New for February half term at the Horniman Museum and Gardens is the Brick Dinos exhibition.

A new LEGO® model of a Polacanthus, an armoured 125-million-year-old dinosaur found in the UK, will be on show for the first time as part of the Brick Dinos exhibition, coming to the Horniman Museum and Gardens in south London in February 2023.

A herbivore from the early Cretaceous Period, the Polacanthus – meaning ‘many spines’ – is the newest highlight of this family-friendly exhibition featuring more than 20 dinosaur species, recreated by artist Warren Elsmore and his team using hundreds of thousands of LEGO® bricks. The Polacanthus model, at 1.5m long, is recreated at about a third of its true size.

The Brick Dinos on display include some of the largest beasts to ever walk the earth, recreated in miniature form, alongside large models including a plesiosaur, a life-size flying pterosaur and a fearsome Masiakasaurus. Young visitors to the exhibition can also enjoy building their own dinosaur, digging for fossils and dressing up as prehistoric creatures.

The exhibition also includes rarely seen specimens from the Horniman’s collection, including a replica skull of a Nanotyrannus (meaning ‘dwarf tyrant’) – a smaller relative of T. rex, and real fossil material from Ichthyosaurus to Iguanodon.

Location:  Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Rd, London SE23 3PQ. Date: 10 February – 29 October 2023. Price: from £5/10 Child/Adult.