Techniquest – Making science fun for kids (and adults)!

The weather has not been great over the last couple of weekends, so finding indoor activities has been at the top of our list.  Having not been to Techniquest for 6 years we decided to give it a try, although we were slightly worried that on such a wet and windy day everyone else may have the same idea!  Amzingly, when we got there, there wasn’t much of a queue, so we practically walked straight in.

The price of a family ticket was £25.00, which I thought seemed pretty reasonable.  We were also invited to attend one of the free talks on flight.  The talk was based on the power of flight, with live experiments and audience participation.

The presenters were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic and pitched it at the right level for little ones.  I would say however that those under eight may have found it difficult to follow, but at least they enjoyed seeing things be blown up and balloons being pinged across the auditorium.

In the museum there were plenty of exhibits to keep you entertained and interested. Some of our favourites were the taking pictures of your own shadows,  sculpting the dry ice into different shapes and playing happy birthday on the giant floor piano.

We easily spent four hours there, and the kids were buzzing when they left.  There is plenty to learn, but as there are so many exhibits getting the learning across and getting them to stay long enough at one exhibit to learn can be difficult.  Saying that it definitely sparked their imagination.  It is also great for the very young as they can play on the piano, see ping pong balls be sucked up a giant tube and play with the water experiments.

Techniquest is definitely one to have up your sleeve for rainy days.  Also, with your wrist band you can always split your visit and pop into Cardiff Bay for lunch.

Additional information: Techniquest is open during school holidays 10.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. seven days a week, during term time it is closed on Mondays.  There is a very small cafe, a gift shop, toilets and baby changing.

Visit their website at www.techniquest.org