Eureka – The National Children’s Museum

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk
Share

Last weekend we visited Eureka Museum in Halifax. We were meeting friends from Manchester and Harrogate so decided to meet somewhere middlish.

There was 3 families with eight children aged between 2.5 and 8 and they all absolutely loved it.  We arrived at 11 and only left at 4 because we had made plans to be elsewhere by 5. We could have stayed for so much longer and will definitely go back!

AD | I have been or could be if you click on a link in this post compensated via a cash payment, gift or something else of value for writing this post. See our full disclosure policy and privacy policy for more details.

So why did we like it so much? Well in the words of my 4 year old. Mummy do you know, Daddy says this is a museum! It’s a Museum, but it’s so much fun, AND Mummy you are allowed to touch everything!!” So that just about sums it up!  It was fun, and you could touch everything!

There are literally hundreds of interactive, hands-on exhibits which the website tells you are ‘designed to inspire children aged 0 to 11 to learn about themselves and the world around them through play and discovery.’

Our kids literally spent hours playing in the kitchen making lunch, pretend M&S, post office and bank.  The bank was a particular favourite as the cash machine dispensed cash and you could steal money from the vault!  You could also be the security guard watching who was stealing! The M&S has little shopping trollies and they all loved getting the food off the shelves, putting it in the trolley and paying at the till. Probably more of a novelty as we never got to the supermarket in this house, online shopping being our shop of choice!

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk

Parts of the downstairs felt a little outdated.   Some of the touch screens weren’t very quick, and the appearance of others things was a little scruffy but kids don’t notice such things and it didn’t make a blind bit of difference to them!

The upstairs exhibit however felt brand new and we spent most of our time here.  I didn’t take a note of the name of the area but it was the area which focused on parts of the human body. How tall are you?

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk

How long is your stride?

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk

Large teeth exhibits.

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk

The doctor’s chair?  We couldn’t get the kids away from the doctors chair and I resolved to buy some bandages when I got home as it kept them entertained for hours!

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk

There are inside and outside areas to eat your picnic and a large cafe that served decent(ish) coffee.  I love attractions that provide an inside area to eat your own picnic, I think it means they truly appreciate the issues parents have.

When we looked at booking Eureka, I was a little surprised at the price. At £11.95 for each of us (5), it was going to cost around £60 for a day out. This was however before I realised that this was an annual pass.  Having spent the day here, our friends all agreed that this was very very good value as we would definitely all be back.  We actually obtained free entry in exchange for this honest review but would have happily paid.

What is also particularly good about Eureka is its accessibility. This isn’t something as a family we need to use but having looked at their website, some of the things they offer are brilliant. The bookable Extra Pair of Hands service provides families and organised groups with a specially trained enabler to support them throughout their visit.

The service is also free with an annual pass, and each family is entitled to two supported visits (each visit lasting two hours) per year. The service must be booked at least two weeks in advance of your visit.

In summary Eureka really does live up to it’s name as The National Children’s Museum and we will definitely be back.

Eureka The National Childrens Museum www.minitravellers.co.uk

the Pigeon Pair and Me
+ posts

Karen Beddow founded Mini Travellers in 2014 while doing what she loves most...going on holiday!

Mini Travellers is for parents looking for holiday ideas, destination reviews, days out and things to do with the kids. We also have family travel tips, activity ideas and all other things family holiday related. Take a look at some of our latest reviews for holidays and day trips in the UK.

13 thoughts on “Eureka – The National Children’s Museum”

  1. It was our very favourite place to go when our girls were smaller. We got all the way home once to discover that, we had left a painting hanging up to dry in their craft room. I was tempted to pretend to call, to soothe little tears, but I didn’t and the staff could not have been more helpful. They posted it straight to us with a lovely note saying that the picture had missed Evie. So impressed. X

    Reply
  2. It looks like you guys had a fantastic time. I agree with your four year old, it is brilliant to be able to touch everything (or just not to have to say, ‘don’t touch that’)! I have visited twice and still not made it to the human body area. The photos look great though and I think we’ll head straight there next time! Thanks for linking up with #YorkshireFamily.

    Reply
  3. Wow! This looks like such fun! Love the fact they said it was a ‘fun museum’ with such surprise!! I’d want a go at all of those activities (except the ‘How Tall Are You’ one of course!) Steph xxxx

    Reply
  4. Eureka is one of those places I keep hearing good things about but have not yet gotten around to visiting. It’s a long way from us over on the East coast of Yorkshire but it looks worth the trip, so we’ll see about us visiting very soon.

    Reply
  5. I have heard so many good things about this museum so really interesting to read your review. The newer top floor looks particularly impressive and I love the idea of being a security guard waiting to nab people stealing from the vault. Need to visit next time we are visiting in in-laws in Leeds. #culturedkids

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.