| Thinktank | Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG.
Telephone: 0121 202 222
Website: www.thinktank.ac |
Birmingham's Thinktank is a parent's piece of heaven. Literally acres of hands on activities for children of all ages, combining education with fun - the best mix there is - and all under one roof. New for 2006 is a state-of-the-art Planetarium using the latest digital technology on a 360° domed ceiling. There are various shows for all age groups. You can lie back and watch Space through the eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope and travel back billions of years in time to witness the birth of the Universe.
 | | Learning through play |
Thinktank is open daily (except Christmas) from 10am to 5pm. It's at Millennium Point, Curzon Street, B4 7XG. Tel: 0121 202 2222. Website: www.thinktank.ac BBC Web Producer, Jane, took her daughter, Darcy, along with her friends, Pollyanna and Harriet and their dad, Robert, for a kids' day out at Thinktank to see if it lived up to expectations. "A word of advice – plan to spend the whole day – there’s simply so much to do. We took three young ladies aged 4, 6 and 8, all fizzing with curiosity and enthusiasm, and Thinktank ticked all the boxes for them. When it came to 5pm and going home time, there were groans all round. No one wanted to leave. As a parent, I call that a result. Look out or you'll miss it | "The Planetarium was brilliant – like we’d taken off in a rocket and were floating in space." | | Pollyanna, aged 8 |
Birmingham has benefited so much in the past decade from regeneration investment, transforming the city centre into a cultural oasis. Thinktank is the product of massive Millennium Commission investment and European Development funding, as well as local financing and sponsorship. But it isn't centrally located and you won't find it by chance. Situated at Millennium Point, on the east side of Birmingham in the Digbeth area, the modern design of the vast, metallic looking building doesn’t really shout out what it is, and you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve simply passed a new college or council building. The inside of the building resembles something Captain Picard might command, and you need to negotiate the mish-mash of escalators before arriving at the un-assuming entrance to Thinktank. If only school was like this
 | | The Planetarium |
Even though it was a Saturday, there were no queues and we were straight in. The girls shot off for the science bit right in front of them, and got to grips with hands on experiments about the body – blood circulation, ventricles and aortas, muscles and skeletons and the brain and senses. If school was like this all the pupils would be getting A** for biology. Even 4 year old Harriet was transfixed with the scientific intricacies of the human body. More interactive learning was round the corner with a subject that made me shudder at school - physics. But the ‘p’ word wasn’t evident amongst the play tools about how electricity works for lightbulbs, microwaves and robots. Planetarium- new attraction It felt like we’d only been there five minutes when it was time to head off for the new attraction, the Planetarium. Using state-of-the-art digital technology, a 360° domed ceiling offers a ‘Disney-esque’ light show of our skies and galaxies, with accompanying Hollywood style voice over.
 | | Hands on science fun |
Six year old Darcy and eight year old Pollyanna were transfixed, but the imploding black holes and dying stars were a bit too much for little Harriet, who was a tad scared. In all fairness to Thinktank, they do provide information for all the activities and shows about what is suitable for which age groups. You should check with the staff or the leaflets available about which events are appropriate for your child. The Planetarium does offer a variety of shows, and some are suitable for the younger ones, though the one we saw was potentially a bit scary for little ones. The show lasted only 20 minutes, which was just the right amount of time to sustain the children’s interest. Interactive Science Show Lunch was a quick and easy affair next to the imposing sight of the massive ‘City of Birmingham’ locomotive, and overlooked by a Spitfire and Hurricane suspended from the ceiling.
 | | Role play in the restaurant |
There was only time for a whistle-stop tour of the train – we didn’t even get to peep at the aircraft – before it was time to set off to Thinktank’s Theatre for a Family Science Show. I say 'set off', but we couldn’t actually find it, and had to enlist the help of a member of staff who directed us through a tiny door and into the auditorium. A half hour show had the presenter playing – safely - with electricity, demonstrating how and why things move and science quizzes with ‘How to Be a Millionaire’ - style voting consoles that everyone could use. Again, this show was more geared towards the older children, but there are a variety of shows on offer for all age groups and you should check which ones are current for your trip. Good old messy play Darcy and Pollyanna were on a roll, but it was time to find something for little Harriet to get her hands into – and the rest of the day was spent in the Kids City and Street area.
 | | Futuristic Thinktank building |
All three children got wet – and giggly – in the water science play area, served us plastic pizzas and roast chicken in the play restaurant, drove cars and pretended to be construction workers in the ‘Street’ roadworks, and made a real playtime mess of the dressing up box and fruit and veg cart. A five minute whizz around the Wild Life section looking at various nocturnal creatures – stuffed ones of course – and it was home time and groan time. And we’d really only scraped the surface of what was on offer. We didn’t get the time to explore the machines and steam engine section, we couldn’t fit in – or find - the storytellers or the DNA workshops, and one of the biggest attractions – the IMAX theatre – will just have to be fitted in on another day. Great value Thinktank entry price for a family of four is just £20. For family entertainment that has to be great value by any stretch of the imagination. It’s fully accessible to wheelchair users, and all members of the family are catered for with baby changing facilities and wide spaces for prams and pushchairs. My only criticism is the navigation of the place. There’s so much to do you really don’t want to miss a thing. And fitting even most of it in requires careful planning and assistance. We got lost a lot, and encountered other families in the lifts going up and down trying to work out whether we all wanted G0 or L1 or G1 for our next event. Plan your day well Clearer and bigger signs, more of them, and perhaps clearer colour coding would definitely help. But when you have to grumble that you need more help to make the most of all the things on offer, it’s not a negative gripe.
My advice would be to study Thinktank’s website ( link is top right of this page ), ask them to post you as much literature as they can for you to plan your day, and get there early to make the most of it all. Expert opinions So what was the verdict from the important people – Pollyanna, Darcy and Harriet? Darcy, aged 6, “I liked the different experiments you can do, finding out about gases in the science bit, and the café where we could pretend to be chefs and waiters”. Pollyanna, aged 8, "I liked the street bit and using the telephones. The Planetarium was brilliant – it was like we’d taken off in a rocket and were floating in space. I’d like to spend a couple of days there”. And what about 4 year old Harriet? At the end of the day she burst into tears because it was all over. And that says it all really". | 
