Top museums in London – for kids! (by Robert)

It's the Easter holidays, so we'll be expecting lots of of visitors to our home town, London. Because of this, Robert decided to write a very helpful blog post...

"When you come to England’s capital you might find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of things to do and places to see. Visiting a museum must be one of the most popular days out in London so I thought that I’d make a list of my favourites. (Please note that this is not in any order)

[caption id="attachment_2349" align="alignnone" width="676"] Robert at the British Museum[/caption]

The British Museum

This is the most well known of the lot and for a good reason. Founded in 1753, the massive building has a section on every era of British history where you can learn loads and also have a look at the breathtaking objects that are displayed. It’s amazing for kids as well as adults as they always have many educational activities and workshops going on, plus you can get a backpack at reception on a particular era. This will include fun things to do and items to look out for in the display rooms. One of my oldest memories is going around with my dad in the Egyptian section looking at the mummies. The British museum is a fantastic museum where you can learn so much, not just about British history, but about the world.

The Science Museum 

This is probably the best museum for kids, I’ve been there so many times and it never gets boring. Filled with loads of science experiments to try out and activities to have a go at, this is the building that children love to go to. It so cleverly made that kids learn about science and don’t even realise it. There are so many interactive things to do, plus the normal facts and displays that you find in other museums. This is probably my favourite museum but parents, bring a book as you might be sitting down for a while your children are doing the experiments.

London Transport Museum

This is a fun museum that you only need a few hours to explore. The building is filled with the many vehicles that the public have used over the years and it is a quick but informative learning experience. There are quite a few interactive screens for the kids, plus you are allowed inside some of the vehicles like a double decker bus or a train carriage dating back over 100 years. It is a fun place to go and I especially liked the staff who dress up as old fashioned customers and speak to you in character. But I wouldn’t put it top of my list.

[caption id="attachment_2350" align="alignnone" width="1200"] First World War exhibition at the RAF Museum, pic courtesy of the museum[/caption]

RAF Museum and the Imperial War Museum

Both of these museums are fantastic places to go if you want to learn about soldiers, wars and fighting. Both display an enormous collection of old fighter planes and other cool objects, they have rides, simulating what it was like to be in a plane during an attack plus lots of other interactive activities to have a go on. They also explain about the two world wars in a way so that little kids can understand.  They are fun places to learn especially for adults but because there's so much to see at the Imperial War Museum, younger kids may get a bit bored there. The RAF museum (based in Hendon, North London) may be better for a younger age group.

Bank of England museum

This is lesser known than the others, but is a great building where you learn all about money in Britain and how it is made. You can explore the world of the pound and even try to lift up a real bar of gold. It is a really fun place to go with kids and once again you don’t really need the whole day to go there.

In this post I have listed a few of my favourite museums in London but there are so many more like the Natural History museum or one of my personal favourites (and if you want to travel  bit further afield) the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. I hope this has helped you if you are planning a trip to London, and if you are -  bring an umbrella.

All the museums mentioned above - bar the London Transport Museum - are free to enter, although extras (such as the IMAX cinema at the Science Museum) do cost money. The RAF Museum is free, but you'll have to pay to park in the car park! The London Transport museum costs £17.00 for adults and £14.50 for kids, but that gives you entry for a year.

Read my thoughts on the National Maritime Museum

Read mum's post on 5 free things to do in London!

 

Science and Baseball Bats in Louisville, Kentucky (By Jess)

Last week, I spent a week in Louisville, Kentucky as part of the VEX IQ International Robotics Finals, which was a very exciting seven days indeed! We had a spare day in the city before the competition, so we decided to visit the Kentucky Science Center and the Louisville Slugger Museum, where the famous baseball bats are manufactured.

The Kentucky Science Center

[caption id="attachment_1226" align="aligncenter" width="940"] I visited the Louisville Science Museum in the morning[/caption]

We rushed into the Science Center first to escape the pouring rain, and quickly saw something which shocked us:

[caption id="attachment_1227" align="aligncenter" width="768"] We spotted a very unusual (and worrying) sign outside the museum[/caption]

There was lots to see and do inside the museum, and we starting by walking upstairs into an exhibition on the human body. This was a large room, full with information about the different functions of organs and organ systems. There were displays about the digestive, respiratory and circulation systems, and we enjoyed finding out our heart rate by holding on to a bar. There were lots of interactive exhibits, such as one where we had to team up with each other and press buttons to destroy viruses, and another where we had to mimic the human heartbeat. I knew most of the facts in the room but I am sure that my brother Robert wouldn't, and would have learnt a lot. Sadly, many of the exhibits were out of order and some were quite old.

[caption id="attachment_1231" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Standing inside a bubble, building a bridge and finding out about muscles![/caption]

There were lots of other exhibits taking place in the museum, which we all liked. One of my favourites was pulling a rope which created a bubble - this was extremely exciting, especially as I managed to get it up to my shoulders before my backpack popped it! We also created a bridge out of blocks, which took countless tries to finish. We were surprisingly proud to finally manage it...

Before we left, we decided to watch the 3D Film "Journey To Space" in the museum's cinema. The film was around 45 minutes long and was fascinating, talking about life in space and the challenges of reaching Mars. Although I am not a major fan of space exploration, the film was certainly interesting, and allowed me to think about the engineering challenges that a trip to space presents. The rest of the museum was aimed at younger children, so it was nice to have something aimed at the older members of the family.

The Louisville Slugger Museum

[caption id="attachment_1236" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The tallest baseball bat in the world outside the Louisville Slugger Museum[/caption]

After a pizza lunch just opposite the Science Center, it was a short two minute walk to the Louisville Slugger Museum, where the famous Louisville Baseball Bats are made. It was dangerously close to closing time so we had no chance to walk around the museum, but we had a walking tour around the factory instead.

None of us knew anything about baseball, but our tour guide was wonderfully useful at answering any questions we had. We walked through the factory, stopped at certain machines and watched videos. We were told that the factory produces 1.8 million baseball bats a year, and that they first arrive at the factory as billets (cylinders) of wood. When the factory was started, every bat was hand carved - taking up to half an hour to shape each one! Nowadays, there are machines which have countless of bat models saved, and each one can be made in 30 seconds. It only takes a click of a button to switch designs!

We got to see bats being dipped to get distinctive colours, and were shown how each bat gets the Louisville Slugger logo pressed onto it. My highlight of the tour was being given full-sized bats to hold, which was enthralling. At the end of the tour, we were given an opportunity to ask questions, and were all given a free mini bat to take home with us. The tour was quite short at only 30 minutes long, but our guide was really friendly and knowledgeable so we learnt a lot and had a great time.

Overall, we had a really exciting day visiting the Kentucky Science Center and the Louisville Slugger Museum. Our highlight of the day was definitely going on the walking tour of the Slugger Museum factory, and we wish that we had more time to visit the rest of the museum and go to the batting cages. I thought that the Science Center was quite old and not advanced enough, but I'm sure that younger children would really enjoy playing with the exhibits.

Despite the fab museums we visited in Louisville, my favourite part of the trip was eating at all the American chains, such as Applebee's; the portion sizes were gigantic!

To see the exhibits and the movie at the Science Center, adults are $20.00 and children (aged 2-12) are $15.00. Full pricing information can be found here.

To visit the Louisville Slugger Museum, adults are $12.00, seniors (aged 60+) are $11, kids (aged 6-12) are $7.00 and kids five and under are free.

 

More by us about science:

Churchill’s Scientists: An Exhibition at The Science Museum (By Jess)

Enjoying an educational day out in Winchester

We are so happy to have been shortlisted for the Bibs (Brilliance in Blogging Awards) for 2015, but we really need your help to get through to the final 5. Please could you visit this link and then scroll down to travel and then us (Family Travel Times)? We'd be so grateful. You don't have to vote in all categories, though there are lots of great blogs in there!

Churchill's Scientists: An Exhibition at The Science Museum

By Jess:

Over the weekend, I had a lovely time visiting the "Churchill's Scientists" exhibition with my cousin. I hadn't been to the Science Museum since August 2013, when we watched "The Energy Show". Therefore, I was really excited to go back and learn about Churchill's involvement with science during the war.

Churchill was the first UK prime minister to have a scientific adviser but few people are aware of his passion for the topic. This new exhibition aims to educate the public on the fascinating scientific developments that took place during his career.

As soon as we arrived, my cousin and I decided to go straight into the exhibition. We were greeted by a large sculpture of Churchill's head, and read columns written by him in newspapers. I was excited by essentially the world's first "onesie", a velvet green siren suit worn by Churchill during air raids. There was even a picture of him wearing it!

It was intriguing to learn about the development of atomic bombs, and we watched a film of Britain's first ones ever going off. We learnt that they decided to place it on an island off Australia in 1952, and even saw the high-speed camera that filmed the first milliseconds of the detonation of the bomb.

[caption id="attachment_1000" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The camera that captured the detonation of Britain's first atomic bomb.[/caption]

A large section of the exhibition was devoted to radar. I wish that I had known something about this before the day because I got slightly confused. By the end, I knew that radar is the sending out of radio waves which are reflected off the object back to the source, but I was still baffled as to how this could translate into a visual display for humans to use. We watched old introductory videos which were really cool, and looked at different maps and pieces of equipment, including the original radar receiver used by Robert Watson-Watt in an experiment to prove that radar works.

I absolutely loved seeing the cigar Churchill smoked on winning the election in 1951. He left it on the table after discovering his victory and it was never thrown away. It was brilliant to actually see Churchill smoking the cigar on film.

[caption id="attachment_1002" align="aligncenter" width="940"] A molecular model of Penicillin by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1945.[/caption]

Although those were the highlights of the exhibition, I enjoyed everything, such as learning about the development of penicillin and the creation of a ration system that cut down on food consumption while ensuring the nation was still healthy.

The whole exhibition was really engrossing and I learnt a lot. It was slightly complicated in places, but the majority was fine for someone my age (13). We saw so many incredible objects, and I loved seeing so many amazing films. I would definitely recommend a visit to the exhibition and the rest of the museum as it is free and there is a lot to see and do.

All photos are courtesy of The Science Museum

More exhibitions that I've been to and loved:

The Sherlock Holmes Exhibition at The Museum of London

A Visit To Kenwood House

Hello to new visitors!

We are delighted to have published two recent guest posts and wanted to say hello to anyone who may have found us through them.

Our post for Travel Dudes was on our brilliant trip to the US and how we loved being Family of the Day at the Magic Kingdom. You can see this article on Travel Dudes. It includes this picture of us with the cast of the opening show - after which I opened the park with the classic words "Good Morning"!

If you've come to us via Travel Dudes and are interested in reading more about Disney World or Orlando, take a look at Jessica's post on the best rides at Universal Studios, whether 11 is too old for Disney or my post for BritMums about SeaWorld.



You may also have come to us via Travel Bloggers Unite, where we gave our 5 tips for having fun in London with kids. If you've come to us via TBU and are interested in more on London, you could take a look at our posts on the Science Museum, the Shard or the Southbank, and check back here soon for pieces on the fabulous Spy hotel (St Ermin's hotel) and Buckingham Palace.

Please also take a look at other places we've been and give us your recommendations.

Thanks for visiting!

All the best,

Sarah and Jessica

Hello to new visitors!

We are delighted to have published two recent guest posts and wanted to say hello to anyone who may have found us through them.

Our post for Travel Dudes was on our brilliant trip to the US and how we loved being Family of the Day at the Magic Kingdom. You can see this article on Travel Dudes. It includes this picture of us with the cast of the opening show - after which I opened the park with the classic words "Good Morning"!

If you've come to us via Travel Dudes and are interested in reading more about Disney World or Orlando, take a look at Jessica's post on the best rides at Universal Studios, whether 11 is too old for Disney or my post for BritMums about SeaWorld.

Read more »

Our Fabulous Day At The Science Museum (by Jessica)

We were lucky enough to see the Energy Show at the Science Museum and we had a brilliant time.

The live show is based around two futuristic science students - serious Annabella and Star-Wars obsessed Phil. To pass their science exam, they must perform a five minute skit showing and explaining the nine different types of energy. To help them, they have an old lab full of cool equipment and two assistants (Bernard and i-nstein). The 75 minute long production features loads of explosive experiments, fun facts and big bangs so -although the loud noises may put some people off- it is fun for everyone aged 7+.

My favourite character in the show was Bernard as he was really funny, especially when he fell in love with Annabella. Phil was also hilarious; she made loads of great Star Wars references in totally awesome voices!

The experiments were incredible but scary - I did spend some of the time anxiously anticipating loud bangs. However, the results were always very cool and the sound were not as loud as I expected.

My favourite experiment (although it was also the loudest) was when Annabella and Phil put hydrogen and oxygen in balloons, then added fire to pop them. The first only had oxygen and it made quite a quiet sound in comparison to what I was expecting. The second only had hydrogen in it and it made a massive noise. I was extremely scared about what the balloon with the mix of chemicals would sound like! Luckily it wasn't too terrible, and I learnt a lot about combustion in the process.

Us With The 3D Glasses We Made

Once the show ended, we played interactive games that tested and tricked our brain. These made us drive the wrong way, remember patterns, collect squares, and answer questions. This was a lot of fun and I wish that we stayed for longer.

After a delicious lunch, we went to the Pop Up Museum workshop where we were given scissors glue and a piece of paper with a design on it. We folded, stuck and cut these up to create miniature artifacts from the museum, such as an apple mac. This was a challenge and I had a lot of fun.

We also enjoyed the 3D Spectacular workshop, where we made our own 3D glasses and looked at pictures with them. You can also take home a photo that becomes 3D when you put on your glasses. I think that's very cool.

Overall, we had a fantastic day, learnt a lot and marvelled at loads.

Thank you so much to Rachael at the Science Museum for getting us tickets to the energy show. You can find out more about it here.

 

More by me: PGL With My School, Five Things You Must Do In Vienna and Is 11 Too Old For Disney World?

Our Fabulous Day At The Science Museum (by Jessica)

We were lucky enough to see the Energy Show at the Science Museum and we had a brilliant time.

The live show is based around two futuristic science students - serious Annabella and Star-Wars obsessed Phil. To pass their science exam, they must perform a five minute skit showing and explaining the nine different types of energy. To help them, they have an old lab full of cool equipment and two assistants (Bernard and i-nstein). The 75 minute long production features loads of explosive experiments, fun facts and big bangs so -although the loud noises may put some people off- it is fun for everyone aged 7+.

My favourite character in the show was Bernard as he was really funny, especially when he fell in love with Annabella. Phil was also hilarious; she made loads of great Star Wars references in totally awesome voices!

The experiments were incredible but scary - I did spend some of the time anxiously anticipating loud bangs. However, the results were always very cool and the sound were not as loud as I expected.

My favourite experiment (although it was also the loudest) was when Annabella and Phil put hydrogen and oxygen in balloons, then added fire to pop them. The first only had oxygen and it made quite a quiet sound in comparison to what I was expecting. The second only had hydrogen in it and it made a massive noise. I was extremely scared about what the balloon with the mix of chemicals would sound like! Luckily it wasn't too terrible, and I learnt a lot about combustion in the process.

Read more »