Free

Essential information

Type
Family fun
Location
Date and times Select dates in the 2023 Easter holidays | 11am-4pm
Prices Free

This Easter, we're playing with mark-making and materials to turn drawing on its head! Come and get stuck in this spring with SEAson of Drawing activities for the whole family, inspired by the Van de Velde exhibition at the Queen's House. 

These free drop-in sessions are suitable for all ages and abilities. 

Sessions run from 11am - 1pm & 2pm - 4pm and take place in the Learning Space, on the ground floor of the National Maritime Museum. 

Collaged Butterflies 

Sunday 2 April 

Come together to explore different mediums and marks, and create beautiful butterflies inspired by images of nature within the collection.  

Exquisite Eel 

Monday 3 April 

Join a collaborative drawing game first used by surrealist artists to create bizarre and intuitive drawings. Families can make consequence drawings together inspired by sea animals and add to the creation of a giant eel. 

This Way Home 

Tuesday 4 & Tuesday 11 April 

Come and leave your mark using string, wool, coloured tape and more to mark your journey from home to the museum, and add significant spots to a river Thames cut-out to create a changing map of journeys. 

Soapy Scrimshaw 

Wednesday 5 & Wednesday 12 April 

Two hundred years ago, when sailors travelled the globe in search of whales to hunt for their meat, oil and baleen, a whole new craft was invented. Sailors passed the time between hunts by making scrimshaw – carving designs into whales’ teeth. Discover the scrimshaw in the Museum’s collection and make your own to take home using soap. 

Mapping Monsters 

Thursday 6 April 

You are invited to help create a fictional map of land, water and sea monsters! Use drawing materials and rice to chart out new landscapes, and the ships and sea monsters in the waters that surround them. 

An old, illustrated map of a coastline, with fantastical sea monsters in the ocean.

Drawing The Technical 

Friday 7 April 

Come and make drawings of fantastic, impossible machinery for ships, lighthouses and wharves by using random shapes and lines, connecting them up and adding details and inventions a use for your machine. 

Documenting Curiosities 

Sunday 9 & Sunday 16 April 

Become a natural history scientist. Search in the sand to find a range of different fossils to draw and document, inspired by Mary Anning’s documented drawings of the curiosities she found in Lyme Regis.

Drawing Sea Sounds 

Monday 10 April 

Come and listen to sea shanties and maritime music, sounds from the oceans and the creatures who live there, and draw what you think you hear. 

Family trails

Thursday 13 April 

Pick up one of the family trails or backpacks from the 'Play and Explore' trolley and discover objects, stories and people in the Museum galleries. 

More information

Giant Conversation Drawing 

Friday 14 April

Join in with our huge floor drawing. Draw and plot the journey of boats across the water, like the artist Van de Velde and the king did long ago, having a conversation by only using drawing.

What’s on

Find more family events at Royal Museums Greenwich.

Family fun | Member events

Members' craft workshop

Join us for exclusive craft workshops, just for Members
Saturday 9 May 2026 | 11am-1pm and 2-4pm
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Talks and tours | Member events

Niki Gorick: In Conversation

Photographer Niki Gorick talks to curator Louise Macfarlane about her work and inspiration
Tuesday 12 May | 6.30pm-8.30pm
Free for Members
Cutty Sark
Talks and tours | Member events

Flamsteed Astronomy Society: History of Astronomy

Join the Flamsteed Astronomy Society for their monthly History of Astronomy lecture
Tuesday 12 May 2026 | Doors open at 6.30pm, event starts at 7pm
Flamsteed Members: FREE | Guests of Flamsteed Members: £15 | Royal Museums Greenwich Members: £12
National Maritime Museum
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' treasures tours

Explore the treasures of the National Maritime Museum with one of our expert guides
Sunday 17 May 2026 | 11am
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Talks and tours | Member events

Flamsteed Lecture: On the hunt for black holes

Join us as we explore Black Holes in this Flamsteed Astronomy Society lecture by Dr Edward Bloomer
Monday 18 May 2026 | 7.15pm
Flamsteed Members: FREE | Guests of Flamsteed Members: £15 | Royal Museums Greenwich Members: £12
National Maritime Museum
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' lecture: This way up with Map Men

Explore cartographic travesties with YouTubers Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones aka Map Men
Wednesday 17 June | 6.30-7.30pm
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Experiences | Member events

Members' summer party

Celebrate the summer with us in the grounds of the National Maritime Museum
Tuesday 30 June | 6.30-8.30pm
£5 per ticket
Queen's House
Workshops | Member events

Members' solar observing

Learn how to view the sun with our team from Flamsteed Astronomy Society
Tuesday 7 July and Thursday 6 August | 11am
Free for Members
Royal Observatory
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' lecture: The aristocrat, the able seaman and the tragedy of Titanic

Join writer Angela Young as she tells the story of two courageous Titanic survivors
Tuesday 21 July | 6.30-7.30pm
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Family fun | Member events

Discover our Ocean Map

Explore our Ocean Map with a curator in this event for children
Tuesday 4 and Thursday 20 August | 10.30-11am
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Talks and tours | Member events

Members' lecture: the most important naval officer you’ve never heard of

Join author Alan Harper as he recounts the extraordinary life of Royal Navy warrant officer Greenvile Collins, the subject of his book Master & Cartographer
Tuesday 15 September | 6.30-7.30pm
Free for Members
National Maritime Museum
Events and festivals | Museum Lates

In conversation with Richard Wright: celebrating 10 years of the Great Hall ceiling

Hear first-hand about the ideas, craftsmanship, and legacy behind this spectacular ceiling installation
Thursday 22 October 2026 | Doors open at 6.30pm | In conversation at 7pm
Adult £25 | Students £22.50
Queen's House