Fun for all (City Museum (Sheffield))

Member Name: rinnie

Product:	City Museum (Sheffield)
Date:	12/11/08 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free entrance

Disadvantages: No parking

I recently visited Weston park museum in Sheffield with my son of nearly two years of age. We went with a friend and their twins of three years. The museum was recently updated and is now a beautifully restored building with lovely displays all sympathetic to each era.

They have several displays from a section all about animals from the prehistoric to present day with information on each, about how and were they live to what they eat and how they hunt for food. In this part of the museum is a fantastic ant colony with live camera's inside that you can watch in zoom mode on a large screen, and all through there is little peep holes with covers that have pictures, facts or small animals behind that children just love to look at.

There is a part that teaches us about the earth and its layers and what has been dug up from each section from the past like roman coins and armour to crockery and first cutlery also they show things that will be found in the future from our period of time like CD's and children's dummy's.

There is a fantastic section with history and art from other countries like Chinese jewellery boxes made from precious materials and stones, also Egyptian artefacts, Greek pottery and French harpoons plus much more, I couldn't see everything with a toddler running around .

My son really enjoyed the fact that their were things to touch or look at at his level and their was nothing to brake so I wasn't always holding him back. They also had some parts with play area's like a dolls house and a life size butchers shop with a till and weighing scales with food and money for them to play with. This was the section dedicated to Sheffield and it's own history's that as a Sheffielder born and bread was great for me to see and get nostalgic about (even at only 25). The other great part for kids was a Charlie and Lola exhibition (popular children's program on the TV) that was just for the kids with play area's for colouring and playing kitchen games and a puppet theatre that was also the scene of the story The Princess and the pea. A great room that was very popular with all the children there.
To top it all the fact that admission is free is a real winner and as its so educational means you cant complain.

However there are a couple of complaints on my part. there is no parking near by and the little that is around is always taken as the museum is surrounded by hospitals so its always a very busy area. The other point I would make is not so much a complaint more advice for those with very young children, there is so much for them to do I found my little one was a little too excited and I barely caught anything myself and I feel at almost 2 years old he was a little too young yet. My friends children got much more out of the trip (though my son did enjoy it) as being a year older they understood a little more.


So in all I definately recommend a visit but for over 3's and with a couple of adults per child if they are very young so you can share the experience better

Summary: Fantastic educational fun