Eureka! (museum)

Eureka! The National Children's Museum
	Exterior of Eureka!
	Wikimedia \| © OpenStreetMap
Established	1992
Location	53°43′12″N 1°51′18″W / 53.72000°N 1.85500°WCoordinates: 53°43′12″N 1°51′18″W / 53.72000°N 1.85500°W
Type	Children's Museum
Visitors	300,000 per annum
Director	Leigh-Anne Stradeski
Website	www.eureka.org.uk

Eureka! The National Children's Museum is an interactive educational museum for children in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, with a focus on learning through play. It is run as an educational charity and not-for-profit organisation. Eureka! is based on the North American model of children's museums, aimed at families with children aged 0–11 and encourages hands-on inter-generational learning.

History[]

Eureka! is situated on the now demolished parts of Halifax station seen to the left, the remaining platforms can be seen to the right.

The museum was founded in 1985 by Vivien Duffield. Eureka!'s location was partly inspired by Prince Charles, who opened the museum on 9 July 1992 and was its patron until 2002.^[1] It is located on former British Rail land next to Halifax railway station.

The building design was led by Ken Moth of Building Design Partnership, an architectural practice, and the exhibition designs were produced by an in-house team and by design groups who pitched for various elements of the work – co-ordinated by Richard Fowler. Design groups included Imagination (the Me and My Body gallery) and Conran (original gift shop) and individuals included Tim Hunkin (Archimedes) and Satoshi Kitamura (illustrations).^{[citation needed]}

Eureka! celebrated its 25th birthday in 2017 by launching the Eureka! Stories website and opening the Spark Gallery, a flexible exhibition space which launched with the European premiere of the interactive art exhibition digiPlaySpace, created by Toronto International Film Festival.^{[citation needed]}

Galleries[]

The museum has four main galleries:

Spark Gallery – Opened July 2017 as part of the museums 25th anniversary celebrations; it is a flexible exhibition space
All About Me – Opened in March 2013; a £2.9 million gallery, lead funded by the Wellcome Trust, exploring the themes of health, well-being and the human body
Living and Working Together – A miniature town square (including a bank, fountain, garage and shops) and house
SoundSpace – An interactive gallery encouraging children to discover the science of sound and music, with the help of Orby the Alien
SoundGarden
Desert Discovery
The Beach – possibly the largest outdoor sandpit in the North of England.
The Wonder Walk – An outdoor sensory trail

References[]

^ "Eureka! History". Eureka!. Retrieved 2013-09-25.

External links[]

Eureka! website
Eureka! Stories website
20 of the best indoor family activities – The Guardian, 13 October 2018^[1]
The 10 Best Hands-on Museums – The Independent, 10 November 2011
Eureka! on the Charity Commission website

^ Dixon, Rachel (2018-10-13). "20 of the best indoor family activities for half-term". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-02.

[1] "Eureka! History". Eureka!. Retrieved 2013-09-25.

[2] Dixon, Rachel (2018-10-13). "20 of the best indoor family activities for half-term". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-11-02.

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show v t West Yorkshire museums
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