painintheuk

I am thinking of taking my niece and nephew of 5 and 7 years to the Natural History museum in London in the next couple of days.

Is there enough for very young children? Is it aimed at an older audience? Are there areas that would be more appropriate?

Thanks

Dr. PITUK

LapLap

This museum isn't the same place it was when I was an 8 year old (it was one of my very favourite haunts) - the exhibits are eye catching and easy to digest with lots of opportunities for hands on interaction. It's a lot less stuffy now, but not so good for repeat visits as everything seems to be yielded in one hit (making it better for occasional visitors - your gain )

It's connected to what was the museum of Geology (which now has an earthquake simulator built to emulate a Japanese convenience store) and the Science Museum. At the Science Museum look for the part called "launchpad" which is almost wholly interactive (it's reopening on November 24th - hopefully that won't be too late).

The Human Biology section in the Natural History museum was ground breaking when it opened, yet still remains a fantastic environment in which to learn about the human body.

I'm sure they'll have fun there, and I'm sure you'll be able to make it into a wonderful day for them. But don't expect to see everything in one day - there's an awful lot to it.

Jenbel

the dinosaur section has also been redone to make it much more child friendly - even down to realistic dinosaur roars!

LapLap

But Jenbel! How do you know they're realistic...?

I'm afraid with all the temporary exhibitions I've seen there (invariably excellent) I'm no longer sure what is part of the permanent collections anymore . But if they still have any of those animatronix dinosaurs knocking about, then I agree, really impressive (and just a little bit frightening) ^^^

painintheuk

Thanks for the information!

brosna

I visited the Natural History Museum in October with my 5 and 8 year old boys. They loved it, particularly all of the interactive displays.

It was a wonderful day - it's a pity our legs gave out before we had seen everything.

NorthOrSouth

One of the temporary exhibitions on at the moment is an Antarctic one which is interesting - lots of interactive stuff including a game to drive a snowmobile, a chiller room so you can experience what it's like and information. It's not free though but worth a look if the kids like penguins or snow!

alanR

Can't think of a better free place to take children - except possibly the Science Museum which is just around the corner from the NHM

LapLap

Did you get to visit the 'launchpad' section in the Science Museum?

I'm curious to know what it's like now since the relaunch.

It's this part: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visi...launchpad.aspx

Kenneth Benjamin

LapLap

The advice given earlier still stands.

Since 2007 I now have a 4 year old and I take her, and a slightly older friend of hers, to these museums regularly.

As well as the "launch pad" section - which is still going strong - there is an additional zone for very small children down in the basement of the Science Museum. Essentially a soft play area with kinetic physics awareness activities - aprons are available to guard against some of the wetter options.

Beware visiting at popular times when children are on half term holidays - these are short week long holidays built into English school calendars but when travel costs soar, many families are desperate for ways to entertain and educate their kids at these times and the queues to enter the museums can be 2 hours long.

The Science Museum no longer gives entry to the Natural History Museum (you'll have to queue twice) but the Natural History Museum and the Geological Museum remain connected.
The recreation of a small Kobe grocery store to give context to the earthquake simulator proved invaluable to us when attempting to convey what happened to LapChild's family based near Sendai. She agrees that earthquakes are much scarier than dinosaurs (the NHM has a full scale animatronic T-Rex as a permanent exhibit - along with a few much smaller ones dotted through the dinosaur procession. Visiting the dinosaur exhibits reminds me of how it used to be visiting the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London; you shuffle along in a queue past the attractions. Thankfully, many parts of the museums are quieter and can be enjoyed with leisure.)

One last comment for those who breastfeed. The advertised breastfeeding areas are pretty dire - crappy chairs next to communal baby changing tables so that your kid can inhale the stench of freshly churned out poo whilst drinking their lunch. If this is as unacceptable for you as it was for me, say you would like to breastfeed in a private, hygienic environment and they will allow you use of a First Aid room. This isn't well known - few mothers kick up a stink about putting up with foul stenches at feeding time, which is a shame - but it is the museum's policy, so ask to speak to a manager if necessary.
Facilities at the basement of the British Museum are much, much better.