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5 Fun Family Activities at the Edinburgh International Science Festival

Kids at Science Festival Edinburgh

The world’s first public celebration of science and technology and still one of Europe’s largest, the Edinburgh International Science Festival, is back from the 1st to the 16th of April 2017. The two-week festival is a great event for all ages from all backgrounds, but we wanted to focus on the little ones in this blog as the festival has a strong focus on education – and we think there’s nothing better than discovering new, fascinating things together with your children! So we asked a representative at the festival to list five of the best family activities at this year’s Science Festival, and here they are.

PLAY ON exhibition (All ages)

Saturday 1-Sunday 16 April, 10am – 5pm, National Museum of Scotland, Free.

Game-Design-Play On
Play is fun! Taking place across four immersive zones, Play On is an interactive exhibition that allows all the family to get hands-on in discovering the ways technology effects our free time. The Zones to explore are Toy Box, looking at the history of toys and how they’ve developed over the years; Picture This which examines how visual tools and technologies have developed from cave paintings to 3D printing; Game Theory looks at the changes in gaming since the 1970s; and in Make Some Noise, the way we consume and store music is investigated. As well as the interactive exhibitions, there’s a great range of one-off workshops letting you try your hands at music production, robotics, game design and lots more.

Blood Bar (Ages 7+)

Saturday 1 April-Saturday 15 April, (not Sundays), City Art Centre Day Pass Required.

© Allan MacDonald / Edinburgh International Science Festival 2016
Welcome to the Blood Bar! Instead of drinks, you will be making your own very own scabs, mixing up a gooey blood clot and touching an actual heart – if you dare! Explore the science of blood and see how diseases can now be diagnosed with cutting-edge technology. Throughout the festival all five floors of the City Art Centre are transformed into a sensational science playground for families, packed full of workshops, shows and interactive events.

Mini Zoomers: Sensory Scientists (Ages under 5)

Monday 3 April, 11am, 1 hour, also on Wednesday 5, Friday 7, Monday 10th, Wednesday 12 and Friday 14 April. £7, Summerhall, Presented by The Zoom Club.

Mini-Zoomers-Sensory-Scientists-image-TheZoomClub
Now something for the wee ones. Discover hidden stories and get involved in messy experiments and open-ended play in a science adventure for early years and their grown-ups. Warning – this one’s going to get you messy!

Surgical Sleuths (Ages 9+)

Monday 3 April, 11am and 2pm, 1 hour, also on Wednesday 5, Monday 10, and Wednesday 12 April, £4, Surgeons’ Hall Museums.

Portrait of young girl in surgeon's costume against gray background
Have you ever wondered how the body tells us when something is wrong? This fun-filled workshop explores the eye-opening world of medical diagnosis and surgical solutions. You’ll get the chance to put your surgical skills to the test in trying out techniques surgeons use to treat and help others.

Robot Lab (All ages)

Saturday 1- Monday 3 April, 10am – 5pm, National Museum of Scotland, Free.

Robot-Lab
Come and interact with robots from the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics! From an assembly line robot that wants to learn how to work with you, to cute football-playing robots, learn about the many ways in which robots are trying to understand and imitate human beings.

The Edinburgh International Science Festival runs from 1-16 April 2017. For tickets and information visit: http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/

Stay in one of our family friendly homes

Family Friendly Self Catering Apartments Edinburgh

We have a great selection of family friendly self catering apartments in the city centre from where you’ll have easy access to the Science Festival venues. Staying in a home will give you and your children a lot more space and a fully equipped kitchen in case you want to cook at home.

Browse out family friendly homes here.

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