We went to the Horniman Museum Robot Zoo. We took along 3 boisterous girls to see what they could break. Charging off in different directions each grabbed one of the many interactive exhibits. One of them remembered the timed bat bar, show the locking mechanism that keeps bats hanging, as you hang off the bar you are timed. Having left her mark in France as the longest hanging monkey (sorry bat) she attempted to do the same – it wasn’t long before a serious competition (mainly with boys) started and arms were aching.
Another went for the muscle machines which, with the use of shock absorbers and pumps, mimick the insides of animals. The favourite with many of the very young there was the turtle race. This was a circuit where down on all fours, kids raced round the track with a turtle shell strapped to their backs.
They then went on to see the Jet Propelled Racing. To race required a rigorous and repeated yanking action on a piston that was positioned at waist height for an adult, a sight unbecoming in the case of the middle aged men who were apparently oblivious to the potential problems associated with performing this action in public.
The giant chameleon made an unconvincing attempt to blend into its surroundings by changing the display on it’s six large tv monitors from bright green to bright pink. This wasn’t the case with the camouflage wall. Dressing up and watching themselves on tv always appeals to kids, but this time as they grabbed similar patterned cloaks they watched themselves disappear.
We all enjoyed the fab graphics and the explanations were clear and easy to read and the kids were, well..kids. They mainly dashed from one exhibit to another not seeming to take anything in. A week later however, we were at London Zoo when one of them said "We know how they do that don’t we...."
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