THE NATIONAL SPACE CENTRE FOR KIDS

The National Space Centre isn't too far from us, situated in Leicester but we've always gave it a miss before of fear the boys are too young and there wouldn't be much to do. However when the lovely guys at License to PR invited us along for a PJ Masks Supermoon Adventures day, we just couldn't pass up on the chance for the boys to meet their favourite superheros again, as well as joining in on all the spacey fun. So we made the small journey and hoped that now aged 5 and almost 3 they would have a little bit more to do and play with, Noah is well into everything space right now as they've touched upon it at school so I knew it would be a great chance for him to learn a little more.

When we first arrived we discovered we did have the first hour with just us and a few others to roam freely as it wasn't open to the public, this was fantastic as it meant the boys didn't have to wait for a turn on anything interactive, we really got to explore everything and they could be very hands on. However as it was a special Pj Masks themed day aimed at younger children, as soon as 10am had hit the Space Centre got very busy, so I am thankful we had that time beforehand. Pj Masks and Luna girl was already lined up ready to greet people, and while somehow Patrick was the shy one, Noah was straight in there with high fives and cuddles.

After that we got on our way around the centre, there are maps at the start so definitely grab one of those as we didn't till later and it would have saved us a lot of confusion. There are areas that are a lot more hands on, we headed to the 'Into Space' area first, it was fantastic, it displayed everything from space suits through the years to food and items you would find in a space shuttle, the boys loved how much they could see and do. There was lots of activities here, from a puzzles table, to small challenges such as trying to build a rocket in the fastest time and testing your reaction speed on the button wall.

After learning as much as we could about what life was like up in the atmosphere, we headed through into 'Exploring the Universe' and then 'The Planets', there wasn't quite as much to do in these areas and I would personally say that older children would get more from it, as there was a lot to read or listen to, whereas my two still like to touch and feel etc. There was a few little listening pods in which you could sit inside and hear a small show, however Patrick got a little overwhelmed at the darkness so we decided to revisit those another time. 

Our favourite zone was obviously the Rocket Tower, what little boys aren't going to be obsessed with rockets? If you work it right, you can grab one of the lifts right to the very top and get a full glimpse at the rocket as you ascend. There are three floors in the Rocket Tower, all focusing on different eras, our favourite was the year of the landing on the moon, in which they even had a little house decorated as the 60's. Patrick really loved this.

These floors were definitely the most interactive, there was a lot to do and they seemed very quiet in stark contrast to the rest of the centre. At the bottom there was Noah's favourite part, the rocket racers. You could select which rocket you wanted on the screens in front, and then both rockets would adjust and you would see which blasted off the best, of course after a few turns we worked out which options gave the best result but the boys adored seeing their rockets shoot 10m plus up into the air.

The centre does have a cafe area, though we chose not to dine here as it was a lot busier the nearer to lunchtime it got, but there was also a lot of free seating so if you wanted to bring your own lunch and picnic there then you were more than welcome to. All of the areas in the Space Centre are centred around the Planetarium which sits in the middle, it's a huge theatre almost that you can recline your seats and the show features above your head. When we visited the show we watched was an adventure of Astronaut George, specifically aimed at the younger audience and both boys LOVED this part, it was really education and told them a little bit about each planet. Even me and John came away very impressed. You can't take pictures inside however so we sadly don't have any from there.

Overall we loved our visit, and we will definitely be back once the boys are a bit older again as there is just so much you can gain from being there. There is so much to see and do that you really can make a whole day of it and bring a little picnic along which I think we will do next time. The boys were very lucky and were given some special Pj Mask themed goodie bags as we left and I would definitely recommend popping along to any themed days in the future, there was lots of shows on, story times, sensory play with moon dust and colouring competitions. We will most certainly be back again.

*We were given tickets to this event however nothing was asked in return and all opinions are my own.