UOW Science Space — Attraction in Wollongong City Council

The museum is amazing and my 4 year old loved it. Wish it was open more hours outside of school holidays for us to visit. The range of things inside to play with was fantastic. They do need help from a parent to read most of the instructions though otherwise they just hit buttons and move on. There was also free play options and badge making which was really cool. And the planetarium show was really good and only $4 each which is very reasonable. Parking was also free.

The one thing that would've been good is more science shows. For example in NEMO in Amsterdam they do a "chain reaction" show which includes kids and ends with a rocket being shot up high. There are endless possibilities for interactive science shows that would be fun to include in this space and would make each visit more unique.

Definitely take your own food. The biggest downside was the small kiosk cafe didn't open until almost 12:30pm which meant the only food in the venue was vending machines full of junk food or a 5 minute walk down the road to a nearby cafe. Most kids I saw who hadn't brought lunch were just eating junk food from the vending machines as that's all there was. There are no good options for kids with food allergies in the cafe as all equipment is shared and vending machines also serve snacks with peanuts and other nuts as well. The positive is food isn't supposed to be consumed inside so it's only outdoors where they eat. The food at the cafe was ok for a convenient snack for people without allergies but the hours still not ideal.

There is limited play equipment outside so the problem was our kids just wanted to run back inside after eating which makes it hard for parents to sit and eat. The most exciting thing outside for kids is the vending machine which our kids focused on and kept begging for treats from. At the UOW discovery centre they have an outdoor play area so it's easy to stay outside as there's stuff for kids to do. I think there is a missed opportunity at this venue to have water-based science exhibits or something else which is outdoor like solar windmills for example that would have been a nice addition and would make being...

I would call scientific activities "mini-Questacon." The territory is small, but there are many activities for children. My family really enjoyed it. We attended the fire show "Up in Flames" and 2 shows in the planetarium. Shows are short, 15-20 minutes. My children (8 and 12 years old) were delighted with the fire show in the Theatre. I really liked that all experiments with fire were explained in a language understandable to children. I give 5☆ for the fire show. I took away 2 stars because it was the only planetarium from the show that I found near Sydney. And it is for the show in the planetarium that I take 2 stars. The names of the shows do not correspond to reality. From the show "Above the Earth," I expected stories about space and stars. Since the description says it's in collaboration with First Nation people, I expected to hear about their connection to the celestial bodies, or legends, or the use of stars during migration - anything related to the space and stars. This was not the case. The stories of individual countries were very well made. But they had no relation to space. The show that was made was at a pretty good level but has no relation to space, the name of the show, or the place where it was demonstrated. The second show in the planetarium that we watched was "Night sky". There was an interesting lecture about the stars that we can see about satellites. But I got the impression that this show was skimpy - there were no graphics (minimum movement of the projection and a change in the colours of some stars and points that were spotted by satellites). It would be ok if the organizers did not state that it is for viewers of any age. Small children of 3-4 years old, whose parents took them to this show, were not interested in watching and listening, so they behaved very loudly. There are no questions for children. There is a question about marking the age of...

This place would get 4 stars if it weren’t for the bad customer service and especially bad manager. Lots for kids to interact with and educational. Shows are good. Though the staff act kind inside, it seems there job is only to keep order. They don’t give and advice or share any knowledge like staff at Questacon do. My son most recently went here went with his school class. I am waiting in the foyer for them to come out (as I was not allowed to meet them in the back on the grass eating, even if they were finished inside in the exhibit section and the class was exiting through the side entry). So I wait and see them pass by just close to the entry to the toilets. The manager steps out to point out to me I am not allowed to pass the doorway. (Was she afraid I was going to make a run for it and view the exhibit for free?) it is strange she said it like she did. To top the managers behavior off, two parents that had paid entry to join the class were not allowed to stay with their child, when the class left, without paying entry for the child again. Really? Not even a short while. That left a bad after taste for all involved. The place was practically empty no one in sight downstairs. That sums up the customer service. I have previously been here multiple times with the family as we were gifted an annual pass. But that manager has acted strange on other occasions, making me prefer to go other places. I was compelled to write this review in hope of this reaching someone above the manager to straighten out the customer service so this place can be all it has potential to be. I asked them for contact with the next boss above on a different occasion but that person couldn’t be reached and I think my request for contact would have been binned before it reached the...