Eureka children

I first went to Eureka Children’s museum about 10 years ago, I was 12 at the time and thought I was going to hate every minute of it. Needless to say I was wrong and within minutes of arriving I was already dressing my cousins up in various costumes and pretending to work at a post office!

I decided to take my three step children and my sister there a couple of weeks ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon. My step children are aged 4, 8 and ...
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Where is Eureka Children’s museum?

Eureka is actually situated in Halifax (I’m not sure why it has been put under Museums in Leeds when I specifically asked for it to be put under Halifax!). In fact it is situated about 100m from Halifax Railway Station, making it ideal to get there by public transport. If you are coming from the North of England there is a direct train route from York, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, ... more

I first went to Eureka Children’s museum about 10 years ago, I was 12 at the time and thought I was going to hate every minute of it. Needless to say I was wrong and within minutes of arriving I was already dressing my cousins up in various costumes and pretending to work at a post office!

I decided to take my three step children and my sister there a couple of weeks ago on a rainy Sunday afternoon. My step children are aged 4, 8 and 11 and my sister is 5. It is usually quite a task to go on an outing which all of them enjoy because of the wide age range. At first I was a little apprehensive that the eldest wouldn’t enjoy himself, I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Where is Eureka Children’s museum?

Eureka is actually situated in Halifax (I’m not sure why it has been put under Museums in Leeds when I specifically asked for it to be put under Halifax!). In fact it is situated about 100m from Halifax Railway Station, making it ideal to get there by public transport. If you are coming from the North of England there is a direct train route from York, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Keighley, Dewsbury, Rochdale, Oldham and Burnley. If not then you would have to enquire about connecting trains to any of these stations.

If you are travelling by car Eureka is also easy to access. I travelled from the south of Manchester and it only took me 45 minutes. From Manchester I nip on to the M60 then near Oldham get on to the M62 exit at junction 24 and then down the A629 (which I might add had an absolutely spectacular view) and literally follow the A629 until the end and you end up at Eureka. It is really simple to find when you come off the motorway and really well sign posted.

The car park is a pay and display car park and this will set you back around 3 pounds for a full day.

Buses are also very good, and run daily to Halifax from Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Keighley, Dewsbury, Rochdale, Oldham and Burnley.

How much will it cost for a day trip there?

Admission Prices 2003

£5.95 for adults and children
£27.50 for family ticket
Children under 3 years old are admitted FREE

I was allowed to purchase a family ticket for myself and the four children, I thought £27.50 was extremely reasonable for a full day out.

When can I go to Eureka?
Opening Times

The exhibition areas, shop and cafe are open seven days a week 10:00am to 5:00pm.
Open all year except December 24th, 25th and 26th.
I went on a Sunday and it wasn’t packed, it was busy enough for the children to meet other children but not that busy that they couldn’t utilise the museum properly!
I also arrived at about 2.00pm, this meant that we had three hours, which was not enough time really, but it also meant that the bulk of the visitors had already come and some of which were starting to leave. It would be much busier at around 12 noon. It is also busier on a Saturday, according the people that work there!

What is Eureka children’s museum?

Eureka is as is sounds, a museum especially dedicated to children. After taking the children there they decided it was the best museum they had been to ever!
This museum is completely ‘hands-on’ the children can touch and play with everything, making it interactive and fun. There are over 400 different hands-on exhibits to explore, which means you can see why three hours is not enough!

Events and Exhibits at the museum:

Magical Science- Sundays from January to March 04

‘How did you do that?! Get hands-on with magical science and discover some amazing truths…’
This was a particularly interesting part of the day, the children were amazed by some of the facts and ways things worked. Children are naturally inquisitive and love to know hoe things work, this exhibit mustn’t be missed if your child is interested in science. It is suitable for all ages and keeps them entertained for hours!

Space- Sat 14, 21, 28 Feb & Sat 6, 27 March

‘Become Space Trainees and join our resident alien instructors to discover amazing facts about the universe. Help to navigate the ship through the Cosmos and back to base.’
A friend of mine recently took her two children to this exhibit, they became space men for the day, the thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt so much from just this exhibit!

Science Week

Sat 13, 14, 20 & Sun 21 March
Get stuck into Science Week with Fizzy Flyers! presented by the National Space Centre, Leicester. Join us for a special presentation workshop, where children can become Rocket Scientists by investigating how forces push and pull and how equal and opposite reactions work to help propel rockets into and through space! Children can see how a rocket is produced and watch it launch, and then make and take their very own rocket home for further experimentation!
Unfortunately this week has finished now, but they are always bringing science week back as it is such an essential part of children’s learning, and also links in extremely well with the national curriculum.

Story time Sundays

Sundays from January to March 04
Super story telling sessions, ideal for younger (or tired out) children.

This was perfect for the younger two, after a long day of exploring the museum, with skilled readers and a massive book tower filled with every type of book to imagine this really had the children’s imagination going. The readers certainly were skilled and they had at least 30 children in absolute silence (a trick I will have to acquire before I qualify as a teacher).
This has also finished for now, but will definitely be back later on in the year.

The Global Garden-open all year round

This hands-on gallery, opened on Eureka’s 10th Birthday in August 2002, features state of the art technology and introduces children to the amazing world they live in. Featuring Alan Titchmarsh as the voice of Gordon Gnome, children can join Gordon on an journey around the world, into seven unique gardens around the globe. Travelling from the familiar environment of a Northern backyard in England, to faraway places such as the desert and the jungle, children can experience for themselves what life is like in these places and understand more about the earth and its complex issues. Children can also appreciate just how precious the world really is and learn how they can help to look after it.

This really was a lovely part of the museum, the sight, smells and all the information all presented in a very interactive way kept the children entertained for at least an hour. I thought this was outside when I read about it but it is actually inside. There are activities like recycling to putting your head in a fake enlarged rat’s head to see how they smell and what they see with their eyes. This is the place to start, it introduces really important issues like global warming, deforestation and pollution in an excellent way, which keeps the children interested but at the same time gets the important messages across.

Fizzy Flyers at Eureka!
Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March and Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 March
Get stuck in to Science Week with Fizzy Flyers presented by the National Space Centre.

Sounds very interesting!

The main attractions downstairs are:

The sound room:

This contains all sort of different instruments that are really quite unusual, for example a harp which hasn’t any strings but had lasers sensors! There are also plants that make different noises and lots of explanation about sound and how it travels.

The invention area:

This shows various different inventions like the telephone for example and how they work, there is also a real SOS boat for the children to play on and they can pretend they are in the sea and other children can save them. An excellent area for ages with simple explanations right up to very detailed in depth explanations.

There is also a mock town, where there is a post office, bank and supermarket and even a garage which are full scale children’s versions. The children can choose to pretend to work at one (or all of these) or be customers there and they are able to do all the things that people actually do in these places. For example you can dress up as a postman and deliver letters, or sort them in the sorting office, or you can send money in one of those capsules from the bank to the supermarket etc.

The full scale kitchen with plastic food is also an excellent area.

There are plenty of staff there which help the children as they go, it’s an idea to get one of them to tell you how things work so your children can benefit the most from all the activities available.

Upstairs is concentrated on hands on activities to do with the body mainly.
All the sense are covered and there is an activity where you can fill out this ‘passport’ with equipment to find out everything from your height to you arm length! There are also lots of fun things to do upstairs like trying to walk on crutches or talking to a robot (which is actually a person down stairs in a control room, which the children thought was amazing when I told them!)

There is also an outside play area which is ok, but not that amazing. However there is far too much to do inside to bother even going outside!

The café is reasonably priced, we ate at Burger King which is just near the Car Park before we got there. They do a large selection of sandwiches and some hot foods like chips and burgers. It isn’t a very healthy day out although there are picnic benches outside where you can eat your own food.

I would definitely recommend this for children of all ages up to about 13 years old, however I was having the time of my life playing with the children and helping them dress up etc!

It is also an ideal place to take school children (for any teachers who might be reading
) I received a pack of information whilst I was there which is extremely helpful.

For anymore information which I may have left out visit:

http://www.eureka.org.uk/fact.html

Also a new feature to Eureka!

Share Care & Learning at Eureka!
A new concept in nursery care

Open from 6 January 2003

A brand new early years learning centre, incorporating day time nursery services with hands-on educational after-school activities.
Designed to provide for the requirements of working parents, Share Care & Learning @ Eureka! will encompass the museum's quality, experience and excellence in delivering informal educational experiences, specifically for the 0-5 age range.
Supported by a team of specialised staff, this extensively equipped centre is located in the impressive 1855 Station Building on the Eureka! site.
If you would like more information on the new centre and the places available, please contact:

Tracey Crompton on 01422 252112
or e-mail info@eureka.org.uk
Share Care & Learning @ Eureka!
1855 Station Building
Eureka! Park
Discovery Road
Halifax HX1 2NG  

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