Eureka! Children's Museum (From Keighley News)

Eureka! Children's Museum

1:46pm Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in Leisure By David Knights

Charming princes and beautiful princesses will help to consolidate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee at Eureka!.

The Halifax's children's museum is offering a week of magical fairy tales over the Bank Holiday weekend and the school holiday.

The stories will draw on a mix of fairytale traditions and stories.

There'll be masquerade balls where Cinderella and Prince Charming will gather museum visitors together to teach them how to bust some regal dance moves.

Budding Knights can enter Charming’s Courtyard Challenge to see if they have what it takes to be crowned a tournament champion.

Two very ugly sisters will be roaming the museum in search of dates for the ball.

Children can make crowns or a mask for the Masquerade Ball, learn about famous kings and queens of the past, and enjoy story times with Cinderella.

The Fairy Tale Kingdom of Eureka! -- with activities free with the standard admission price -- runs from June 2 to 10.

Eureka! is not a playground. It's a museum. It's educational. It's science.

Keep telling yourself that and you might believe it. But your kids won't, they'll be too busy playing.

There are no swings, no roundabouts, no slides, but they'll still find plenty to occupy them for several hours.

supermarket complete with bar-code readers, a post office with uniforms and parcels, a full-size kitchen, a police box!

An artic truck! A garage! A mirror maze! A fountain! Costume after costume to try on! An igloo to build! A bank they can rob!

They might listen to a story, watch a magic act, try some arts and crafts, or pull, push and twiddle everything they can find.

It's only when you leave, and they start a sentence with "did you see...?", that your children might realise they learned something after all.

By then you probably won't care because you'll have enjoyed yourself as much as them. After all, you can always take them again....

Me and My Body provides an interactive trip through giant-sized body parts.

The town town square, surrounded by the bank, supermarket, post office and house, allows children to spend hours on "let's pretend".

The two-storey Our Global Garden features Gordon the Garden Gnome, voiced by Alan Titchmarsh.

It has six zones devoted to varied environments -- arctic, jungle, town and so on -- with dozens of activities showcasing the flora and fauna.

Children really will learn in here -- particularly about the threats facing the world's wildlife -- and they are also likely to return again and again.

SoundSpace let's kids play with sound makers, musical instruments and coloured spotlights.

Amongst the dressing up, puzzles and noises is a fabulous touchscreen gizmo where you can design multi-coloured record butterflies and let them fly to freedom.

Another marvellous under-fives' area upstairs takes little 'uns to the desert for stories, coal-mining and cave exploring, and there's also a traditional arts and crafts room.

Eureka! boasts 400 "must-touch" exhibits: lucky that the price of one admission allows you to return as many times as you want for the next 12 months.

Age suitability: toddlers will love it; brilliant for primary school age; lots to occupy pre-teens, and some teenagers will still enjoy if they have an excuse -- take a younger sibling!

Parents: Look at the world through your children's eyes -- and have fun!

Access: a lift to both levels, most activities suitable for disabled children, wheelchair loan, multi-sensory exhibits, excellent toilet and baby-change facilities.

Extras: cafe, shop, picnic facilities in an old railway carriage, basic outdoor play, special holiday activities included in price.

Open: daily 10am-5pm at weekends, half-terms and holidays; term-time Tursdays to Fridays 10am-4pm, closed Mondays. Closed December 24-26.

Prices: adults and children three-plus £9.95, children one/two £3.45, babies free.

Getting there: car, follow brown tourist signs from town centre; bus, half-mile walk, no direct service but connections via Bradford or Denholme; train, station next to museum, connections via Bradford.

Car park: pay and display, around £3 for three hours, £6 all day..

Contact: 01422 330069.

Website: www.eureka.org.uk