Baby-friendly grown-up talks
For parents looking to learn about the natural world.
11 May, 22 June and 20 July
Tickets: £15, Members: £13.50
Tickets include one adult and one baby. Tickets for each talk are sold separately.
Learn about the natural world and take a break from baby talk with Museum experts and scientists.
Join us for this new series of baby-friendly nature talks, created for inquisitive grown-ups looking for something to do with tiny ones in tow.
With topics ranging from plastic pollution in the Thames, to reproduction in sharks, you're sure to find something that appeals.
The content of the talks is designed for an adult audience, enabling you to learn about the natural world, in a space that allows you to tend to your baby. If your little one starts to cry, needs to feed or wants to play - no problem, we know how unpredictable they can be.
Everyone is free to move around as much as they need during the event and please feel free to bring along anything that your baby may need.
Please note that babies must be under the age of one.
Event dates
- 11 May 2022 10.30-11.30, 14.00-15.00
- 22 June 2022 10.30-11.30, 14.00-15.00
- 20 July 2022 10.30-11.30, 14.00-15.00
Discount Member tickets
Members can purchase discount tickets for this event. Please bring your membership card with you to the event. Not a Member? Join today.
11 May: Becoming Bipedal
Humans are the last surviving species of a group of primates that use an unusual form of movement called bipedalism (upright walking). Of around 6,000 living mammals today, humans are the only habitual striding biped.
In this talk Dr Karen Swan will take you on a journey through time from about seven million years ago to examine the anatomical clues for bipedality in the fossil record, explore why our ancestors first started to walk upright and how humans achieve this during early life.
Talk 1: 10.30-11.30, Talk 2: 14.00-15.00
20 July: Science on the high seas
Ocean exploration can teaches us about the biodiversity of underwater habitats and what scientists and governments can do to help make fisheries sustainable. Jon Ablett and fellow scientists James Maclaine and Kirsty Lloyd were involved in a 2019 expedition to help study the marine biodiversity of two UK overseas territories; Tristan da Cunha and St. Helena.
See some of the amazing creatures they collected, find out about how they have adapted to their environments and discover how the findings of the expedition helped contribute to the construction of a new Marine Protected Area.
Talk 1: 10.30-11.30, Talk 2: 14.00-15.00
22 June: Natural History and the European Renaissance
Plants and animals were viewed very differently before the period in history popularly known as the Renaissance. By the late 1630s the highly influential Rene Descartes was putting forward the notion that animals and plants were akin to machines and that the only supernatural thing in the Universe was the human soul.
How and why did this change in view come about? Museum botany curator John Hunnex looks for evidence of changes that can be seen in paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Sofonisba Anguissola and Joris Hoefnagel as well as in some of the Museum's rarest collections.
Talk 1: 10.30-11.30, Talk 2: 14.00-15.00
We need your help
The Natural History Museum is a charity which relies on your support. And the Museum's role is now more important than ever. Our scientists are uncovering answers to big issues facing humanity and the planet, and together, we can tackle these challenges.
So if you could help us with a donation - no matter the size - we'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you.