Scienceworks

We took kids (3 and 5) there this morning (Friday), arrived at 10.30am and left at 2pm having seen most of the exhibits.
There are a lot of interesting exhibits, the kids loved the sports section and nitty bitty city. Mummy and daddy liked the future section. Alot of exhibits are interactive, which kept them interesting.
There were a lot of school kids there today… And we found the volume of school kids made it quite difficult for our younger kids to see and interact with some of the exhibits.
It would be interesting to know if there was a day of the week that has less school kids as I would recommend going when there were less schools there. Or perhaps an afternoon visit would mean less time with the schools.

Went to the Little Kids Day In which im was advertised as a fun day for kids aged 6 yrs or under. Granted I took my 8 MO there but I expected a bit more. We visited the Big Blue Bathtub which was advertised as «Watch babies shake, rattle and roll as they explore our brand new paddling pool filled not with water, but with homemade sensory toys!» Homemade? I think not — it’s plastic balls and rings and maybe one or two bags filled with lids and scrunchie stuff. I paid $ 12 for this?! I could have stayed home and just dump all the baby’s toy in the bathtub and call it a sensory tub!
There was a story time session and the guy was great but once again I could have visited the library for a free storytime session.
This might be better advertised as Little Kids day out for kids ages 3 – 6.

One of my favorite places — Scienceworks! Saw the Wallace and Gromit exhibition, and they had a solar car race challenge for school kids.
Great fun watching the kids efforts. For some of them it was too sunny and their cars spun out, then others almost stopped when a cloud came over. 11 out of 10 for effort and enthusiasm.
Make sure to see the old pump out the back in the Pump House. There is a lot of historical information and exhibits on how Melbournes sewage system was built and works. One of the pumps runs (all be it on compressed air rather than steam) and I spent half an hour talking to the volunteer about its mechanisms and history.
Plenty for an inquisitive mind (young or old) to explore.

This is a great place to bring primary school age kids (or younger) for a full day of fun, especially when there are special exhibits such as the Explore-​a-​saurus Exhibition. Where else can kids see moving roaring dinosaurs in Melbourne? Furthermore, the Nitty Gritty Super City upstairs offers many fun activities, such as a mock construction site. There’s even a realistic Lego model of Melbourne.
Unfortunately, there is nothing for adults to do other than accompany the kids. In this respect, the use of the word Museum is somewhat misleading. Play-​centre would’ve been a much better description. Adults will learn little from the exhibits. For example, the dinosaur exhibition skips over the origin, geological periods, evolution or demise of these animals. They are not arranged in any chronological order, and not even to scale. For example, the T-​rex is roughly half size. And nothing from the Triassic period. Again I have to remind myself it’s for KIDS ONLY.
The café is disappointing, offering mostly pies, sandwiches, chips but no healthy cooked food. At least there is real coffee.
In summary, adults with no kids should stay away. But I’ll probably bring my kids back here for more.

I’ve read the bad reviews and I think they are expecting too much.
IT’S FOR KIDS!!!
It’s free for kids (adults pay — less than ten bucks) and it keeps them entertained for at least two hours!
Not great for kids over ten (my opinion) but I think it’s still a good and cheap few hours to entertain the kids.

I had pretty high expectations of Science Works, having had many people suggest I take my children there and raving about how much I’d love it. Well they were right. It IS great.
The exhibitions are simple but fun. It is all about doing rather than just looking. The «super city» upstairs was particularly fun for my kids. The pumping station (outside past the lawn) and the old steam engines (near lawn) were popular with my FIL and DH.
The café was clean and food what you would expect but fine. Sandwiches, hot chips, packaged sushi rolls. My children had a dinosaur themed «happy meal» style box filled with a ham and cheese sambo on white bread, a box of sultanas and a fruit drink box. Prices what you might expect — so take your own if don’t like thinking you are paying around 10% more for food and drinks. The Dino boxes are $ 6.95 each. Muffins $ 3.30, small yoghurt tub $ 3.
Children are free as are concession card holders. Entry for adults is $ 10. Exhibitions are extra but you can easily enjoy a few hours here without needing to spend the extra money on those.
Toilets are clean and well maintained. Outside the toilets downstairs is a water fountain and tables with coloring pencils etc if you need to wait for others in yor group. The toilets near the entry are unisex (multiple cubicles for me or women). The ones downstairs are not.
There are staff around everywhere to answer questions and give you hints and tips when exploring the museum.
Overall, a relatively inexpensive play day that is a guaranteed hit for the kids and a pleasant way to pass the time for adults. You might even learn a thing or two. We will be coming back. Soon. If I was rating it as entertainment for adults without children I would not give it 5 stars, perhaps 3. But for a family with kids, 5 from me.

Scienceworks can be summed up into one word for me: Disappointment.
Speaking as someone actually incredibly interested in science/​passion for Biology/​etc, Scienceworks seems to be less focused on the academia portion and more at «look at this». Let’s dissect this bit by bit…
~ Sports Section
I learned absolutely NOTHING from this. Oh cool, I get to race in wheelchairs? Awesome, it shows how fast I sprint? Oh cool, I can block soccer goals…
Yeah. I came out of that section learning absolutely nothing. There were no real fun science bits to it such as maybe learning about what muscles or what part of the brain you’re using to do those activities. It is LITERALLY just like «PLAY WITH THIS THING!»
~ Home Section
This section just shows some basic history and whatnot of things in your home such as history of a steam iron or something like that. A little bit closer to science, but not really science more like History of Small Technological Innovations.
~ Misc Section
I don’t know what to call this because there’s just a whole bunch of activities and things like looking through strange lenses and whatnot. This is a little bit closer to science, but they don’t have enough explanation — just barely touches on what’s supposed to happen, what’s going on, etc.
~ Planetarium
I’ve been to much better Planetariums, but I can’t say that this wasn’t half-​decent. I wish they spent less time teaching about constellations and more about science of space — nebulae, black holes, etc and not «Here is the constellation Southern Cross. Here’s how you find it.»
—
I probably sound bitter… that’s because I am. I absolutely adore science but I came out of Scienceworks learning absolutely nothing new not because I’m pretentious and think I know everything — but because they just teach you absolutely nothing. I understand that it’s focused on children, but isn’t this supposed to be a learning experience? What kind of learning experience is knowing if you can block goals against some soccer players.
I have to admit though, some things were fun to do and I had a good time but maybe it’s because I came with my friend and it was just good company and not the actual venue.
Basically. Go to Scienceworks for everything but the science.

I love coming out to Scienceworks, it’s a short drive from the city and a great activity for all ages.
I came here a few months ago with my partner and we had a really fun time, there are lots of activities and challenges to do.
Activities include; Reaction test, fitness test, strength test, coordination test, balance tests and much more. Each station has information and facts about the challenge, I always leave here with a little bit of extra knowledge.
They also have a needle bed (where you lie on a flat surface and needles rise up), and a sprint against Cathy Freeman.
This is place is great as a family activity, it mashes learning with fun and majority of the activities are child friendly.
The garden in Scienceworks is also quite fun, there is a sound wall– where you can experiment with noise vibrations. Fascinating stuff!
Make sure you visit the planetarium too!

I highly recommend going to Science works with children. Not because the kids will love it — thats true though, they will — but because having the excuse of ‘playing with the children’ allows you to have a whole ton of fun with all the interactive games and exhibits, without inhibitions!
If the name doesnt give it away, Scienceworks is an interactive science and technology museum. But rather than look at everything behind glass windows and trying to be interested in things that make you yawn, here you will spend your time racing a digital Cathy Freeman, making electricity, building structures, and fast bowling.
There is a café on site, but they also have a lawn if you would prefer to bring a picnic and make a whole day of it. And be sure to check their website before you go to find out about special exhibits and shows are happening on the day of your visit.

Scienceworks was one of my favourite places when I was growing up. It really does make science fascinating. When I was eight I remember we made videos and got to take them home and we had to crawl along the floor holding onto a rope in front of a bluescreen, the video was then turned to the side and it showed us climbing up the side of a mountain.
It’s no surprise that I kept going back.
There are many different rooms that focus on particular subjects — the lightning room, where they stimulate what looks like real lightning, the sports room, where you can learn about your body and challenge yourself against Cathy Freeman in a running race or try virtual snowboarding. They have a giant house where you can discover what’s behind the couch and what’s in the vacuum cleaner.
There’s also a kid’s only area and the Melbourne planetarium, which is so cool you sit back in reclining chairs and watch the display with a museum expert hosting the show.
All amenities are provided and there is good disabled access, but car really is the best way to get there.