Exscite Science Galleries product reviews

I ventured to the Waikato Museum and went to the Exscite part with 5 children in the holidays. We got to the museum at opening time in the hope that Exscite would be pretty quiet and this was in fact correct and it made the use of the equipment great with no need to queue.

On arrival at the main counter we found the service fantastic and we went down to the Exscite part. The children all ran around to see what was available and started in the very bottom level and the boys had a blast with all the choices down there. When we arrived upstairs onto the upper level it was a bit disappointing as the grain machine had in grains in it, the TV screen attached to some of the next equipment was turned off as well.

After spending some time trying to find a staff member without going out of the Exscite area it took over 30 minutes to find someone to sort it out. Once we found someone it was very quick to fill the grain machine but it took a while to find the answer to get the TV equipment working.

The overall visit was great once everything was sorted. I would go back again to revisit this as the children really enjoyed it and did ask to go back again.

I have been to the Waikato Museum many times but had always been reluctant to go to Excite because of additional charge. This all changed when the homebased childcare company I work for organised a trip there, so I went there with lots of preschools from babies through to nearly five year olds. The kids all enjoyed themselves and found different activities to suit their interests.

One of the most popular were the carts that the children could sit in and race their friends like an arcade game. There was never a time that the cars were empty and usually children waiting for a turn. One of the other favourites was the a wall of lights where the children had to tap each light as it lit up. The three and four year olds really loved more than the younger kids but this was probably because they could reach the lights easily.

Downstairs was an earthquake simulator. Many of the children were quite scared going in it. I must admit I had to put my brave teacher face on to go in it. For me, it was a case of feel the fear and do it anyway. There were other children that wanted to go on it repeatedly. To them it was like a theme park ride.

The best thing about Excite is that the children are learning so many different science concepts without realising it. The staff member was very helpful pointing out possible hazards for the children and engaging some of the older children in folding and flying paper planes.

I highly recommend parents in the Waikato take their children to Excite and check out other aspects of Waikato Museum.

With not one but TWO galleries as part of this, the $5/$6 entry fee is quite fair really, though you may want to ensure you have plenty of time to check it out, because we spent a good half a day in the museum and ran out of time before we got to check out the second, lowest gallery that houses the "Mighty River Waikato" displays... though a quick glance through indicated it could have been well worth the visit.

The upper gallery - with all of the kids stuff, was pretty full on with a lot of fun and learning packed into a fairly small space. You had a mechanical skipping rope - which also teaches about wave harmonics, inertia, momentum and kinetic energy... a closed-loop seed conveyor - which showed many different ways of moving anything from liquids to medium-sized objects, including helical screws, conveyor belts, hopper belts and vibrational sifters... there is a seriously nifty two-car setup with a bigscreen playing Nintendo MarioKarts - which teaches the kids to sit still while Mum & Dad get a breather ... as well as a number of other activities and entertainments.

Honestly, I wish we had had the time to explore the downstairs gallery, but honestly, with the two touring exhibitions, as well as the regional history gallery and the Maori displays... there just wasn't enough time. Maybe next time...

Overall, a very fun area for the kids. Mr10 and Mr2 both loved hooning around like mad. The only thing that needs to be addressed is that toddlers can reach the signal buttons for the elevator and MUST be kept a close eye on. We lost Mr2 into the 'big moving box' at one point and, though he thought it was a very intersting and fun place to play hide'n'seek from Mummy and Daddy, Mummy and Daddy certainly did NOT agree! Some form of kidproofing in that area could be required.