From architecture tours and constellation workshops to yoga beneath a dinosaur skeleton, the busiest month yet at the Natural History Museum has something for every visitor.
May is shaping up to be the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi’s most varied to date, with a series of workshops, festivals, and events for all the family.
The museum is part of the Saadiyat Cultural District and is renowned for its approach to blending science and innovation. This month continues to build on this with events in architecture, astronomy, family outdoor activities, wellness, and more, which are all free with a full admissions ticket.
Behind the Design: Architecture Mini-Tours
To learn more about the architecture of the museum, the museum will hold a series of mini tours on 15 May to talk more about its architecture and present them at the Visitor Desk at 12 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM, and 7 PM on weekends. Tourists will visit the museum, where visiting the galleries will be a way to understand how they complement each other and the way they explore nature. Watch the news about the museum on its social media.
International Day of Families: ‘Families in Nature’
More importantly, on 15 May, the museum celebrates the International Day of Families with a whole museum event as part of the UAE Year of Family. Families jump on the discovery hunt, through a special Discovery Book, in galleries featuring lunar meteorites, plants, insects, and dinosaurs and connecting with families and nature. This is a drop-in activity that runs throughout regular museum hours.
Art Meets Science: A Weekend for Young Explorers
Art and science are colliding on the weekends of 16 and 17 May, with five drop-in artworks in the Curiosity Wing classrooms and Curiosity Corner. Sun Printing is inviting visitors to experiment with natural materials and the sun to create unique designs.
Light Lab: Color & Shadow allows children to explore, experiment, and learn about the properties of light and color, the result of mixing transparent objects.
Constellation Light Lab also gives visitors the opportunity to make their own constellation binoculars, as they learn how ancient cultures mapped out the sky.
In operation all day (10 AM-8 PM), Shadow Safari transforms the Curiosity Corner into a shadow theatre that lets kids put their hands and simple shapes to play with animal silhouettes in the background with a lit screen.
Topping off the weekend, on 16 May, the Wiggly Creatures Workshop provides young visitors with an opportunity to create moving and expressive creatures out of craft materials, learning how structure and movement contribute to the survival of animals.
International Museum Day: Curator for a Day
The museum also has two special programmes on International Museum Day (18 May). Build a Mini Exhibit, at 3 PM, 5 PM, and 7 PM, is a challenge to participants as they are guided through choosing specimens, display construction, and the creation of their own miniature exhibits.
The Specimen Handling Workshop provides a rare behind-the-scenes peek at the preparation and preservation of the collections team into scientific specimens later that evening at 6 PM. Both classes need to be booked through the social media of the museum.
Yoga Under the Dinosaurs and a Blue Moon Sound Bath
To get more meditative, anyone can also come to the museum on 14 and 28 May for the Nature and Mind Guided Yoga Sessions that take place between 7 PM and 8 PM in the atrium under the dinosaur skeleton located in the middle of the museum.
Events are complimentary with a museum entrance ticket, with limited capacity both on a drop-in basis and with pre-reservations.
A Sound Experience Under the Blue Moon, a sound healing session that will mark the end of the month on 31 May will also be an immersive session but will be centred on a rare astronomical event.
This concert, taking place in one of the same atrium spaces from 7 PM to 8 PM, is a combination of sound and resonance, followed by a relaxation session.
After-School Science, Running All Month
There are fun events in the afternoons and on weekends in May. The workshops after school make the museum a vibrant classroom.
During the Food Web Live Challenge (Monday-Thursday, 4 PM), children become predators and prey to experience firsthand how delicate ecosystems are in fact.
The Camouflage Challenge at 5:30 PM each day has young eyes identify animals plain in view, and the weekend sessions of the ‘Survive the Desert challenge’ attendees to think like animals surviving in the desert.
Needle Felting Leaves is a drop-in botanical art activity in response to the Our World gallery and will be running until 12 June.Children sit around a round table drawing leaf sketches with crayons, using real leaves as reference during a workshop at the Natural History Museum, Abu Dhabi.
Natural History Museum: Visiting Information
The museum, located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, operates Monday-Thursday 10 AM to 6:30 PM and Friday-Sunday 10 AM to 8:30 PM.
The tickets cost 70 AED for adults and are free for those under 18. Reduced rates apply for UAE students, teachers, military personnel, Fazaa and Esaad cardholders, and other groups, with free entry for People of Determination and UAE residents 60+.
The above workshops and events are part of the general admission.
For tickets and more information, visit nhmad.ae.
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