Baby Bee exhibition at Paisley Museum

Matthew went to the Baby Bee exhibition at Paisley Museum and Art Galleries today. It's aimed at babies and young children, and it's a multi-sensory experience. We went to the performance, rather than just going around the thing and we think that was well worthwhile, because the lady who took us around kept all the kids very interested and made a point of including them all.

Baby Bee had just woken up from a long winter sleep. We had to look very hard to find her and then she was so soundly asleep that we had to sing and shout to wake her. When she woke up, we found out that she had been sleeping in a bed that was scented with lavender, which is why she was so fast asleep. All of the boys and girls had a chance to smell it. She was very hungry and we all went with her as she went to look for food.

First, she visited the pond. Lots of different animals live there in the water and in the plants around the pond and under the rocks, but there was no food there for Baby Bee. The pond was very shiny and had lots of different textures for the boys and girls to touch and explore. We had to lift the rocks (soft) to find the animals who lived there, and join in with some rhymes and games about them.

Next, she visited the log pile. Lots of animals live there too, finding food and shelter, but there was no food for Baby Bee. We investigated the log pile and there were lots of creatures to find, and things to see, touch, smell and hear.

Then she visited the badger in his sett. To get into the sett, you went through a lovely curtain, and Matthew loved the feel of it tickling his face. Inside, there was a video to watch to see and hear the badger and find out about what he likes to eat. The video had been made by other boys and girls who were very young. They did an excellent job. After finding out what the badger eats, she decided that it wasn't a safe place for her so she moved along.

Finally we spotted some brightly coloured flowers and followed Baby Bee as she flew over to them. She could drink the nectar and collect pollen to take back to the nest. All of the boys and girls had flowers to sit on, and were magically transformed into animals.

We sang and danced and Matthew especially liked shaking his bottom, like bees do. Then, we all tried to sniff out some more lavender, which put everyone to sleep. When Baby Bee awoke, we all found out she was actually now a Queen Bee! She had to leave the garden to go and build a nest and feed her young, so the boys and girls crawled through a magic tunnel in order to be transformed back to normal, and then they all drew pictures. These pictures will actually be displayed in Paisley Art Gallery, which is very special.

After the tour was finished, the boys and girls were allowed to stay for as long as they wanted to explore the forest and the garden. It was great fun and Matthew would definitely recommend the exhibition to other boys and girls.