In-Person Workshops for Ages 4-11

All our workshops are interactive and hands-on, providing lots of opportunities for discussion and participation.

Most workshops are two hours long and can run as morning or afternoon sessions. Workshop details are listed below, please contact us if you have any questions or would like to arrange a visit.

Biscuit Bonanza!

Get hands-on with archive objects, hunt for colour, shape and texture in the Marks in Time exhibition, and find out how we use these elements in design.

Put it all together and design an M&S biscuit tin that customers won’t be able to resist.

What's On My Plate?

Use primary sources to learn about changes in our diet over the last 100 years. You’ll think about where food comes from and what makes a balanced diet.

Have a go at designing a meal for a child in the past and test your food knowledge in our What Food are You? game.

Proof of the Pudding

Explore the challenges and chemistry of the M&S Chocolate Melt in the Middle Pudding.

Find out about this amazing feat of food technology that’s become an iconic M&S product… and yes, there will be a taste test!

Fabrics & Fashion

Use your senses and simple experiments to find out about the properties of fabrics.

How are fabrics made? What happens to unwanted clothing? How has clothing changed over time?

Discover the answers to these questions and many more during this hands-on interactive workshop.

Packet Perfect for the Planet

Design and make your own food packaging inspired by our collection of archive designs and current M&S innovation.

Find out more about recycling and how we can all help to save the planet.

Home Front on the High Street

Get hands-on with archive artefacts from the Second World War period, finding out about the role M&S played in the war effort.

Use photographs and items from our 1940s Utility clothing collection to explore what life was like during wartime.

Shops and Shopping

Use a range of sources to learn about change and continuity in shops and shopping over the last 100 years.

Go shopping in the 1920s Penny Bazaar and explore how stores and products have changed with our archive objects, photos and film.

Find out who Michael Marks was and why he is important with our interactive story.

Don’t worry if you can’t visit us in Leeds, we have lots of high-quality digital resources to help you run your own workshops at home.