Bookings for school visits to Manchester Museum became so high officials have come up with a novel solution. They unveiled Wednesday Britain's first inflatable museum that will be used to take exhibits to city schools.
The inflatable has even been designed to look like the real museum in the city center which opened in 1890.
A museum spokeswoman said the inflatable museum could be set up in just 30 minutes and would allow children to handle objects and specimens from the collection in their own schools.
The public was given its first view of the inflatable Wednesday when it was set up in the city's main square outside Manchester Town Hall.
Developed in partnership with stage designers and sound artists, the inflatable copy of Manchester Museum incorporates a performance area, exploratory activity spaces, and high quality projection and audio equipment.
The museum, which is part of the University of Manchester, is the largest university museum in Britain and is home to 4.5 million items, including exhibits from ancient Egypt. Last year it received its highest number of visitors, attracting more than 450,000 people.
The museum spokeswoman said the Inflatable Museum will bring the museum experience to school halls all over Greater Manchester.
The spokeswoman added: "The Inflatable Museum will recreate the sense of wonder the Museum naturally conjures, assisting in extending children's classroom learning."
Dr Nick Merriman, Director of Manchester Museum, said: "Manchester Museum has the oldest continuous free museum education programme in the UK, and we are delighted to move it into its next phase with our quirky and innovative Inflatable Museum. It will allow the Museum to meet the demand for our oversubscribed schools programme in a fun and accessible way."
"Transportable and inflatable in less in 30 minutes, the Inflatable Museum is a dynamic space capable of accommodating a full class of children, and designed with ultimate flexibility in mind. It incorporates moveable 'cabinets', a large, open presentation area, and HD projection equipment."
The idea for the inflatable museum came because demand for school visits to the main museum had reached capacity.
