Social story for a family visit to the Tyama exhibition (1)

I am going to visit the Tyama exhibition at Melbourne Museum.

The adult I am going with will buy tickets online before we visit.

When I arrive at the main foyer of Melbourne Museum, I will see an archway of light that says Tyama at the top of the escalators.

I can take these escalators or a lift from the ground floor to the lower ground floor to reach the entry to the exhibition.

Before I arrive at the desk where my ticket will be checked, I will see a cube with lights that slowly change.

When I walk around the cube, I will see the shape of a whale inside.

After my ticket has been checked, I will line up outside the exhibition until a museum team member tells me it is time to go into the exhibition.

There will be other people waiting with me to go in.

I will walk into a small room with colourful lights and then a larger room where the room will gradually get darker and there will be coloured lights which will change on the floor.

I will hear a voice telling me about animal teachers and I will receive instructions on what to do in the exhibition.

I will move into a space which has fabric all around and I might hear the sound of a heartbeat.

I cannot touch the fabric.

I will see a light at the other end of the space.

I will enter a big space which has pictures of the night sky, moths and flowers.

I will stay in this space and watch how the pictures change.

If I go close to a picture of a moth, it might follow me.

I will now move into a space which is like a bat cave. It is about bats and how they can find food and move around in the dark using echolocation.

It will be dark and I might see glow worms.

I need to clap my hands to make lines of light come off my body. The more I clap, the lighter it will become.

I will now move into a space which is like the ocean. It will have pictures of fish, birds, crabs, starfish and sharks.

If I go into the middle of the room, I might collect a school of small fish and if I move them towards the walls, I might make them safe.

The more I move around the more the ocean will come alive.

I will now move into a space which is like a sea floor with sea plants called kelp.

It is a quiet space, and I can stay here if I need some time.

I will now move into a big space which is like the deep sea. It is called Whale Dreaming, and plays every 6 minutes, so I might have to wait for the beginning.

There will be some mist in the room.

I will hear a story about a whale and see the whale swimming around me. The lights will change and there will be bright colours at the end.

I will walk through a tunnel which has coloured lights and mirrors, and music playing.

The tunnel is very short.

I will walk into the last space of the exhibition which is like being in the country at sunrise. I can hear animals and see some museum collections of animals.

I have finished my visit to Tyama and can talk about what I learned and experienced.