Title of the work
Country of the First Edition
Country/countries of popularity
Original Language
Available Onllne
britishmuseum.org (accessed: August 2, 2020).
Target Audience
Children
Cover
We are still trying to obtain permission for posting the original cover.
Author of the Entry:
Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il
Elżbieta Olechowska, University of Warsaw, elzbieta.olechowska@gmail.com
The logo of the British Museum. Retrieved from Wikipedia, public domain (accessed: January 25, 2022).
The British Museum (Author)
The British Museum, established 1753, is among the oldest and largest of the world’s major museums. The Museum, located in Bloomsbury in central London, houses artefacts from numerous places and periods many of which originate from territories once ruled or administered by Britain as a colonial power. Its classical collections, overseen chiefly by the Department of Greece and Rome, encompass over 100,000 objects, most famously and controversially, the “Parthenon [or “Elgin”] Marbles.” The Museum organises wide-ranging learning programmes for children, young adults and adults and provides on-site activities for visitors of all ages such as activity trails, gallery talks and handling sessions.
Sources:
Caygill, Marjorie, The British Museum A-Z Companion to the Collections, London: British Museum Press, 1999;
Kennedy, Maev, “Mutual attacks mar Elgin Marbles debate,” Guardian, 1 December 1999 theguardian.com (accessed: August 3, 2020);
en.wikipedia.org (accessed: August 3, 2020);
britishmuseum.org (accessed: August 2, 2020).
Prepared by Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk
Summary
This webpage, available via the British Museum’s online “Young Explorers” resources, shows how to create a “top-trumps” game involving fantastic creatures from several cultures using easy to obtain materials: ruler, blank paper, pencil and colouring pencils/crayons. Users are told how to get started by drawing out a template left blank at the top and with several ruled lines beneath. Those creating the game are free to select any mythological figure for each card though suggestions are offered from mythologies of ancient Greece, Mexico, Gambia, Australia, China and India. Links can be followed to further information about some of the creatures, including “Cyclops” from ancient Greek myth. To create each card, users are told to draw and colour a picture of a given creature beneath which they decide on rankings for specific set categories: the webpage suggests “strength,” “intelligence,” “bravery,” “kindness,” “magic” and “fear factor.” Players are told how to play their game via a rehearsal of the rules for top-trumps.
Analysis
This webpage enables children to engage with the educational potential of objects at the British Museum using easily-obtainable things like paper and colouring pencils. While the suggested topics are all creatures, the set categories could just as easily apply to other types of characters, e.g. “deities” or “heroines”.
By following links to specific mythological creatures, children are able to engage in a hands-on comparative study of myth by researching and assessing details about specific creatures from different cultures, ancient Greece included. In order to draw and categorise some of the creatures, children are given links to objects in the Museum’s online collection which include the creature in question. By following these links, children will be able to experience, and take inspiration from, artefacts created by artists from the particular culture. Some of the information here, however, is pitched at those with an understanding of terms which might go over the head of children – e.g. “acquisitional details” – and some users might prefer to research their creatures from other sources such as websites and books for children.
Further Reading
Rice, Helen, Rachel Blades and Jennifer Gibb, “Evaluation of the National 2011 Schools Top Trumps Tournament: Final report – executive summary”, London: National Children’s Bureau 2011, toptrumps.com (accessed: August 3, 2020).
Addenda
Genre: Creative activity and games website promoting classical mythology
