Part of the Birmingham Museums Trust, Thinktank Birmingham is a wonderful place to visit with children of all ages and is a creative way to make learning more fun this summer. The playful interactive displays will intrigue your children in this award-winning museum and it’s easy to spend the entire day enjoying your very own scientific adventure.
Located in the Millennium Point building and spread over four floors, you can travel back in time to find out about Birmingham’s industrial past, tour through deep space and learn the inner engineering of steam trains all under one extremely interesting roof.
There are over 200 interactive exhibitions and historical displays to capture the imagination of visiting children.
Come with us on a journey around the various exhibits found at Thinktank Birmingham, to help you to prepare for your fun family day out.
Spitfire Gallery: Level 1
On Level 1, you will find yourself immersed in a captivating historical story, as you stand beneath a sky filled with iconic machines that once ruled the skies. This incredible display will take you on a high-flying journey throughout the history of the Spitfire, including its original design, the pivotal role it played in WWII and why its roots can be traced back to Birmingham’s Castle Bromwich factory.
Find out how much intricate work went into the Spitfire’s construction and learn the engineering secrets behind an aircraft’s ability to fly.
Marine Worlds gallery: Level 2
Meet the resident Ichthyosaur in the Marine Worlds gallery. At nearly 200 million years old, this sea monster dates back to an era when dinosaurs walked the Earth and its dolphin-like skeleton is one of the most famous and intriguing displays in the entire museum.
Kids can learn about an assortment of other marine animals, from their eating habits and behaviours to their migration patterns. According to the history books, adapting to life as a sea creature is a fascinating story – just ask the penguins, walruses and crocodiles who have evolved to extraordinary levels over the years.
The Planetarium: Level 3
If your little ones have a fascination with space, then head straight to the Planetarium where young imaginations will be easily captured. Located on Level 3, families can wander around the black hole of information and go on an intrepid adventure around our solar system.
Take a trip to the ends of the Earth, voyage to the brink of the universe and embark on a journey into the sky after nightfall to learn all about the secrets hidden in deep space. Budding astronomers will love touring through the Planetarium, where displays are simply out of this world!
While avid fledgling biologists will also have an awesome time learning all about the human body via one of the multitude of interactive displays. Let your child’s creative mind run wild as they learn what life is like when you are the size of a tiny atom and experience what it feels like to dive beneath the surface of the ocean.
Natural Sciences
One of the most popular areas in Thinktank Birmingham is the Natural Science display, where families can discover an impressive collection of more than a quarter of a million specimens.
Information on everything from entomology, mineralogy, geology and palaeontology to zoology and botany can be discovered here. The Natural Sciences collection is the largest of its kind in the West Midlands and is one of the UK’s most impressive culmination of exhibits.
Science & Industry
Another major draw is the museum’s Science & Industry gallery, where your kids can travel 250 years back in time to see how technology has developed.
The remarkable displays include over 40,000 items such as tools, machinery, transportation and musical instruments as well as displays dedicated to engineering and computing. Learn about everything from the Big Bang theory to the progression of modern medicine and the innovative displays are a novel way to entertain kids while they learn.
Meet the talking robots, a machine that wraps everything in chocolate and learn all about everything from steam engines to whales. You can take a break from all the fun learning and pop to the café to refuel and why not pick up a souvenir of your day at the on-site shop that is chock-full of mementos to take home.
If you want to take your little ones on a scientific voyage that they’ll learn from and cherish in equal amounts, head to Thinktank Birmingham this summer. Want to make your family day trip easier? Take a train to the museum with CrossCountry or head to one of the UK’s famous zoos or castles and get your kids out and about more in 2017.
Written by CrossCountry