The Museum runs regular activities for all ages throughout the holiday periods. In the Museum discover the history of the City from its prehistoric past to the present day in exciting displays interpreting the collections with hands-on exhibits, computer interactives and video presentations.
The amazing new Winter Gardens is home to over 1,500 of the world's most exotic and unusual flowers and trees. The Gardens also include exciting water features and a stunning treetop walkway, from which visitors can look down on the plants below.

Textile Traditions
Wonderfully crafted quilts, rag rugs, embroideries and ganseys represent the rich tradition of textile crafts found in this region. See how the work of women in the past has inspired today's makers in a collection of contemporary art works.

Sunderland Pottery
Hear the story of 'How the frog got into the mug' and look at the inspiration behind the style and decoration of the pots in the world's largest collection of Sunderland-made pottery. See examples of the famous pink lustreware and find out about the pottery workers.

The Time Machine
Weird, wonderful, wacky - the Museum's craziest collection! This gallery is full of the Museum's favourite exhibits as well as many fascinating objects that have made their way into the Museum's collections but have never before been on display.

Coal
This display is a lasting tribute to nearly 200 years of mining in the East Durham coalfield. Focusing on the unique communities which developed there, the display re-creates the day-to-day lives of miners and their families.

Secrets of the Past
Meet the ancestors and find out what a prehistoric burial can tell us about the way people lived in Sunderland thousands of years ago. Learn about the Anglo-Saxon monks who lived at St Peter's Monastery, Monkwearmouth, home of the young Bede and find out about the archaeological techniques which enable us to uncover the secrets of the past.

Sunderland's Glorious Glass
Glassmaking in Sunderland has its origins in Anglo-Saxon times when the monks of St Peter's monastery at Monkwearmouth created coloured glass windows, more than 1300 years ago. The long tradition of glassmaking continues even today in the glassmaking factory, Newells, which produces Pyrex in Sunderland. This glittering display features many objects made during the last 200 years when the glassmaking industry was at its peak.

20th Century Sunderland
One hundred years of the history of Sunderland can be seen through the eyes of women. Watch four characters come to life in the video presentations, then experience their surroundings for yourself in four atmospheric room sets. Explore the themes of seaside, fashion, diet, cost of living, public entertainment and housing over the century. Find out how politics, convention and fashion have shaped and changed all of our lives.

Worlds Alive
Hundreds of animals have been brought together to show the huge variety of life that exists on the planet. Explore the themes of diversity, adaptation and extinction and see animals at home in a range of recreated habitats. Live insects, spiders, amphibians and fish are all part of the attraction.

Lost Worlds
The ground beneath our feet is full of stories of the past. They tell us how Sunderland was once a place of steaming swamps, how it became a baking desert and then a tropical reef. The displays look at the local geology of the Sunderland area and concentrate on the Carboniferous and Permian periods. The sounds of lapping waves, howling winds and bubbling swamps add to the atmosphere of a gallery where millions of years of history have been squeezed into one fascinating space.

Art Gallery
See fine oil paintings and watercolours in all the splendor of a Victorian collector's private gallery. Many works by LS Lowry are also newly displayed and, for the first time, art from other cultures can be seen in a showcase of beautiful objects from around the world. A programme of regularly changing special exhibitions can also be seen.

Launched on Wearside
Find out about shipbuilding on the Wear between 1880 and 1950. The gallery shows not only the technical side of the industry but also looks at the life of shipyard owners, the workers and their families. Discover what made a Wearside ship, how it was built, who built it, where it traveled to in the world and what cargoes it carried.

Winter Gardens
This amazing glass and steel structure surrounds a world of plants in miniature. Come and experience a garden for all seasons, and discover the plants that feed, clothe and protect us in our daily lives.

Eden Café on site provides hot and cold meals and snacks.

A range of products from souvenirs for children to books and craft items.

Baby changing in ground floor female toilets and in all the unisex toilets.

Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens is situated in Sunderland City centre on Burdon Road, a short walk from both Sunderland and Park Lane Metro Stations. For more information regarding public transport telephone the NEXUS travel line on 0870 608 2 608

If you've had fun on your family day out to Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, tell us about it your visit, so other people will know it's a great place to go as well.

http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/sunderland