The National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham is a wonderful place to visit with children. There is so much to see and do and a lot of thought has gone into to the layout of the different attractions and keeping the children entertained along the way with interactive displays, creature talks, a soft play area and a 4D cinema featuring short exciting Happy Feet films.
New to the National Sea Life Centre Birmingham this week is the exciting Sea Stars exhibition which gives you the chance to get up close and personal with a range of starfish of different sizes and colours.
It is a really amazing display and thanks to the pop up bubbles and peek a boo holes, you really can get so close you can almost touch these amazing creatures.
There are fun things to see and do around the tanks with interactive displays that allow you to see how starfish walk (did you know that some of them have over 1000 legs?) and showing colourful and easy to read information about these fascinating creatures.
My son was in awe of the star fish and couldn’t believe how big some of the starfish were.
After we had finished seeing stars, there was lots more to explore. One highlight was the Penguin Ice Adventure which is a brilliant place to see Gentoo penguins in action. Set in an Arctic landscape with a large tank for them to swim you can watch the penguins racing through the water or taking a stroll along the ice.
One thing that I love about the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, is that many of the areas are light and airy with lots of space to move around the different areas.
L loved the rays, he was amazed how close we could get to them and their ‘funny faces’ when we looked at them in their tank.
I loved the jelly fish. There is something quite spectacular about them and I could watch them for hours.
Apart from the many and varied breeds of fish, there are turtles, frogs and even otters which were playing in their sleeping area and were so cute.
The sea horses provide another area which we both enjoyed and it is lovely to read how the Sea Life Centres have worked on a breeding program to help prevent sea horses from extinction and this is one of many conservation projects that they are involved in.
Of course, no visit to a Sea Life Centre would be complete without a walk though the 360 degree ocean tunnel which is breathtaking as you literally walk amongst the sharks and fish and you get the best viewing platform of all.
We spent an amazing morning at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham and it is a really family friendly experience. You can find out more and book tickets here.
We were invited to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham to see the new Sea Stars exhibition. All images and opinions are my own.
Sounds like you had an amazing time. We are quite lucky in that we live within 10 minutes of a SEA LIFE Centre but have yet to visit the Birmingham one.
Boo Roo and Tigger Too recently posted…Family Finances #MoneyConfident
It was lovely and we will definitely go again with the rest of the family.
Oooh we love SeaLife centres! We’re up in Birmingham later this week actually, I’ll see if we have time to pop in those penguins look amazing!
Liz Burton recently posted…One Fine Stay – A Paris rental apartment
The penguins were a highlight for me and they are so entertaining. The Sea Life Centre in Birmingham is one of my favourites and definitely worth a visit.
This is such Kitty’s kind of thing! Loving the Sponge Bob glasses too 🙂
Mammasaurus recently posted…Blueberry & lemon traybake with lemon mascapone frosting & violas
Yes they are running a sponge hunt during the holidays, so you could spot different Sponge Bob things in the centre which was fun
We have the exact photo of the starfish and child, it was the big hit with mine too! Funny isn’t it?
Penny recently posted…5 Do Wells Next The Sea and Pensthorpe
That is amazing, it is quite mesmerising being so close to them though, so I can see why they would stand there like that. I am the same with the jelly fish, I could stand there for hours watching them.
We love our local sea life centre – our favourite part is the jelly fish room which the kids could spend hours in just watching them. x x
Cass@frugalfamily recently posted…Cheesey Broccoli Egg Muffins….
I love the jelly fish, they are magical to watch. My son had to drag me away from them as I could have stood there all day.
It looks really good, I never taken my kids ot Birmingham, I think they are missing out! Mich x
Michelle Twin Mum recently posted…Dear So and So – The weekend away edition
Yes, it is well worth a visit
Oh WOW Nikki! Lovely photos. That looks like a fantastic place, so many different things to see. I love it when centres like that have lots of space and you feel like the animals or sea creatures are really happy there, in something resembling their natural habitat.
Starfish actually get called sea stars over here, which always makes me smile. Funny how our languages are so similar but have those little quirky differences.
Ruth recently posted…Now you are six
I didn’t know that about the Starfish, that is amazing. Yes, I love places like this and there is always something very serene about Sea Life Centres too.
Those pictures are amazing! We’re fans of the Sea Life Centres too – but our one down in Brighton isn’t anywhere near as light or airy as yours. Their conservation work is really insiring. Glad you had a good and enlightening, fun day out 🙂
Anya from Older Single Mum and The Healer recently posted…Never the Twain Shall Meet.
The Birmingham centre is amazing and one of the best Sea Life Centres I have visited. I love the fact that they do so much for conservation too.