Why Visit The Science Museum, London?
There are tons of reasons why you should visit The Science Museum in London, more so than perhaps the Natural History, which is just next door and yet seems to be the museum my out of town friends immediately think of. When I tell them to go next door instead, and the reasons why, they are never disappointed.
First of all the museum is free to get into with a wealth of resources at your fingertips without having to put your hand in your pocket for more than the train fare to get there. I know so many people in Norwich, where I am from and live now, who have never been to the capital and who say one of the reasons is because they think everything will be too expensive. Not true! Of course you can spend out on all the touristy attractions but the museums, the stalwarts and the places locals (as I was when I lived there when we first started our family) visit are often free. One of our regular day trips was to go to the Science Museum, utilise all the the things which were free, hop on over the road tot he V&A to eat lunch by the fountain and have a paddle before taking the short walk past the Royal Albert Hall into Kensington Gardens to have a play in the princess Diana Memorial Playground. Such a great day out and it doesn’t costs a penny. You also see loads while walking to and from the places which for a tourist visiting would be a wonderful way to do a spot of sight seeing. Not only the Royal Albert Hall but Kensington Palace to walk past just on your way! Even though we visit lots, it’s always on our agenda. We had a day there this half term that was as brilliant as ever followed by a meal at Colonel Saab before home. The price of a train ticket, a walk through London, the museum, a special meal out in London instead of Pizza E in Norwich and what a treat!
But, that was our whole day, the bones was spent in the museum so, back to the Science Museum!
Another reason I’ve always been a fan is because my Grandmother donated a Baby Daisy vacuum cleaning to the museum way back when and it sits in the basement’s “In the home” section so we like to visit that before having a play in the wonderful “garden“, which is actually not outside but a hands on indoor science bonanza recommended for 3-6 year olds. Water play to build a dam, giant building bricks with a builder’s pulley, climbing area and reading nook are set out one side with hands-on visually stimulating sensory play and science experiments which are age appropriate on the other side. It’s wonderful. Truly wonderful!
The rest of the free things in the museum are equally as inviting from the space room to the human body with automotives and planes in between. Science, engineering, a wonder at history and a whole lot more. Of course besides all this there are also permanent and visiting exhibitions which do come with a small fee. We love and never get bored of visiting the WonderLab: The Equinor Gallery, which is like The Garden but for bigger kids on a much bigger scale! Set out into different sections it covers all areas of science with a hands-on invitation of excitement and coupled with the daily talks and experiment walk throughs it really is one of the very best resources I’ve ever taken my children to. Again, and again! An annual pass costs just a fraction more than a day ticket so even if you visit twice it’s worth it! And you’ll want to visit at least twice!
We had so much fun in WonderLab, of course But we also checked out the very last chance to see their Power Up exhibition where the kiddos (and Jonny) got to look at, and play, every single console and video game from the days of when they first began right to today. Ping Pong being the first ever game and still a favourite with absolutely everyone kicked off play and then it was a trip down memory lane (historical lesson in the olden days as far as my kids are concerned) while we played our way through the years! I loved Manic Miner on the Spectrum when I was really little but my favourite game of all time ever is MarioKart on the SNES (of which I can still whip anyone’s butt) and we had a brilliant time in the exhibition which is sadly now no longer in the museum but watch this space for its replacement. There’s always, always, always something wonderful at The Science Museum!
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