Did you know it’s Takeover Day at museums across the country today? No, neither did I until I stumbled across it a few weeks ago.

It began in 2010 and since then 35,000 children and young people have taken part. It was established by Kids in Museums to get children more involved with heritage and history, and develop a love of museums. Kids have co-created exhibitions, given feedback on initiatives and taken over social media channels.

There are a range of museums getting involved today. I’m sure they are all doing brilliant things but the ones I can vouch for personally are sites such as the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, which I’ve visited recently and I know offer some great hands-on activities for kids plus special sessions for babies and toddlers down in their innovative area underneath the hull. The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green is obviously great for kids, with daily activities for children. The Hollytrees Museum in Colchester looks at family life over the past 300 years, and won a Hoop award this year for going above and beyond to entertain, educate and inspire children (the Hoop app gives information on kids activities local to you). The RAF Museum at Hendon is a fantastic site with new developments taking place all the time for kids and, like many of these museums, is free!

What a great way to get heritage attractions thinking about better inclusivity for children and families, and helping us all get inside the headspaces of our little ones to enable them to learn and engage with history more effectively.