A Trip to At-Bristol.

Today we took a trip to At-Bristol in Bristol with my Mum and two children. My daughter is six and my son is almost two. We all had a great day out. there was plenty for all of us to do and get involved in. My son obviously did not reap all the benefits that the science museum had to offer although I would not hesitate in visiting again in another year or so.
One of the exhibits the children all seemed to love was a new one called 'Build it!' and was designed for under eights. It allowed the children to get immersed in a role-play environment which reminded me very much so of The Mantle of The Expert. The children got to see what it was like to be a builder and experiment and be creative within the setting of a working construction site. The Children spent half an hour in this particular exhibit and I could see that all the other children seemed to really enjoy it. The age range varied from toddlers just being able to walk up to eight. Some children took on the role of the roofers, some making the walls, others using wheel barrows to move the bricks from one side to the other whilst some took on the role of site manager, making sure they were doing what they were meant to, although some children were quite happy playing doing what they wanted to and did not appreciate being bossed about. It was very interesting to watch and I could clearly see many different skills being used by certain children. I could see gross motor skills being used firstly then other skills such as problem solving, interaction, creativeness, social skills and allows them to gain a insight into what it resembles and entails working on a building site.

Build it!