Theatrics at Te Papa

STORY FROM MEGHAN AT MNM's.

Last week we took our UK family to Te Papa. I'm always proud to show off our national museum to visitors, being as rich in culture and history as it is. And the best part of all, it's completely FREE! There is so much for children to see and do at the four discovery centres that you can easily wile away several hours without even realising it. Here's what captured our imaginations:

We wrote a message and added it to the hundreds of other ecological messages making a giant kakapo.
Crawled inside the whale's heart and experienced the echo of its chambers.
Wondered at how light pumice was.

Master One found a button that (for once) no-one minded him tu-tuing with!
He checked his carbon footprint, not bad. And tried to power up a lightbulb.
And compared his likeliness to a monkey...yep pretty close.

We marvelled at NZ from on high. Created our own movie and posted it on the big screen. Experienced the Golden Days of NZ exhibition.

The boys explored their Pacific Island heritage, banging a beat together on the bongo drums.
Native animal puppets and a car track providing plenty of entertainment.
A cloak of hands providing an inspiration for a future teaching experience that Ann-Marie will take home to her children.

The boys took great pride in a mega mega Lego Block tower built. That was until Master One knocked it flying!

We braved some extreme winds to get a view of the city.

And uncovered some dinosaur remains in the fossil pit. The boys play acted in the ampitheature.

Then demanding an impromptu theatre performance from us girls providing a let-your-hair-down-make-an-idiot-of-yourself-but-have-great-fun-whilst you're-at-it moment to end a terrific day out.

Te Papa National Museum
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/
Cable Street, Wellington
Opening hours: 10am-6pm daily including public holidays, Thursday late night 10am-9pm
Cost: FREE (apart from some special short-term exhibitions)