"The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, iscuriosity."

A bad review can sometimes be really damaging. I've spoken with friends in the past that own business' and companies that we have worked with about how a single bad review can really slow down the sales of a product. This can also be so true with simple word of mouth. I'm usually the sort of person that prefers to make my own decisions about things, unless it is regarding an attraction, the thought of paying to get into somewhere, being disappointed and basically stuck there doesn't appeal to me at all. After this recent experience I've realised to again, make my own decisions about such matters.

Here in Shropshire we are lucky to be surrounded by great attractions, including many museums, one of which is a science museum called Enginuity, I've known it was there since I moved here but because I had been told it was no good I never gave it another thought and I feel a little stupid about that now. Last week our friend Lucie, who I have referred to as my Shropshire oracle in the past due to always steering me in the right direction of local events and attractions, said that she had taken her children and had had a great time. So I decided me and Opeie were going to give it a try, we arranged to meet Lucie and the kids there as they wanted to visit again and had an annual pass to all our local attractions (there's quite a few dotted about). The morning we arrived Shropshire was in the midst of what I can only describe as 'freak weather' heavy snow and strong winds, it came out of nowhere and it had put Lucie off driving there so me and that inquisitive sidekick of mine ventured in alone.

I was hooked the second I walked through the door, the place looked amazing. I can't believe it was literally on our doorstep and it had taken us this long to give it a try. Opeie took one look at what was there, Spotted a Bee hanging from the ceiling and got very excited, and rightly so.  Enginuity is colorful, educational and very interesting, the sort of attraction that will get you thinking and asking questions (which i love). Although the actual building itself isn't huge it's wall to wall activities that could keep you occupied for hours. 

You can learn all about how dams work and how to power up a small town using its natural water supply with this scaled down model where you can open and close the dams yourself, cause the clouds to rain down and control the water flow to complete the task of the exercise (water proofs provided for over excited little ones)...

 

There is a remote control (Scan It) that you can point at different sections of the museum marked '?' Which then brings up informative videos on screen relevant to the piece you've pointed at...

There's no shortage of things to build, buttons to press and wheels to turn, the whole place is completely interactive.

I didn't want to get round the exhibits to quickly so after an hour we made use of the small soft play area that is inside. There was a school trip there but as they were a lot older than Opeie we ended up getting the soft play area to ourselves. There was a big soft train and a soft helicopter to climb on. Us being us though decided to pull them apart and build a base to hide in. Opeie was struggling to climb over the barrier so we also used the large foam Lego bricks to build some steps.

We even got to meet Pacman...

All the excitement and running about had made me thirsty and Opeie wanted a snack so we popped to the coffee shop just outside for a drink and a bite to eat. It gave us another great chance to use our Oxotot Snack Disk which has been a life saver for storing snacks when venturing out.

And then it was back for some more investigating...

Enginuity is full of curiosities and products from days of old, i love looking at things like that but Opeie much prefers the big machines, especially the ones you can play with and physically work yourself.

Opeie's favourite part seemed to be the robot that could play the piano and build the Eiffel tower. 

We spent a good 3 hours there and could have easily spent longer but it was lunch time and Opeie was starting to get tired so we decided to head home. We had a great time and decided to go again a few days later as Seth was at school first time round and i knew he would love it. It just goes to show that you shouldn't always listen to peoples comments, sometimes its nicer to investigate and find things out for yourself. The experience has now got me looking into all the other local attractions. Shropshire is such a great place to live and i will be fully taking advantage over the next few months of every thing it has to offer