Read at 3 different speeds

Dinosaur jumper joy - 23rd December 2022

London gets very festive this time of year and the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum are getting involved. The animatronic T-Rex at the museum is wearing a giant Christmas jumper and a very large Santa hat.

The designers used recycled materials to make the jumper which fits him perfectly. Zips make it easier for staff to get him dressed. The jumper has dinosaurs on it, with red hats so it resembles T-Rex himself.

Sam Barnes explains the importance of the jumper.

Sam Barnes: "It is a big British thing. There is a national Christmas jumper day that happens in December, which is a charity day, so yeah I think it is a uniquely British thing. And for us, it's something we want to kind of take advantage of and we do think our stance is a bit different having a little Christmas dino on your jumper this year."

The dinosaur Christmas jumper is available to buy in the museum shop, in all sizes. What's more, there are dinosaur socks, scarves and hats. The seasonal jerseys are fun, but also serve an important role.

Sam Barnes: "For us, everything we do here in the shop, all of our profits go back to supporting all of the vital scientific research and looking after all the collections here in the museum. So for us, Christmas is a really peak time for that and we have lots of visitors coming in and we want to make sure we're giving them something fun and something interesting and also it's an upcycled and recycled yarn product as well."

The Natural History Museum is a world renowned scientific research institute. Every year it works with researchers around the world to publish more than 700 scientific research papers. The research requires funds to continue and the jumpers and festive clothing will hopefully help the museum learn more about our natural history.

The design of the festive jumpers changes every year. Who knows which exhibit will be chosen next year.