Eureka! Science + Discovery — Attraction in Wirral

I was so excited for this when it was first announced, but was a little wary when I found out it would be much smaller than the original Halifax Eureka. Well those concerns were unfounded, there was so much to see and do, even without the under 7's area, cafe and creative area open yet. We spent three hours here, and left one area out so we'd have something new to see next time. The suggested age range is up to 14, and I'd agree with that. My 15 year old would tag along once, but my 5 and 9 year old were an ideal age.

A lot of thought has gone into making this an immersive sensory experience, nothing was really out of bounds for touching or climbing. A lot of doors to open, buttons to press, levers to turn, touch screens, hands on games and activities absolutely essential for all children, but in particular those with SEN, so this felt really inclusive. I loved the calming area with the bean bags, and the seating area with a view across the Mersey and a huge sun on the ceiling, the tree house area and the giant cat makes a fantastic photo opportunity, the designers have done an amazing job.

As a family of 5, and entry fees rising post Covid, we have done a lot fewer day trips to places with £15-20 each entry fees, but like the London Transport museum each ticket (currently £15.95 for adults and children over 3) becomes an annual pass. Spaceport which was on the original site, we only ever visited a couple of times the whole time it was there because there was no membership or ever any offers or discounts available, so we preferred to travel to free museums. It is clear that Eureka have learnt from this mistake. This is incredible value and a huge asset for local families.

The gift shop area (not sure if it is complete yet) was unusually good value too, with good quality clothing and household items and also stationary and small items available for under £2. I love the abstract design, and something I'd definitely consider buying. The only thing I'd change is that I appreciated the focus on eco education in the house exhibition, and I'd like to see this continued in the gift shop, there were a couple of cheap plastic toys available that will be broken in minutes. I appreciate it is a hard balance to be affordable and eco friendly though and I have high hopes this will change when the shop is expanded and complete.

One more suggestion I'd have is for teenagers to be able to buy discounted single day admission tickets. A lot of families with mixed age ranges I've spoken to are on the fence if it would be...

Visited here with my four year old. We’ve visited Eureka at Halifax prior which we loved, and we visit museums weekly. This visit to Liverpool Science and Discovery was really disappointing for a number of reasons.

The topics covered are relevant, but this place isn’t suited to children who are under 6. Thinking about all the different learning styles it lacked any sound; no audio instructions or audio displays, no music, it was all very word heavy. It relied a lot on your child or the adult being able to read instructions and wall displays. Literally everything had to be read to be understood.

Some of the interactive displays were not functioning properly and instructions were not clear or the interactivity lagged so it was frustrating to use or figure out.

The model house section on the upper floor felt like a really stripped back version of what Eureka Halifax has but with much less interaction, lots of pictures in replacement of physical objects to ‘discover’ with very minimal opportunity to physically handle things to discover.

The cafe area only served hot drinks, cakes from a mobile stand, and included a vending machine. This was situated in a learning area. We anticipated at least some sandwiches to be available but there was nothing.

1st principle of good design ‘easy to find’ There were no signs for this place. On the way we were looking for the brown signs, there are none.

The best thing about this place was the robotic arm which was super fun, and the climbing area on the upper floor which was so packed out as it was very small.

For the cost of a child £15, and two adults totalling £45, we travelled an hour to get there, had no lunch, spent 40minutes ‘discovering’ this place, then left to make the hour trip home. It really was not fun nor worth the money.

I spoke with some staff prior to leaving who explained you have an under 7s area opening soon. With inclusion and accessibility in mind - consideration for learning styles are vital in places like this. What you have right now is definitely an MVP - improvements with audio could make an improvement to this experience, so could reducing the ticket prices for under 7s until this designated...

I visited here with my son who was 5yr old at the time, as this place is predominantly directed towards kids around his age and older he thoroughly enjoyed himself. As there are many interesting things & puzzles that he could play, touch & interact with, also the staff/employees are very welcoming, pleasant, knowledgeable & eager to help with explaining how/why everything works, on a level that children of all ages can understand properly, keeping them concentrated and focused with exciting & fascinating, but still retaining scientific/factual correct data/information & educational in a fun & appealing way which kids will be occupied by & enjoy their experience in what is fundamentally an educational system for making learning about the sciences fun. Finally, from my experience as a parent of a 5yr old, I would definitely recommend visiting "Eureka" as I, who is 36yrs old also thoroughly enjoyed it too. The entrance fee is relatively inexpensive and very affordable in comparison to the cost of a family day out, which caters to the whole family is well worth it, but as I forgot to pre book tickets but thankfully managed to buy tickets outside of "Eureka" on the day, I would advise you to pre book in advance, as when I visited it was quite empty so I was able to book tickets for the next available time closest to the time it currently was, but obviously does get alot of visitors due to the online "pre booking" system that they are suggesting people use to guarantee that the desired time/data & ability to accommodate/facilitate the amount of expected people in a party. However I have to say that we noticed that other than "Eureka" and a small separate café inside of the information centre there was nothing much else in the immediate area than that, but as I am not familiar with the surrounding area nor had I made any attempt to inquire/research nearby surrounding areas amenities, my advice is to do some research on the area's POI & local attractions especially if you are travelling far from home and are wanting to make a full...