Places to go this summer; the National History Museum

Summer is most definitely upon us and we are starting to make plans for the six week break from school.  People laugh at us sometimes as we do like to get organised for the summer holidays, even to the point of having a daily planner where we plan the main outings and activities so that we don’t forget anything.  It does sound obsessive but it works.

This year though I want to do things slightly differently.  I often look at ‘bucket lists’ and think that this is something I should do, so I am going to adapt this and make a sheet that we can all contribute to and come up with a list of one hundred things that we want to do.  Now I know that one hundred things sounds ridiculous, but the idea is that it can be anything; big or small.  It could be a trip to London, camping in Cornwall or going on a train or going paddling in the sea.  We are going to put this list together over the next couple of weeks and see what we can come up with and then work through them over the summer months, seeing how many we can tick off.  Two of my things are finding a lighthouse as the boys did a lighthouse project earlier in the school year and were fascinated by them, so it would be lovely to try and show them a real one.  The other thing is a visit to the Natural History Museum in London.

I am ashamed to say that until October last year, I had never been before.  It was one of those places that I had always wanted to visit but it completely eluded me.  Then on a trip to London last year, we had a small window of opportunity to go and do a quick tour.  Sadly it was a quick tour and I think we only saw a very small percentage of the museum before we had to head for home.  What we did see though was amazing and in spite it being incredibly busy, the children were really inspired and are desperate to go and spend a whole day there.

This summer there is a particularly good reason to go to the Natural History Museum as there is an outdoor butterfly exhibition; aptly named Sensational Butterflies and you can actually walk around the butterfly house and see them in a very natural environment.  You won’t find the butterflies behind glass, this is a truly interactive experience as you walk amongst these amazing creatures and you will get to see butterflies from all around the world as well as seeing first-hand all four stages of the butterfly life cycle.

That will be first on my list but the children are keen to see the Mammoths; Ice Age Giants and experience the giant models and see the collection of fossils and skeletons.  The Dinosaurs are also a popular choice and if the charming fellow who greets you in the main entrance hall is anything to go by, that is a gallery not to be missed.

The Natural History Museum is a great place to take the children.  Luckily mine aren’t yet at the age where the word ‘museum’ means something boring to them and the Natural History Museum certainly isn’t that, it is educational in an interactive, interesting and inspiring way and that can’t be a bad thing can it?

If the Natural History Museum is on your list of places to visit this summer and you are thinking about staying overnight, why not try Hotel Direct to find a hotel in the area to fit your budget as you could certainly find plenty at the museum to fill two days.  Entry to the Natural History Museum is free but there is a charge for tickets for the exhibitions.  These tickets can be booked online before you go with specific time slots to help you plan your day.

As for the Thomas Family Summer List, I will be blogging about that in the next couple of weeks, so let me know if there is somewhere you think we should visit this summer.

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