We get a lot of mail coming through this centre - photographs, requests for information, offers to donate items, insects to identify. In recent days, our mailbag has been leavened with some delightful letters from junior fans of the Museum. Here is a selection of our favourites:

Photo: Siobhan Motherway  Source: Museum Victoria

Kirby gave us some great feedback! Kirby's favourite things in the Museum are the dinosaur bones, followed closely by "the Phar Lap". I can tell you that the various relevant curators and managers were well chuffed, and that copies of this letter occupy pride of place on office walls. Kirby expresses an interest in working at the Museum "when I grow up" - Kirby, judging from the folk we work with, I don't think you need to wait to grow up...it doesn't seem to be a prerequisite of employment around here!

Photo: Siobhan Motherway  Source: Museum Victoria

This batch of letters came from a grade one class in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Not only does their handwriting put mine to shame, but all letters were carefully dated, politely opened with "Dear Sir or Madam", and signed off with "Yours sincerely". They embellished their letters with beautiful garden drawings, and each included a question. "Why are plants green?" (Chlorophyll - it's a pigment found in most plants that enables them to absorb energy from sunlight) and "What is Victoria's tallest tree, and how tall is it?" (Eucalyptus regnans, or the Mountain Ash, which can grow up to 100m tall!).

Thank you to all of our correspondents, and we look forward to more mailbag excitement.

Back in April this year the Museum ran a children's activity celebrating the launch of the new Dinosaur Walk exhibition where kids could make their very own dinosaur masks. Discovery Centre staff member Jo was particularly impressed with this activity and had a go herself - her results are well-documented in my earlier post, Bad-Jo-Jo-A-Saurus.

As the mask-making activity went down so well with both Jo and the kids, a similar activity (among many others) was developed for the recent winter school holidays to celebrate the opening of the blockbuster Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition A Day in Pompeii, where kids were able to construct their own Roman gladiator helmets.

Once again, the activity proved popular with both the kids and the staff - witness below Discovery Centre volunteer staff member Susan, eagerly awaiting the thumbs-up or thumbs-down from the Emperor...

Photo: Meg Lomax  Source: Museum Victoria

Photo: Philip Thiel  Source: Museum Victoria

Melbourne Museum has launched a new exhibition, A Day in Pompeii, and the Discovery Centre is adapting accordingly, highlighting books about Rome and volcanoes, offering a coin rubbing activity for kids. Making space for the coins took a bit of reshuffling, in the centre, including the relocation of our heritage dinosaur statuettes from one room to another. Tertiary placement student Michael had no idea that his time with us would involve such labour! 

Photo: Philip Thiel  Source: Museum Victoria

Well, the Dinosaur Walk exhibition has opened at Melbourne Museum and it's school holidays, so kids are streaming in to enjoy various dinosaur-related activities including making their own dinosaur masks.

Resident Discovery Centre comedienne Bad Jo Jo, being the big kid that she is, decided to get into the spirit of things too:

  

Personally, I think she looks like a dishevelled Roman gladiator, but you'll have to wait for A Day in Pompeii during the next school holidays for that installment...