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Education Volunteers Needed!

Are you looking for some experience in delivering exciting creative learning opportunities for young people? If so, Benjamin Franklin House needs you!

We are currently looking for a team of Education Volunteers to support the delivery of our Tuesday schools programming at the House. Benjamin Franklin House is a Grade-I listed building and heritage gem in the heart of Central London. We are the world’s only remaining Franklin residence and serve as an historic house and education facility championing Franklin’s legacy in history and science.

During Term Time, we welcome school groups to the House for exciting trips that cover a range of topics in the National Curriculum. Our main audience is KS2 Primary School children, but we also offer visits for KS4, KS5 and Higher Education learners too.

As an Education Volunteer, you will be supporting the delivery of our exciting schools programme that involves: welcoming classes to the House, leading introductions to our history, and running workshops covering the history of medicine and science. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain or develop experience working with young people in an historic setting and we provide excellent professional development opportunities. Previous volunteers have been able to use their experience here to progress into graduate courses in museum/heritage/education studies as well as early careers in teaching and museum education.

Education volunteers are required to work between 10am and 2pm every Tuesday during Term Time and are welcome to also support our other offers including our Family Events and other education related programming.

If you are interested in becoming an education volunteer at Benjamin Franklin House please email our Education Manager, Henry Wilkinson, for further information. Please email: education@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Volunteers are needed throughout the year so get in touch any time! If you would like to arrange a call/visit to the House with our Education Manager, please email.

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Family Event: Christmas!

Join us after-school on Wednesday 13th December at 4:30pm as we celebrate Christmas at Benjamin Franklin’s wonderful Grade I-Listed Georgian town house in the heart of London. You and your family will learn all about the rich history of Christmas in the 18th century and discover which Georgian traditions have survived to this day!

BOOK TICKETS

Learn about the history of Christmas in London, from the 18th century to the present day.

Discover the Georgian traditions that Benjamin Franklin experienced over 250 years ago!

Create your very own Christmas decorations to take home. From a toilet roll Santa to top your tree to sparkly icicles to hang from your mantlepiece!

Make a special Christmas card for a loved one using one of our Georgian or Victorian designs and write your message using one of our quill pens!

This FREE event is designed primarily for families with children aged 4-10. However, all are welcome to take part in the festivities!

BOOK TICKETS

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Family Event: Thanksgiving!

Join us on Wednesday 22nd November 4:30pm-6:00pm as we celebrate the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving. You will learn all about this popular event and also learn how to decorate your house to celebrate it!

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Uncover the origins of this North American holiday. You will learn all about how Thanksgiving was celebrated through the ages including Benjamin Franklin’s time and find out why turkeys are most commonly associated with it.

Decorate Benjamin Franklin House with your very own hand-crafted Thanksgiving displays for all to see! Together we will create all kinds of Thanksgiving-themed decorations from colourful hand turkeys to hand-made cornucopias and a gratitude tree that visitors to the house will be able to enjoy!

This event is designed primarily for families with children age 5-10. However, all are welcome to take part in the festivities! This is a FREE event, but donations are always warmly welcome.

BOOK NOW

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Franklin’s Young Scientists: Electricity

Franklin’s Young Scientists is our FREE science club for aspiring scientists in Key Stage 2/3 (ages 10-14). Participants learn all about the experiments carried out by Benjamin Franklin and his British friends as well as trying their hand at practical investigations. A range of core topics from the science curriculum are covered including electricity, forces, sound and the human body.

BOOK HERE

In this session, we will carry out some exciting experiments with static electricity in our Student Science Centre and learn all about Franklin’s Key and Kite.

The Young Scientists will create sparks with our Wimshurst Machine, see their hair stand on end with our Van Der Graff Generator and watch 250,000 volts of electricity strike our miniature key and kite with out Tesla Coil!

This is a FREE after-school workshop most suitable for Year 6-9 pupils and anyone else with a keen interest in Science and History! These workshops will run monthly until May 2024, with a different topic each month.

Please note: Parents are welcome to attend, however there is a cap of one adult per child during busier sessions.

BOOK HERE

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Family Event: Halloween!

Trick or treat! Join us at Benjamin Franklin House for a FREE fun-filled day as we explore the history of America’s spookiest holiday and craft some terrifyingly good decorations to take home!

Discover where Halloween comes from and why we celebrate it! Ever wonder why we carve pumpkins, dress up in scary costumes, and eat lots of candy? You’ll learn the answers to these questions and more as we uncover the mysteries behind this frightfully fun festival!

Create your very own Halloween-themed decorations to take home and decoration your coffins with. Glue sticks at the ready! There will be lots of arts and crafts happening throughout the session. Make your very own Halloween card, a garland of ghosts to hang from your rafters, and a wickedly wonderful witch ornament for your window.

Our Halloween event will be running twice a day on both 25th and 26th October so BOOK NOW to secure your free ticket.

BOOK TICKETS

Wednesday 25th October – 11:00am-12:30pm

Wednesday 25th October – 1:30pm-3:00pm

Thursday 26th October – 11:00am-12:30pm

Thursday 26th October – 1:30pm-3:00pm

This event is most suitable for families with kids ages 5-12. However, everyone is welcome dead or alive! This a FREE event, but donations are most welcome.

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Volunteers Needed!

Would you like to volunteer at Benjamin Franklin House? We have a variety of fantastic volunteering opportunities open at the House and want to hear from you!

Our volunteer team is essential to the daily running of the House. By volunteering with us you can meet new people and gain valuable heritage experience, we are currently looking for support in:

  • Front of House 
  • Social Media 
  • Education

If you are interested then keep reading!

Front of House Volunteers

As a front-of-house volunteer on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays you will be a vital aspect of our visitor experience. You will provide a warm welcome to visitors, introduce our main offering the Historical Experience and conduct Q&A sessions, process ticket bookings/sales, and more.

Autumn 2023: We are currently looking for more Front of House volunteers to assist with the running of our public offerings. Contact the Front of House Supervisor to apply or find out more about volunteering with Benjamin Franklin House.

Social Media Volunteers

As a social media volunteer you are a vital part of our community engagement.

You will create content for our TikTok and Instagram posts to help encourage visitors to Benjamin Franklin House and to promote our events!

Autumn 2023: We are currently looking for more Social Media volunteers to assist with the running of our online platforms. Contact the Front of House Supervisor to apply or find out more about volunteering with Benjamin Franklin House.

Education Volunteers

Our education volunteers support our Education Manager with workshops for KS2 pupils on Tuesdays in term time. This will involve leading engaging history and science workshops for pupils visiting the House. You will also be on hand to support our numerous Family Days which celebrate seasonal occasions such as Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  If you are an aspiring teacher or would like to gain experience working with young people then this is a great opportunity that covers all Key Stages.

We are currently looking for more Education Volunteers to help support our School Visits and Family Days at Benjamin Franklin House. Please email our Education Manager at education@benjaminfranklinhouse.org to apply or find out more about volunteering.

We would like Education Volunteers to start from October/November so get in touch soon!

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OPEN HOUSE @ Benjamin Franklin House 2023

We’re taking part in Open House 2023!

We’ll be free to enter and open on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th; Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September.

Visitors will be able to walk around at their own leisure

This is a drop-in open day, so there is no need to pre-book. To prepare and save time upon arrival, please download our guide on Bloomberg Connects. The app offers a ‘Self-guided Tour’ which we recommend visitors follow, as well as behind the scenes content and exclusive talks.

10am – 4pm – entry times on the hour.

Plan your day here!

 

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Summer Break @ Ben’s House

This summer at Benjamin Franklin House we are running a series of historical skills workshops for all the family to enjoy!

Try your hand at writing with a quill in our Calligraphy workshop, strike a pose in our Portraiture workshop or handle some real historical artefacts in our Archaeology workshop!

All workshops are FREE, but tickets must be booked to secure a place. BOOK HERE.

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Calligraphy – 10th August 2023

Explore the home of one of the most famous figure from American history, Benjamin Franklin, who lived in London for almost 16 years! Inside you will get a feel for 18th century London as well as the rooms where Franklin wrote some of his most famous letters.

Learn all about Benjamin Franklin’s life as a successful printer, author and the first US Postmaster General! You will even get a chance to see one of Benjamin Franklin’s handwritten letters up close!

Create your very own letter from the 18th century as we roll up our sleeves for some good old fashioned dip pen writing! Write a letter using parchment paper and our collection of brightly coloured quill pens! Use Georgian handwriting guides to help create some beautiful writing!

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Portraiture – 17th August 2023

Explore the home of one of the most famous figure from American history, Benjamin Franklin, who lived in London for almost 16 years! Inside you will get a feel for 18th century London and find the perfect backdrop for your very own portrait!

Examine the interesting details and meanings hidden within some of the most famous paintings in the world as well as those featuring Benjamin Franklin himself!

Create a fantastic self-portrait of yourself and fill it with your very own hidden meanings and messages!

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Archaeology – 24th August 2023

Unearth the secrets of 36 Craven Street. Why are there human bones in the basement? How did they get there? Who were they? We will explore the history of the undercover secret school that operated in the house whilst Franklin was in residence!

Examine real artefacts from the past to work out what they are and how old they might be!

Create your very own model of a human skeleton as we learn all about the anatomy and explore medicine in the 18th century.

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Each workshop has three sessions to choose from throughout the day. If you would like to book tickets, please do so via our Eventbrite page here.

 

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Children’s Summer Fair 2023

Join us at Fulham Palace on Monday 28th August 11am-3pm for a family fun day out at our Children’s Summer Fair 2023!

We will be joined by a number of other historic houses, gardens, museums and galleries each providing an exciting workshop for all to enjoy!

Located throughout the Palace, our Fair will be taking place on Bank Holiday Monday (28th August) from 11am to 3pm. Discover the secrets of the hidden Palace, travel back in time by dressing up in historic costumes, learn how to create curly calligraphy and more.

This is a FREE family event but slots are limited so book your FREE tickets now to avoid disappointment!

All ticketing will be organised via the Fulham Palace website and can be found HERE

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Franklin’s Young Scientists: THE HUMAN BODY

Franklin’s Young Scientists is our FREE science club for aspiring scientists in Key Stage 2/3 (ages 7-14). Participants learn all about the experiments carried out by Benjamin Franklin and his British friends as well as trying their hand at practical investigations. A range of core topics from the science curriculum are covered including electricity, forces, sound and the human body.

Join us on Thursday 13th July at 5pm as we explore THE HUMAN BODY and learn about the bones found buried in our basement!

*Please note: this session is a repeat of our event which took place on 29th June 2023.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

Our focus shall be the skeleton and the bones that make up the human body. Can you name the largest bone in our bodies? Do you know how to assemble a skeleton from scratch? Did you know that skeletons were found beneath Benjamin Franklin House?

Our Young Scientists will also get an exciting opportunity to learn all about the bones in our basement and why they were buried here. They will also explore the history of medicine with a focus on the medical practices of the 18th century.

This is a FREE after-school workshop most suitable for KS2 and 3 pupils and anyone else with a keen interest in Science and History!

*Please note: this session is a repeat of our event which took place on 29th June 2023.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

Franklin’s Young Scientists is proudly funded by the Daughters of the American Revolution. An organisation that supports a number of our Education Events as well as our fantastic Frankly Speaking Debate Competition for schools.