Home Education Focus Days 2026
We are pleased to share the dates of the Home Education Focus days for this year. In addition to attractions available to all, on these days some additional optional activities for home educating families will be available that you can engage with based on different themes.
Animal Art
Dates: Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th September 2026
Come and see animals in the art of others, practice your drawing or photography skills and become inspired to create your own masterpiece.
Things you can focus on;
Before you come to Longleat choose a selection of animals you will see here and do a drawing of them. Bring your drawings with you and compare them to the real thing. How accurate were you? Did you get all the features in the right place and the right size?
Skilled artists spend a lot of time closely observing their subjects. Your challenge is to come to Longleat and really look at the animals we have. Take time to look at colours, shapes and textures. Choose a selection of animals and make a rough sketch of them. Make notes on specific things you observe. You can also take photos of particular details. You can then use them to create your own artwork. It may be a painting of a whole animal or a specific part, a design for wall paper with a repeating animal inspired pattern, a collage that captures the texture such as the scaly skin of a snake.
Whatever you decide to do we would love to see it so please share by sending photos to education@longleat.co.uk or sharing on social media.
Animal spotting in Longleat House - The historic collections of Longleat House are teeming with animals, whether that is in a painting, tapestry, sculpture or even a table leg. The ground floor of Longleat House is open for you to look around (included in your day ticket). You can simply take your time and search for animals yourself or use the spotter’s sheet that will be available here to tick off ones we have highlighted. Remember to look up, look down, look all around.
Animal collage session – Book in to craft some animal collages with us in the Education Hut. We will provide the materials for this. These sessions will run at 10.30am and again at 1.00pm on both days. They are planned to last approximately 45 minutes. Unfortunately, due to the size of the building these sessions have a limited capacity and therefore must be pre-booked. Please book a space for each member of the family attending not just children.
The Festival of Light 2026
Dates: Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 November 2026
Theme: TBC
We invite you to join us for The Festival of Light where you can discover spectacular displays of themed lanterns in addition to our usual attractions.
Prices
On these dates individual home educating families will be entitled to the education rates rather than having to be part of a group of families.
Home educated student
• £8.75
Accompanying adults
• £31.95 in standard season
• One free adult for every three paying 3-4 year olds
• One free adult for every six paying 5+ year olds
Essential Companions supporting a student with additional needs
• Free of charge, with an Access Card or Longleat Digital Access Pass with a +1 symbol.
For Access Card information, please visit our Accessibility page.