Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum — Attraction in Birmingham

Some photos are spoilers!

Kids and to be fair adults too, will get far more suprise and excitement going without seeing before hand what's there to see. There are a few interactive surprises that kids will spot and want to instantly go to. Photos here could ruin that 'oh gosh' kind of moment so I'd probably undersell and over deliver - don't sit and look at the phots with the kids, just let them find those things as they go, when they go. That said....

Lots to take in, welcoming and extremely hands on experience for younger children through to teenagers. The "about me" is a great way for people to learn about the science of your body, and adults were really engaged as much as children. I went with my brother, sister in law and two nieces. The kids never tired of something else to look at. They were engaged, excited and learnt something new on a whole range of things. They had the chance to make some bats (it's close to Halloween) there are facilities for drinks and snacks although unnecessarily pricy in some respects. The health Street is real fun. The phones are real! So if you see children playing on reception in the made up health centre, be sure to give them a call from the phone box or dentist maybe! Great fun seeing children able to play and move around safely and learn with each other things that will stay with them

There has clearly been a lot of effort to immerse people into various sciences and that's great. It works

Don't let a few issues put you off. For example when you arrive, the ticketing system was confusing. They offer a membership that is good value but easily missed as the staff member didn't offer it until we asked and couldn't articulate the value or easily explain the cost options we had ie tickets v membership. We had to calculate the cost for the adults and two kids v the membership for a family, that's limited to 2 adults, and add on a third single adult ticket. It was almost better value but didn't include planetarium, which was only £1.50 each and you'd probably only want to experience it once. So do some quick research on offers and calculate before you go or it will be a frustration.

When you arrive the first interactive instillation about recycling let's the science museum down. It's worn with parts missing from dials and the controls that should engage, seemingly achieve nothing. But it's no indication of what's to follow, there is lots to look out for, you could even use the pedestrian crossing immediately after reception to get some road sense or just role play being a car and wind the kids up and get the senses racing

It's very much worth a day out and to do all the floors justice, you would probably want a good full day or just over half if you rush through things you're not that keen on like old cars or bikes, but others will enjoy those, like the original mini and things from most parents childhood. Or even grandparents, thanks to the steam engines and trains!

Most engaging was first and second floors. The real Dino head, the all about me, the health Street - kids will love

Hosted inside millennium point, Corporation Street and some places to eat like Boston Tea Party etc could be a pitstop on your way to or from the city centre and train stations. It's a real easy walk from Moor Street, slightly longer from New Street but there are buses that stop pretty close, parking in the multi storey at Millennium Point too. The short walk from the Millennium / Eastside park to the city centre is also a good entrance but you'll find reception for Think Tank on the second floor of millennium point so car park level. But there are good lifts near the main entrance and not much time waiting for them.

Pack a lunch and use the Science Museums garden which has some great equipment and things you'll need to work on as a team 👍.

It's good...

Extremely disappointing and misleading. Firstly the website states that there's free parking available but when you get there its £3 per hour. I was interested to see what new additions there was since moving from the science museum. The science museum was free to visit so I assumed that the £20 per adult price tag would be due to it having much more to see, I was wrong. It's £20 to see the stuff that used to be free but then they also charge extra for anything that wasn't in the science museum originally.

For example it's very inconveniencing when you're in the outside area with several children and a muffled voice comes over the speaker informing everyone that the planetarium has a show starting in 10 minutes and for anyone who wants to see it to head up to the third floor. After waiting in a queue for the lift, and then in a queue to get into the planetarium we were told that we need to go and buy tickets and could catch the next show an hour later.

We paid separately for "a history of gaming experience" which was basically just a bunch of old consoles about half of which weren't working.

There's also safety concerns. The kids wanted to go back outside and play with the apparatus. As it was a bit chilly we stood and watched from inside, around 20ft away. But when we went to get the kids, a member of staff said that people can no longer use that door. They told us to use the other door and pointed. What they didn't say was that we would have to walk around large exhibits, go through the main entrance, walk around the building and enter the garden through a side entrance, all the time without having eyes on the kids. I informed a different member of staff because I wasn't happy being instructed to walk around the building to get the kids and to be fair to them, they agreed that it should not have happened and told me that they will inform...

Our visit to Thinktank can be easily summarised into two words - inaccessible and lacklustre.

When booking, I inquired to ensure that I would be able to access the full experience as a hearing impaired adult. I was assured that there were loop systems available and captioning used throughout the museum for a fully inclusive experience. However, upon arriving I was met by staff who told me this was incorrect and there were no such devices. They then told me not to ‘bother’ buying tickets for the planetarium because ‘there’s just no point’. They then continued to talk and give information about where things were located around the museum, but kept looking away so I missed most of that too. I was told that the museum was fully accessible to wheelchairs, in a tone that made it sound like it should’ve cheered me up… but I’m not a wheelchair user, I’m deaf.

Upon entering, the museum itself has plenty to see, but it is very lacklustre. The displays were dirty and unkept. There was an unbelievable amount of litter around the floors and many of the interactive aspects of the museum (of which there are many!) were broken.

My family and I left the museum after around 90 minutes feeling downtrodden and frustrated.

It would take a significant amount of time, money and effort to bring this museum back to the standard it once was…and also a team who understand that accessibility is more than just wheelchair users.

If you’re looking for a fun, educational family day out in Birmingham, I implore you to go...