REVIEW Thinktank Museum Birmingham

* We were gifted this visit to Thinktank Science Museum. All opinions are our own. Read on for our REVIEW Thinktank Museum, Birmingham.

Where is the Thinktank Science Museum?

The award winning Think Tank Science Museum is in central Birmingham, just a 10 minute walk from the Bullring shopping centre (or a 6 minute drive). We parked at the Millennium Point Car Park which is directly next door to the Museum.

The entrance is on Level 0. There are some Covid protocols in place that can be found here. We felt very safe, there was hand sanitising stations frequently, one way routes around the museum and adults had to wear masks.

Address

Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
Millennium Point
Birmingham
B4 7XG

For Sat Nav use postcode B4 7AP.

Prices

Tickets must be booked online in advance here.

Opening Times

Thinktank is open Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 5pm.

Last admission to the Museum is 4pm.

What is there to do at the Thinktank Science Museum?

The Thinktank Science Museum has 4 levels of fantastic interactive exhibits. There is also a wonderful Science Garden outside and a 4k Planetarium. As with most children (and many adults!) my daughter loved being hands on and trying the exhibits for herself.

Level 0 – Discover the Past

The first section of the museum that you come to is the ‘Discover the Past’ Galleries. Including everything from a Spitfire over your head, to a full sized steam engine. As soon as we arrived to the Think Tank and saw this level (it’s next to the Entrance), I knew it would be good! Lots of incredible machinery including the massive City of Birmingham Steam Locomotive – it dwarfed by daughter and was quite amazing to see.

I was personally quite amazed by the Railton Land Speed Car. You can watch a video of it going 394 miles per hour on its last record breaking attempt.

Level 1

On Level 1 is the ‘We Made it’ Gallery. This features over 20 interactive exhibits and was a fascinating gallery for both me and my 6 year old. We learnt so much! Birmingham is well known for its manufacturing heritage and this gallery showed just how these materials are used to create the goods we use today.

Level 2

Our Changing Planet, is a new gallery in the Think Tank Museum and is extremely relevant to our time.

This gallery looks at the human impact on our planet, throughout history and up to modern times. Aimed at slightly older children and adults it gives a really insightful look at the situation we are in and what can be done to change it.

The Marine Worlds Gallery is also on Level 2. The main highlight of this gallery is the incredible Ichthyosaur skeleton that is on display in full for the first time.

Investigate the Present gallery can be found on Level 2 and it was one of my 6 year olds favourite. As with most children she is fascinated by the human body and she loved the ‘Things about Me’ section. My daughter has lots of wobbly teeth at the moment so the interactive display all about teeth was a firm favourite.

The other two galleries on level 2 are the Wild Life Gallery and Medicine Matters Gallery.

Level 3

Up on Level 3 is the Finding the Future Gallery, which, as you can guess, looks at all things future. It’s a fascinating gallery and brings to life how science, technology and medicine have a huge impact on the way we live – now and in the future.

Science Garden

The Science Garden was the main area that I was aware of before we visited, as I’d heard it was really good. We were not disappointed! Being quite unlike anything I’ve seen before, the Garden is made up of 30 hands-on exhibits. These explore engineering, mechanics and transportation in a fun way. We had a brilliant time (and it stopped raining too which was a win!)

Children of all ages would enjoy the Science Garden, there is something for everyone. It’s nice to take part in hands on exhibits that are as big as the ones in the Science Garden, and my daughter thought it was fantastic fun.

Mini Brum at the Thinktank Museum

Mini Brum is Think Tanks mini City, where Children are in charge! Whilst some things have been removed due to Covid (dressing up clothes for example), my daughter barely noticed and had a wonderful time exploring this area for about an hour. It was quiet and there was plenty to do. My favourite was the Canal Boat!

There are plenty of odes to Birmingham, including the clock tower, the canal boat and Selfridges. There is also a little Coffee Corner for the grown ups if they want refreshments (the answer to that is YES!).

Food and Drink at the Thinktank Museum

The Signal Box Cafe situated on Level 0 offers a variety of hot and cold food and had a good selection for children, which is always good. The Signal Box Cafe, is table service only. We were asked to complete track and trace and sanitise our hands before we sat down.

The food was really tasty and reasonably priced.

What else is there to see at the Thinktank Museum, Birmingham?

Our visit to the Think Tank Museum ended with a show at the 4k Planetarium, which turned out to be the perfect way to finish our day.

When we arrived, it was recommended to book tickets for a Planetarium show. This costs an extra £2.50 each. It is especially important to book due to limited numbers within the theatre, during Covid. We got there at 10.30am and the first two shows were fully booked. We went for the show at 2.30pm which was called ‘The Star that Could’.

The show lasted 30 minutes and it was beautiful. ‘The Star that Could’ simply told the story of our Solar System, in a way that was easy to understand for my 6 year old. I also really enjoyed it. And I’m not going to lie, I appreciated the sit down :-).

Conclusion to our REVIEW Thinktank Museum, Birmingham

We had a brilliant time at the Thinktank Science Museum in Birmingham and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Birmingham with Children.

Thank you for reading our REVIEW Thinktank Museum, Birmingham. And thank you to Thinktank for having us.

If you’d like to read more about our Days Out, check this section of the website dedicated to them.

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