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May 10, 2002

The Eureka 'museum' in Halifax is 10 years old, but as Adam Christie found out, adults are not always helped as they try to make the most of a wonderful educational opportunity.


Adults flounder at museum for children

ARCHIMEDES - or at least a model of him - is dunked into a bath every 30 minutes exactly, on the hour and half-hour, so it is probably highly appropriate that Halifax's unique children's "museum" is named "Eureka".

The majority of parents and adults there one Saturday afternoon in late April appeared to be in their late 20s or early 30s.

Those of a "greyer generation" were fewer and further between. Trying to determine where a generation gap may have occurred is not easy, but probably for anyone older than 40, Eureka appears more like an indoor "theme park" than a museum.

Eureka is too "hands-on" and an active "learning experience" to be called a "museum". Just as any out-of-town hypermarket or high street boutique does have a dimension as a "museum" of contemporary culture and fashion. The only difference at times for the thousands of visitors who spend so much time looking and browsing is that in shops, more tends to have visible price tags and be for sale, there and then.

Eureka is all about learning and about having fun. The displays are visually exciting. There are lots of buttons to press, screens to watch, and voices emerging from loudspeakers. The children were excited, animated, running around energetically. Most adults seemed restrained, almost embarrassed, too uncomfortable to relax, to find their "inner child" personalities and to join in.

As an adult, "being a god-parent", rather than taking a child of my own, I felt uncomfortable. I like to think I can teach a six-year-old informally. I can try to bring the arithmetic and mathematics that are the foundations of so much of life today to the forefront. We can count steps; we can do subtraction to work out that a train listed in a timetable as leaving at 1555 could also be said to leave at "five-to-four". We can count the money in a wallet and decide how much to spend in the shop. Yet, for Eureka, I felt distinctly unprepared. It took me several hours to determine what would have helped; an introductory lesson of my own - on "how to use" or make the most of "the Eureka experience" with children of various ages.

Yes, there were some wonderful points. The "body" section can let an adult informally check a child's hearing and eyesight without the "scariness" of going to a doctor's surgery or optician and being overawed or scared by medical technology. The basics of eye tests - letter "cards" and coloured numbers - are there as games. It was reassuring to know that at least such a quick-and-dirty check had shown there was no need for worry. And, having encountered such tests initially "as play" could well mean that a child carries that memory, reducing any anxiety that could appear during a first more formal visit to an optician.

Eureka appears aimed at under-12s primarily. The "body" section includes a brief introduction to the "changes" that can appear with puberty and adolescence - realistically and helpfully labelled as starting anywhere between ages eight and 14. One question asks about changing relationships and friendships, desperately, it seemed, trying to avoid any insinuation of sexuality. Six-year-olds may not notice such nuances; older, "smarter" children may. Somehow, it grated. Hair was mentioned, so to were changes to body shape, but hormones and genitalia were not. Teachers and parents may possibly be embarrassed, but surely greater explicitness could be more helpful?

Although there is a talking robot, much is written. Adults can have to work hard with children who either cannot read or who may not be too confident about the speed or accuracy of their reading. While there are explanations, much is left by default to the adults. Suddenly having to trawl through 35-year-old memories of schoolboy books entitled "Great Contraptions taken apart and explained" can be disconcerting: just how do toilet ballcocks work? There are miniature cars to get underneath. Just how do brakes work? What is the difference between the steam railway locomotive with external, visible pistons and the infernal internal combustion engine? What does come in through the valve?

Eureka is not cheap. Entry costs £5.50 for children and adults. There are no concessions, even though the establishment is an educational charitable trust. It grates to find grammatical errors on a website that looks good but is poorly structured and contains too many inaccuracies, even in the "how to get here" section. Why have a website that says "for more information telephone"? Eureka claims implicit skills in communicating with children, but the managers do not display such standards in communicating with adults.

Would I take other children or the same child another time? Despite its pricing policy, Eureka seems to attract many visitors, but how many go back several times? For larger families or family parties, a £75.00 annual ticket may be better value, but even for those on reasonable incomes, the sum is large to find at once, even with credit cards. For £11, I felt robbed. I felt £10 spent on five "I-Spy" books in the Eureka shop was far better value and had far more learning potential than two-hours rushing from one display to the next without preparation or time to make the most of the learning or "fun" experience for the six-year-old with me.

Improving the marketing to warn parents and adults that they need to prepare themselves to make the most of Eureka would be a start. Including "how to make the most of Eureka" section on the website would help, but it should be exceedingly detailed, explaining each display, how it works and the scientific principles being demonstrated. Doing this in a format that could be easily downloaded and printed would be even better. Such time and effort demands are daunting; visitor numbers may decline for a period. But, maximising the benefits of Eureka probably requires at least an hour's study for every accompanying adult for every hour spent there with a child, even for those who consider themselves reasonably intelligent. A discount could be offered to parents who arrive at Eureka with a printed copy of the internet "how to" guide. Such difficulties and shortcomings are not insuperable; they require some similar imagination give to the displays themselves.

Eureka will have been open for 10 years in July 2002. Archimedes will have had many baths. Perhaps the time has come for the "museum's" approach to adults to be given a spring clean too?

The Eureka Museum for Children is next to the railway station in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

www.eureka.org.uk