Magna Science Centre in Rotherham

[merrymonsters]

We went to Magna in Rotherham this week. It is built inside a former steelworks. The outdoor playground was great (apart from the view of an ugly steelworks and the strong smell of garbage from the neighbouring recycling plant), but the science centre was really awful. There is no natural light and not much electric light. It's creepy and looked like it was designed by the makers of horror films not scientists. There were a couple of small 'hands on' areas, but the atmosphere is so dark, noisy (constant furnace/steelworks sound effects) and unpleasant that it was impossible to stay there very long or to learn anything.

Bizarrely a couple of people had told us that it was good there, but I guess they were talking about the outdoor play area.

I love Magna. There's loads of brilliant hands-on stuff, and I like the atmosphere they've created in there.

The outdoor play area's good too, but it's certainly not the main attraction for us.

I went to Stonehenge when I was a child and some bastard had left these great big boulders lying around, making the place look untidy. And it was in the middle of nowhere, with no rollercoasters or pony rides or anything. Just archaeology and sheep in the middle of what was basically a field. Gits.

It's urban beauty!

What do you expect, combination of Rotherham/steelworks?

I love Magna. So do my two boys, and I've also taken school trips there. I think it does the hands on science bit very well.

My only criticism would be that it's very very cold in there in the winter!

Must leap to the defence of Magna! I think it's an excellent place to visit with children. Wonder whether the OP missed some of the exhibition areas indoors, as there are four of them (fire, earth, wind and water), all of which have "hands on" exhibits. Personally, I think there is something exciting about the huge old steelworks building itself. However, we do have some friends who took a 5-year-old who found the large dark building so spooky that they ended up not staying very long, so I guess some young children could find it scarey, although that's never been the case with my own two or any of their friends.

We loved it too! 4 adults, 2 boys (8 and 6), 2 girls (7 and 5) and we stayed for about 4/5 hours on a wet February day!! Didnt even bother with the outdoor play area as it was pouring with rain. The darkness of the inside just adds to the experience, really makes you appreciate what a bloody hard job it is working in a factory like that. The hands-on stuff is brilliant, the boys loved the diggers best, girls preferred the water. We took sandwiches for lunch but the café (hot drinks) was excellent. Expensive-ish day out but there's often 2-for-1 or kids-free vouchers available online. Definitely will go again.

It took three visits before DD liked Magna. The first time was when she was about 6 and she hated it. The second time she said it wasn't too bad and the last time she loved it (she was nearly 9 then). It is meant to be dark and spooky though and IMO not suitable for small children.