Eureka! (museum)

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Eureka! The National Children's Museum
The Entrance to Eureka!
Established	1992
Location	53°43′12″N 1°51′18″W / 53.72000°N 1.85500°W / 53.72000; -1.85500Coordinates: 53°43′12″N 1°51′18″W / 53.72000°N 1.85500°W / 53.72000; -1.85500
Type	Children's Museum
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 age 0–11 and encourages hands-on inter-generational learning.

History

Dame Vivien Duffield, Chair of the Clore Duffield Foundation, was inspired by the children's museums that she saw during visits to the USA. Back at home she pursued her idea to create the UK’s very own children’s museum, and The Museum for Children was formally constituted as a registered charity in 1985. Dame Vivien remains Eureka!’s Life President.

Eureka!'s location was partly inspired by Prince Charles, who opened the museum on 9 July 1992 and subsequently become 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 international 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).

Eureka! celebrated its 20th birthday in 2012 by launching Play 20 - an online resource providing play ideas and campaign to get parents, carers and their children playing together.

Galleries

The museum has four main galleries:

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.
Our Global Garden - showcasing gardens from around the world: Town, Jungle, Ice, Ocean, Country.
SoundSpace - An interactive gallery encouraging children to discover the science of sound and music, with the help of Orby the Alien.

The museum also has two galleries aimed at the under-fives:

SoundGarden
Desert Discovery

The grounds of Eureka! include:

The Beach - possibly the biggest outdoor sandpit in the North of England.
The Wonder Walk - An outdoor sensory trail.

Projects

Helping Hands - A three year project, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, working to make Eureka! fully accessible to families with disabled children.
Mission: Active Future - An interactive travelling exhibition designed to help children switch on to a healthier lifestyle.

References

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

External links

Eureka! website
Play 20 website
Eureka! Official Facebook Page
Eureka! on Twitter
The 10 Best Hands-on Museums - The Independent, 10 November 2011
Eureka! blog
American Association of Children's Museums
Eureka! on the Charity Commission website

v t e West Yorkshire museums

City of Bradford museums	Baildon: Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum Bradford: Bolling Hall Museum Bradford Industrial Museum Cartwright Hall National Media Museum Peace Museum Haworth: Brontë Parsonage Museum Ilkley: Ilkley Toy Museum Manor House Museum Keighley: Cliffe Castle Museum East Riddlesden Hall Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Museum of Rail Travel Saltaire: Salts Mill

Calderdale museums	Brighouse: Smith Art Gallery Halifax: Bankfield Museum Dean Clough Eureka! The National Children's Museum Hebden Bridge: Gibson Mill Heptonstall: Heptonstall Museum Shibden: Shibden Hall

Kirklees museums	Batley: Bagshaw Museum Birstall: Oakwell Hall Dewsbury: Dewsbury Bus Museum Dewsbury Museum Gomersal: Red House Museum Huddersfield: Castle Hill Colne Valley Museum Rugby League Heritage Centre Tolson Museum Marsden: Standedge Tunnel Visitor Centre

City of Leeds museums	Aberford: Lotherton Hall Leeds: Abbey House Museum Armley Mills Industrial Museum Bramham Park Harewood House Henry Moore Institute in Leeds Kirkstall Abbey Leeds Art Gallery Leeds City Museum Leeds College of Art Middleton Railway Museum Royal Armouries Museum Temple Newsam Thackray Museum Thwaite Mills Museum Otley: Otley Museum

City of Wakefield museums	Netherton: National Coal Mining Museum for England Nostell: Nostell Priory Pontefract: Pontefract Museum Wakefield: The Hepworth Wakefield Wakefield Museum

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