and suitably crafty Halloween activities. You can get in touch via the Brighton Science Festival website.
