On arrival we were amazed by how exciting Eureka! looked through the glass building it was housed in. There was a range brightly-coloured and unusually shaped resources and we were very keen to go in and take a look. The children had a mad 5 minutes whizzing around the activities in the large outside playground as they worked their way to the door.

Once inside the children pointed to a clear bath up high in the air, filled with water it was demonstrating Archimedes Screw invention. The children were intrigued at how the water displaced each time Archimedes took a bath was lifted in the screw back up again. And this is the theme that was the fundamental throughout the day, the activities and displays captivated them and they went on to learn something about how or why things happened.

The centre is housed over 2 floors, each floor took us 2 hours to complete. There was a phone box, that enabled children to learn how to make a 999
call, a valuable life skill. In fact much of the ground floor really concerned itself with providing fun and playful activities that facilitated my children in learning real life skills.

There was a bank, not just a role play corner, but a full bank building complete with surveillance cameras that children could operate, a safe with codes to crack to reveal what was in the vaults. The vaults contained treasures such as Harry Potter themed things! There was something different in each drawer. The children had to use simple maths to crack the codes.

A shop was across the square offering trolleys tills and food items as well as sensory activities to stimulate children, feely boxes and pipes to smell food fragrances were a fun way to discover more about foods. There was an underground area, to encourage children to think about what is under the ground they walk on, this led children to think about history and evidence found below ground by people that lived in years gone by.

A police box in the square housed a science discovery centre, which linked up with other museums around the world allowing children to see things via a web cam. My children enjoyed looking at and learning about Terrapins in Orlando USA in here.

A garage let children try out life skills such as filling a car up with a very authentic petrol pump! Even the price per litre reflected the modern cost of living! My eldest two (10 and 12 yrs) had a go at changing a tyre and my younger son pretended he was driving a lorry as he sat up high in a real lorry cab.

The centre also had sections on the environment where were learned about pests, climate, power and recycling through a variety of audio, sensory and visual means as well as having lots of buttons to push, levers to pull and rollers to spin. All things my children and I’m sure other children love to do! We compared our vision to that of a rat, by donning a large mask in this area too. In other sections we look at life under the sea and plant and animal homes.

Upstairs was an audio room, where children could see and feel the vibrations of sound, there was a music room, an instrumental sound sampling room and morphing machine that took your photos (yes I had a go as well as my children!) and allowed you to modify it by adding strange hair, make up and accessories to turn you into a pop star!

There was a huge area to discover and learn about our bodies, and some very clever ways of captivating children’s interests in this area too, such a seeing your skelaton in action as you rode a bike!

For younger children under 5 there is a creativity room, and a desert discovery with activities tailored to younger children, such a water tray filled with blue gel to play with and collaging activities. A bucket lift allows children to transport things from one area of the room to another, my children looked on enviously at this, but I think it was a good idea to make a special area for under 5′s so that they don’t feel pushed out by older children. Of course most activities on the two floors could be enjoyed by children of all ages, so the under 5′s are very well catered for.

The toilets were clean and numerous, with toilets on both floors. There were both adult and children sized toilets, basins, and dryers. There was a clean baby changing room and another children’s toilet in there too.

The café was fantastic. As a vegan family we go everywhere with a picnic as there are usually little or no options for us, however on our visit to Eureka! we wished we didn’t have a picnic as there were lots of healthy choices including a few options for vegans. They also served organic squash, and had fair trade and salt-free options too. For those that had brought a picnic though a treat was in-store as the ‘indoor’ picnic area was a train in the garden! This was even more exiting for my 8 year old son, as whilst eating our picnic a train went past on the mainline running near Eureka!

I noticed there was also a party room which I’m sure would make a novel and fun way to celebrate a child’s birthday.

I would highly recommend Eureka! for children of all ages. We had thought that our 12 year old son might be bored, but he had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed himself as did our younger 2 children. I am sure my children learned a lot in the time we were there and developed their critical thinking and knowledge all whilst having fun and playing. As we walked back to our car I heard two children crying, also on their way back to their cars, as they didn’t want to leave!

Car parking is £3 for up to 4 hours and £5 for over. We were there for 4 hours which was just enough to have a go at everything. The admission fee is very good value as you get a whole year for the price of a day. I believe this may be a special offer to celebrate Eureka’s! 18th Birthday this year.

By Kerry Blanchard and children aged 8, 10 and 12

More information about Eureka! the national children’s museum  can be found here: http://www.eureka.org.uk

Admissions prices:

Adults: £8.95
Children age 3 and up: £8.95
Toddlers age 1-2: £2.95
Babies age 0-11 months: free
Saver Ticket (admits 5 people): £38.50

Opening times

Weekends, half-terms, holidays and bank holidays open daily 10am -5pm.

Term-time Tuesday – Friday open 10am -4pm. Saturday/Sunday 10am – 5pm.
Closed Mondays during school terms and 24th-26th December.