What an amazing day out! I travelled from Leeds to Halifax to visit this magical place. It took me 40 mins and was clearly signposted. There was ample parking in the form of pay and display. For 5 hours it cost us £2.50 which wasn't too bad - though would have been better had it been free! It's also situated just opposite Halifax railway station so it's easily accessible.

The building itself looks very impressive with lots of colour and lots outside surrounding it. There are plenty of picnic tables, adventure playground, a marquee (though not sure if that was just up for a few weeks or whether it was a permanent feature).

I managed to get hold of a 2 for 1 voucher from the Walkers Brit trips promotion so that was a great saving when paying for the tickets. It's very baby friendly too with loads of places to leave the buggy whilst checking out the exhibits. The facilities are excellent. The café was closed for maintenance/renovation so that was a shame but the kiosk outside offered sandwiches, ice creams, crisps and drinks so we managed ok. The shop was impressive and I could have spent a fortune!

I went with my 20 month son, my friend and her 2 year old on a Monday mid June. It was packed with school kids and the place was buzzing!

There was so much to see and do. You can easily spend a full day here and not get bored. There are 2 areas specifically designed for the under 5's; Desert Discovery and the Sound Garden. The Desert area is great, the kids can dress up as construction workers, have story time, go into little caves, feel what's inside the holes and much, much more. The Sound Garden has loads to do too. You can play in the leaf cradle, feel the ladybird vibrate, pretend to water flowers, smell pretend flowers, spin the colourful flower, play with the painting programme on the computer where you colour in a butterfly onscreen and then let it fly away and watch it on the projector over head, tap the bamboo stems to make noise or music, wind the watch, dress up and so much more.

Other areas open to all ages include the little M&S where the kids can take a mini trolly and fill it with fruit, veg, milk, meat, cheese, fish, bread and then take it to the check out and scan it and pay for it. There are also other exhibits within the store that are well worth a look at. There is a little bank too, but we never had time to do that.

You have to check out the Cars! There are little cars that the kids can pretend to drive, fix, fill up with petrol, and a car wash. There was a huge kitchen that the kids could pretend to cook in, a bedroom to play in with a story corner and dolls house, a bathroom with a bath and shower that the kids could press buttons and operate and plenty more.

The "Me and my body section" was fabulous. If my son had been older he could have properly participated in the exhibits and filled out the information on a "body passport" questionnaire form. There was a large mouth that the kids could climb on with a wobbly tooth that the kids just loved. It was so informative. There was also a section on "babies" and as such my son went over to the doll and wanted to cuddle it and take it around with him. There were loads of things to feel and touch. He really was a bit young for this area but nevertheless he loved pressing the buttons and he did seem to learn a lot and was intrigued by it all.

The Global Garden was brilliant, as was the Soundspace area. I cannot possibly tell you about all the areas and exhibits but what I will say is that it's great value for money, very informative, excellent for kids and adults alike and really worth paying a visit.

I plan on taking my son every year as I feel the more we go and the older he gets, the more he will get out of it. It's a great day out for all the family and I really would recommend it to everyone. Check out their website too!