What are early years visits?
Early Years' Visits are for Early Years Practitioners working in children's centres, nurseries and pre-schools who want to lead a self-guided visit to Tate Modern or Tate Britain with groups of under 5s in their care.
Early Years Visits to Tate Modern and Tate Britain are free. All groups must book in advance of visiting.
When you book a visit, please advise us of any specific access requirements that members of your group may have.
When can I visit?
Early years visits are available Monday to Friday from 10.00 - 12.00 during school term-time. Please book 2 weeks in advance to allow us plan for your visit.
We follow Southwark school-term dates, which are as follows:
Academic year 2023/24
Autumn term
Monday 4 September 2023 to Friday 20 October 2023
Half Term - Monday 23 October 2023 to Friday 27 October 2023
Monday 30 October 2023 to Wednesday 20 December 2023
Spring term
Monday 8 January 2024 to Friday 9 February 2024
Half Term - Monday 12 February 2024 to Friday 16 February 2024
Monday 19 February 2024 to Thursday 28 March 2024
Summer term
Monday 15 April 2024 to Friday 24 May 2024 (May Day bank holiday will be taken on 6 May)
Half Term - Monday 27 May 2024 to Friday 31 May 2024
Monday 3 June 2024 to Thursday 25 July 2024
How to make a booking
All groups must book in advance of visiting. The maximum number of visitors per visit is 30 and our recommended ratio for 1-5 year-olds is 1:5.
To enquire, please call +44 (0)20 7887 8888 (option 3). Our schools phone line is open Monday - Friday 10.00 - 16.00.
Have the following ready when you call:
- Range of dates for your visit
- School address, telephone number and email address
- Group size and age of pupils
Alternatively you can email us at schoolsandteachers@tate.org.uk
Bookings must be made at least two weeks in advance to allow us to prepare for your visit.
You will receive your booking confirmation by email, which you can show on a mobile phone at the entrance. Alternatively, you can print the tickets out.
Plan your visit
Early Years visits to Tate Modern and Tate Britain take approximately 1.5 - 2 hours. We advise choosing a few gallery rooms to explore together and not trying to do too much on one visit. Once inside the gallery we ask that you split up into smaller groups when moving around.
A full route map, as well as a list of highlights across the route, can be found here:
Download the Tate Britain Route Map [PDF, 335 Kb]
Download the Tate Modern Route Map PDF [80.1k kb]
The route has step-free access and access to toilets and the changing places, access to a shop and the opportunity to buy food and drink. Please note Tate is operating a cashless system at present, so only card purchases are possible.
Snacks and lunches can be eaten in the schools’ lunchroom at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Please let us know if you would like to use either of them. At Tate Modern you are welcome to eat in any non-gallery space such as the level 4 concourse, level 1 bridge or Turbine Hall.
We advise doing a pre-visit without your under 5s if possible to plan which galleries you’d most like to visit, or using the following digital resources to help plan your visit:
Visual stories:
Read more for Tate Britain
Read more for Tate Modern
Top 5 suggested artworks for families:
Read more for Tate Britain
Read more for Tate Modern
Additionally, you can email the Early Years and Families’ team - earlyyears@tate.org.uk, who can advise on activities suitable for your group.
Gallery guidelines
You and your under 5s are welcome to get excited, take ownership of the gallery, and engage with the artwork. Groups are encouraged to make noise and take up space in the gallery. You are welcome to draw, sketch, make, sing, and dance in the collection spaces.
Early years' practitioners are responsible for their under 5s' behaviour and safety.
Students under 16 must be accompanied at all times.
Maximum group size per gallery room is 20.
We ask people to not:
- Run in the galleries
- Touch the artworks
- Eat or drink in the galleries. Our lunchroom can be booked, or outside space is available.
- Move around the gallery in large groups. We recommend smaller groups of 20 or less. Please be mindful of others in the space.
- Use wet or dusty materials that will leave behind marks, such as permanent marker, water colours, or charcoal. You are welcome to use dry materials such as pencils, pens, and colouring pencils.
We encourage you to take photos in the gallery as long as you don’t use flash or tripods. Photography is allowed for personal, non-commercial purposes only and it is the visitor’s responsibility to ensure no copyright is infringed.
Please speak to the Schools Assistants if you have any questions, need directions, or would like to request any of our accessible facilities.
The Visitor Experience team are also situated around the galleries.