If you’re looking for a home education day out that goes well beyond a standard museum visit, Beamish is hard to beat. Set on a 350-acre site in County Durham, Beamish is an open-air living museum that brings the history of North East England to life — and on their dedicated Home Educators’ Days, the whole experience is tailored specifically to home educating families.
Rather than browsing alongside school trips, you’ll find a quieter museum where no other educational institutions have been booked in, giving your family more space to explore at your own pace. Add in a programme of bookable workshops and free drop-in activities, and it makes for a genuinely immersive day of hands-on learning.
What Is Beamish Museum?
Beamish is one of the UK’s most distinctive museums. Instead of objects in glass cases, it recreates entire historic environments that you can walk through, interact with, and explore. The site spans several distinct areas covering different periods of North East history:
- 1820s Pockerley — a Georgian manor house and working waggonway
- The 1900s Town — a recreated Edwardian high street with shops, a pub, a school and a dentist
- The 1900s Pit Village — a colliery, miners’ cottages and a Methodist chapel
- The 1940s Farm — a working wartime farm with animals and period equipment
- The 1950s Town — a postwar high street and housing
- 1950s Spain’s Field Farm — a smallholding from the same era
Costumed staff bring each area to life, whether that’s chatting with a 1900s shopkeeper, watching a blacksmith at work, or learning about wartime rationing on the farm. For home educators, the breadth of topics covered — history, science, geography, citizenship, agriculture — means it’s easy to connect the visit to your curriculum.
What Makes Home Educators’ Days Different?
On Home Educators’ Days, Beamish does not take bookings from schools or other educational institutions. The museum remains open to general visitors and coach parties, but in practice it tends to be noticeably quieter, with none of the large school groups that can make popular exhibits feel crowded.
Alongside the usual freedom to explore the site, the days include a dedicated programme of bookable workshops and free drop-in activities designed specifically for home educating families. Workshop content varies between dates, so it’s worth checking the specific event page for whichever date you’re planning to attend.
The museum is also open to suggestions — if there are particular topics or areas of interest your group would like to see covered in a future Home Educators’ Day workshop, they actively encourage you to get in touch.
Upcoming Dates
The confirmed Home Educators’ Days for 2026 are:
- Tuesday 15 September 2026 — booking available closer to the date
- Wednesday 2 December 2026 — booking available closer to the date
Sign up to the Beamish Home Educators’ Day mailing list to be notified when booking opens for each date, and keep an eye on their website and social media pages for updates.
What’s On: Workshops and Activities
Each Home Educators’ Day includes a mix of bookable workshops (individually priced) and free drop-in activities around the museum site. The specific programme varies between dates — here’s a flavour of what has been available based on the current programme:
Free drop-in activities
As well as the bookable sessions, there are free drop-in activities running throughout the day across the museum site. These are included with museum admission and do not need to be booked in advance. If an activity is busy when you arrive, museum staff can advise on the best time to come back.
Admission and Booking
Places on Home Educators’ Days must be booked in advance — you cannot turn up on the day without a booking. Admission options are:
- Beamish Unlimited Pass — covers museum entry free of charge for the whole year. Additional workshop costs still apply.
- Friends of Beamish membership — also covers entry free of charge.
- Special day ticket — available for those without a pass or membership, priced specifically for Home Educators’ Days.
- Under 5s — free entry.
Workshops must be booked and paid for in advance. Parental supervision is required throughout all activities.
To book, visit the Beamish Home Educators page or call 0191 370 4000. You can also email the Learning team at learning@beamish.org.uk or bookings@beamish.org.uk with questions ahead of your visit — note that staff work across a seven-day pattern with many part-time, so allow a little time for responses.
Good to Know Before You Go
- The museum is large — 350 acres — so comfortable footwear is a must. Allow a full day.
- Some exhibits, transport routes and footpaths may be closed on any given day for operational reasons, so flexibility helps. Check the blackboard at the Main Entrance on arrival for the day’s updated information.
- If exhibits are busy when you visit, staff can suggest the best time to return rather than waiting around.
- The Beamish Unlimited Pass is genuinely good value if you’re likely to visit more than once — it covers entry for a full year and pays for itself quickly.
- If you have a home ed group or network and would like to discuss future workshop topics, the Learning team welcomes ideas.
Getting There
Beamish Museum is in County Durham, postcode DH9 0RG.
- From the north or south: Follow the A1(M) to Junction 63 (Chester-le-Street), then the A693 towards Stanley for four miles, following the Beamish signs.
- From the west: Take the A68 to Castleside near Consett, then follow signs along the A692 and A693 via Stanley.
- By bus: Service 28 runs from Newcastle city centre, Gateshead, Birtley, Ouston and Chester-le-Street.
- By car: Electric vehicle charging points are available in the Entrance car park.
The museum is open daily 10am–5pm (seasonal variations apply — check the website before travelling).
Find out more and book: Beamish Museum Home Educators’ Days