Drop-in activities
Quick, accessible and entertaining activities run by experienced facilitators. Ideal for events or public spaces.
- Passing trade: engage members of the public as they pass
- Rolling workshops: Activities lasting 5 – 20 minutes, join and leave at any time
Passing Trade
Offering an amplified rubber-band for a passer-by to twang as they walk past. They don’t even have to stop…
‘TWAAAANGGGG!!’ – mmm it sounds surprisingly good and took just 2 seconds, so maybe they now find that they have time to get their nose tested, it takes less than a minute…
Rolling workshops
Take part in our Scavengers activities, adapted for drop-in settings. Come-and-go at any time, you can build a Robot Chicken in 5 minutes, or stay and make more contraptions.
Photo: Science & Industry Museum, Manchester, 2024
Drop-in covers a range of activities and different visitors/participants, with different interests.
At one end the Drop-in activities cross-over with our Walkabout; costumed performers demonstrate weird-looking instruments and offer them to you to try. Quick and accessible, suitable for a festival or a public space.
At the other end they cross-over with our Workshops, but the activities are adapted so that people can join and leave at any time, with a range of durations usually from 5 – 20 minutes.
Photo: Moscow Maker Faire, 2019
Quirky Instruments
Make some noise on our upcycled and home-made instruments and amplified everyday objects.
Workshop activities
Making & Tinkering experiments based on our Scavengers Workshops.
The ultimate participation ice-breaker activity
Do you dare try the infamous Noisy Toys Nose Test? Tens of thousands of people have had their noses tested (and most of them suffered no adverse effects) so step up and present yours.
Bring a friend, or your whole family- we can test you all in a circuit (a ‘nose ring’) and if you have a carrot or a dog we can test those too.
Photo: Great Exhibition Road festival, London, 2026