Thinktank, Birmingham’s award-winning science museum offers an extraordinary, fun-packed day out for all visitors.
From steam engines to intestines, Thinktank has over 200 hands-on displays on science and technology from the past, present and future. This includes the state-of-the-art Planetarium, where you can tour the night sky and fly through the galaxy without stepping a foot outside! With an ever-changing programme of workshops, classes, laboratory sessions and interactive science shows, there’s always something new to discover.
When
Daily 10.00am – 5.00pm
Where
Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG
Website
www.thinktank.ac
Dates for the Diary
Family Science Show
Lights, Camera, Action!
Weekends and school holidays
2.15pm
We all know the movies are full of special effects, but do you know how they really work? Come and find out how film makers can turn people into ghosts, make them disappear altogether or even shoot flames from their hands.
Under 8s Storytelling
Freddie’s Fantastic Film Adventure
Weekends and school holidays
12 noon
Meet young Freddie, who will take you behind the scenes to see how films are made as he records a wildlife documentary in a tropical rainforest.
Suitable for the Under 8s
LEGO Animation Workshop
Weekends and school holidays
12.45pm
Join us for an exciting look at animation and optics and make your own animated film using LEGO. If you bring a USB memory stick with you, you can even take the animation home with you!
£2.00 to Thinktank visitors
Sea Life Safari, Be a surgeon & Why Wash Tour
Weekends and school holidays
3.00pm
In this multi-sensory hands-on experience, sight, sound, smell and touch are used to explore a range of creatures that live and have lived beneath the waves. Great fun for all and suitable for families and young people with sensory impairments.
Early Years Club
Wednesday mornings, term time only
11.30am – 12.30pm
Why Wash Tour
Weekends & school holidays
3pm, subject to availability
Join one of our lively Gallery Enablers for an exciting session looking at a variety of microbes that are just waiting to infect you! Find out what they are and what they can do to you and how we have tackled these diseases through time.
Be a surgeon
Weekends & school holidays
A rare opportunity to handle genuine surgical instruments from both the past and present. Discover what these amazing tools have been, and are used for today.
Early Years Activities (suitable for under 8s)
Thinktank has a variety of events and activities for young visitors. From our specially designed and recently refurbished ‘Kids’ City’ area encouraging role play and families exploring together, to storytelling, ‘Make and Take’ activities and a brand new Planetarium show.
Early Year’s Club
Join us every Wednesday morning for storytelling, activity sessions and creative play designed with you and your little ones in mind.
• Suitable for under 5’s
• Wednesdays
• 11.30am – 12.30pm
• All children must be accompanied by an adult
Stay and Play (Group Activity)
Thinktank runs exciting educational activities for organised early year groups, including storytelling, gallery tours and ‘Make and Take’ activities.
• 90 mins, Prior booking essential.
• Minimum number of 8 children, adults go free
• Call 0121 202 2244 for more details
Orion’s Tale – Planetarium Show
Join us in the digital Planetarium for our new show made especially for the under 8’s. Follow the story of Orion and find out how the stars ended up carrying his name with this storytelling session with a difference!
• Suitable for under 8s
• Selected dates only
• 20 mins
Planetarium
Experience the UK’s first purpose-built digital planetarium and enjoy the stars and planets as you’ve never seen them before.
Chinese Art in the Sky
Presenter-led show
See beautiful original artwork of ancient Chinese constellations brought to life in a new presenter-led Planetarium show at Thinktank. Be taken on a journey back in time and discover how the people of ancient China interpreted the night sky.
• Suitable for all ages
• 25 mins
Orion’s Tale
Presenter-led show
Join us in the digital Planetarium for our new show made especially for the under 8’s. Follow the story of Orion and find out how the stars ended up carrying his name with this storytelling session with a difference!
• Suitable for under 8s
• 20 mins
Black Hole
Presenter-led show
Discover the mystery of these massive collapsed stars as they move through the Universe destroying anything that comes close to them. Includes question and answer session.
• Suitable for over 12s
• 20 mins
Tonight’s sky
Presenter-led show
Explore the current night sky, with a question and answer session, and the fulldome film Journey to Infinity.
• Suitable for over 7s
• 40 mins
• selected weekends only
Stars and Stories
Presenter-led show
Discover the wonders of the night sky in this show involving audience participation with a question and answer session.
• suitable for under 7s
• 20 mins
Stars of the Pharaohs
Fulldome film
Understand the connection the ancient Egyptians felt with the stars, and see some of the most spectacular temples and tombs of the ancient world recreated in their original splendor.
• Suitable for all ages
• 40 min
IMAX Cinema
Monsters vs. Aliens 3D (opens April 2009)
In this hilarious 3D family animation, California girl Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) is hit by a space meteor and mysteriously grows into a giant monster. She is taken to a secret government compound where she meets other monsters rounded up over the years, and the motley crew is called into action when the world is threatened by aliens!
Dinosaurs Alive! 3D
(PG, 45 mins)
Dinosaurs Alive is a global adventure of science and discovery featuring the entire age of dinosaurs – from the earliest creatures of the Triassic period to the monsters of the Jurassic and Cretaceous – as they are reawakened on the giant screen in the eye-popping 3D format. Narrated by Michael Douglas, this documentary style film takes you on a journey with the world’s pre-eminent dinosaur hunters as they uncover evidence that the descendents of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us.
Deep Sea 3D
(PG, 40 min)
Through the magic of IMAX 3D technology, be transported below the ocean surface to swim with some of the planet’s most unique, dangerous and colourful creatures, from the unusual Wolf Eel to the Giant Pacific Octopus. Narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, Deep Sea 3D brings you face to face with these underwater inhabitants to witness their peculiar and amazing behaviour.
Sea Monsters 3D
(PG, 45 min)
Stunning photo-realistic computer-generated animation transports you back to the Late Cretaceous: National Geographic’s Sea Monsters 3D follows a curious and adventurous dolichorhynchops –known as a ‘dolly’ – as she travels through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, she encounters long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur.
Space Station 3D
(45 mins, U)
Travel 220 miles above Earth at 17,500 mph to experience the greatest engineering feat since landing a man on the Moon. Narrated by Tom Cruise, Space Station 3D is the story of this unique partnership of 16 nations building a laboratory in outer space.
To see the full film schedule visit www.imax.ac
Getting there
Thinktank, Birmingham’s science museum, and the IMAX® Cinema are housed at Millennium Point, Curzon Street, just a seven minute walk from Bullring shopping centre and Moor Street Station and 15 minutes walk from New Street Station. The car park is accessed from Jennens Road – follow the brown tourist information signs to ‘Thinktank at Millennium Point’.
Ticket Prices
Adult – £9.00
Child – £7.15
Concessions – £7.15
Family 2 adults + 2 children – £27.40