Dinosaurs, big scary dinosaurs with teeth and claws and wicked looked bone arrangements that seem to be designed by overly ambititous health and safety planners. These are the things that any child can get their imagination into and I can only be talking about the Natrual History Museum and the Science Museum.
Exhibits involving big bones of dead creatures, stuffed animals , posed insects interesting buttons and strange experiments are an assured distraction for a couple of hours at the weekend. As a daytrip the two museums should be visited as a “just strolling through” activity. Certainly the attention span of most kids Alyssas age (4yrs) rapidly diminshes without the benefit of those “press this, lift that” activities.
Some aspects of the exhibitions have not changed for instance the large brontosaur ( I should have written it down ) greets you in the Natrual Histories main entrance hall as does the large steam engine for the science museum.
The dinosaur section now leads you around and over head much of the display leading to a large animatronic teen T-rex display which was defintely not Alyssas preferred display. Quickly moving through this though we navigated the lengthy corridors of exhibits stopping occasionally to answer questions about fur, bones and why the animals are dead.
Theres plenty of distance to be had in walking around the Natrual History museum so you can expect the little ones to tire soon enough of seeing , oh yes, another stuffed animal or another example of the inside of an Eye. What it does do is give the visitor experience that the world and its creatures are very big, very small and all quite different.
The Science Museum however provides a greater level of interaction and hands on experience for the family.
For example the “Launchpad” gives kids a chance to get hands on with science experiments involving sound, light, liquids, patterns, magnetics and things that probably go gloop, fwish or pop.
What is more interesting to observe here is the level with which a parent will be either hands off or taking over the activities. Though lets face it having kids is finally the excuse to go and play with some of the cooler science toy experiments laid out for the kids !
Both venues are free to access and they encourage you to make a donation though my personal view on this is to a donation and to use the resturaunts and shops since these are all additional cash generating centres for the Museums plus the lack of stress in carrying round cartons of food and drinks and the subsequent reduction in additional waste seems an all round greener and more stress free option.
As a day out for the family its the perfect kids distraction just remember to limber up and wear the comfortable walking shoes because your going to be on your feet and walking around for most of the day.
Thanks for reading.
