The key attraction at the Natural History Museum is the dinosaurs. We’ve visited with our son Harry a few times over the last few years, and it is always the area that we head for first. It can get very busy, so it’s worth planning your visit for either early in the morning or later in the day. You follow an elevated walkway past dinosaur skeletons along with some brief information about the dinosaurs, then you head downstairs for more detailed information about the different types of dinosaur – how they moved, what they ate, what they looked like and so on. In between the two areas prepare yourself for the unavoidable moving, roaring Tyrannosaurs Rex – it seems to terrify most young children going past it!
The Natural History Museum overall is perhaps more suited for older children that have a little more understanding of the world and more patience to follow along with the exhibits, but there were still plenty of areas that my four year old could enjoy. He really enjoyed the Mammal hall, and the life size model of a blue whale is impressive even to adult eyes. We spent a lot of time looking at the models of the different mammals, including elephants, giraffes and other sea creatures.
Harry also enjoyed the Earth exhibits, in particular the escalator that leads up through a cut out of the Earth and into an area all about Earth and how it was formed. My personal favourite area is Human Biology (perhaps somewhat tinted with nostalgia, as it is mostly how I remember it from childhood visits) and Harry was fascinated by the distorting mirrors and models showing how the bones and muscles move within the body. This area also led to some awkward questions over the next few days about exactly how babies are made!
The best thing about the Natural History Museum is that it is free, so you can just pick out the areas to visit that will interest your child without feeling as though you need to get your money’s worth. Even better, the Science Museum is right next door, so you can plan a combined visit and easily entertain your family for a whole day.
You can get more information from their website.
This is another great guest post from Jennifer’s Little World.