Doin' It For The Kids (Eureka Museum)

Member Name: helican

Product:	Eureka Museum
Date:	11/07/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tons of interesting stuf to do

Disadvantages: some aging exhibits in places

Conveniently situated right next to Halifax train station so that those of us without a car don't have to drag the kids miles across town, Eureka is a fabulous place to spend an afternoon.

It's designed as a science museum but I've long since stopped pretending that my kids are learning anything there at all: it's a glorious collection of buttons to press & things to fit together & noise & levers & flashing lights, & that's fine by us.

Inside, Eureka is divided into different areas. The town square is popular: it features a mini supermarket where the kids can work the tills & scan the 'food' that they put in their trolleys. At the bank you can stamp banknotes, use the safes & try to get past the pressure pads & laserbeams protecting the vault. There are rainclouds that you control from the balcony & cause a downpour into the fountain. Then there's a lorry cab to sit in (a big hit) & a garage with a mock-up petrol pump & carwash, & a house with a big play kitchen, see-through flushing toilet & magic corridor.

One of the newest - & best - areas is the SoundSpace, with lots of hands-on high-tec experiments with noise & music, including touch-screen quizzes & mixing desk booths.

The 'Me & My Body' area is all about measuring & testing the body & its senses; there's plenty to do but it's starting to show its age a bit now & seems a bit clunky & dilapidated compared to the SoundSpace.

The Global Garden teaches about different world environments but there's too many information signs to read & not enough to do, & the exhibits are looking very tatty - time for a revamp, definitely.

There's a couple of really nice interactive spaces for under-fives & an art & craft room for them.

There's a cafe which I've never used but also a railway carriage outside where you can have a picnic, which my two love.

The shop is surprisingly small & has plenty of pocket-money souvenirs but not much else.

On the whole: a few sections that could do with some work to get them to the standard of the better exhibits, but still a great children's day out.

Summary: a fun, child-friendly place for under-tens to run amok for a few hours.