Ever needed an extra pair of hands?

Trizia Wells, Helping Hands Project Lead

Is it really only 3 months since my last blog? Helping Hands has been zooming along since then, with two more Saturday Clubs, some fantastic parent focus groups, visits to special schools, training, training and more training - and last but by no means least, the launch of Eureka!'s unique Extra Pair of Hands Service.


Extra Pair of Hands (or, as I like to call it, EPOH) is unique in the UK.  There you are, a busy parent outnumbered by your children and trying to come up with an enjoyable, playful learning activity. To make life more difficult, one little darling likes indoors stuff and another wants to let off steam outside.  Where can you go so that everyone’s happy? (including you!) That’s easy - Eureka!


But for a family with a disabled child, the next round of questions is just beginning.  Your child uses a wheelchair, and has a hearing impairment. They are highly sensitive to flashing lights – and crowds! You’re not convinced you’ll be able to get them through the door, and once you do, will they be able to play with the exhibits along with their siblings? Can they get round all the galleries? Are there changing facilities? A quiet space to go if it all gets too much? If only you could talk beforehand to someone who really knows the museum, who can answer your questions, maybe even give you a hand on the day.

Well now you can! Families book their Extra Pair of Hands visit two weeks in advance, and the EPOH Enabler (Enablers are the amazing team that work here in the museum - enabling play!) not only gets in touch to answer all those questions, but will give them a hand for two hours on the day of their visit. 


It seems such an obvious and simple idea that you might wonder what the catch is. Well, having spent March and April piloting the service with Enablers and parents, I can report that I haven’t found one yet! 


One family visited with a little boy, we’ll call him Henry, who has a severe visual impairment.  Henry has visited Eureka! a couple of times before with his sister, but they never went in together – he would only play in the outside space. He could sense a lot of activity and noise inside, but not being able to see past the highly reflective windows and doors caused him a great deal of anxiety. That meant that his sister – we’ll call her Emma - had only ever visited Eureka! with one of her parents – the other always had to stay with Henry.  Henry and Emma had never played inside Eureka! together.

Our EPOH Enabler, Becky, spoke to Henry’s mum beforehand and together they planned the visit. Becky met the family at the start of Eureka!'s yellow brick road, armed with stickers and a smile. The first 15 minutes was spent in the outside space – Becky, Henry and his sister had great fun running round the sensory garden, sniffing the herbs and following the sound of the wind chimes.  Becky built up Henry’s confidence so that he was happy then to go inside Eureka! for the first time.


Becky’s expert knowledge of the museum, our resources, the way children learn through play, and her previous conversation with Henry and Emma’s mum, meant that she could steer the family away from areas that might have caused anxiety, as well as capitalise on those the children particularly enjoyed. When she saw how much Henry liked playing in our Sound Space gallery, she brought out a set of drums for the two children to play with, which kept them thoroughly entertained for ages.


In the family’s words, they “had an absolutely brilliant time, and we’ll definitely be coming back”. Becky got a real buzz out of being able to work so closely with Henry and Emma and help the whole family enjoy their visit. In fact all the EPOH Enablers who did the pilot have requested to be first in line for families booking the service.


Other lovely things that the pilot families said:

• “Our Enabler showed us things in Eureka! we’d never seen before – we were blown away!”
• “Our EPOH gave ten times the value to a normal visit”
• “My (autistic) son can’t wait to go back again, normally he doesn’t like anywhere new”

So what was it that Becky (and Karys and Ross, our other EPOH Enablers) did to make their time at Eureka! so enjoyable? They asked questions, listened to the answers and made suggestions. Parents know their children’s needs best, but they might not know all the ways that Eureka! can offer a playful learning experience. The Enablers’ training and expertise meant they can help families plan a visit that brings the two together.


Suggestions don’t have to be costly
The Enablers offered small, practical solutions – stickers to help Henry think of Eureka! as a happy place to be; ear defenders for the autistic child who was sensitive to sound; meeting the family of a wheelchair-using child at the car to help them into the museum. Suggestions which cost nothing more than thought and time. 

Try before you buy
Families who already have an annual pass can book two EPOH visits per year, but here’s the other unique thing about the service – if you don’t have an annual pass and you’re really not sure about laying out a load of dosh to visit somewhere you’ll never go back to – you can still try out our Extra Pair of Hands service. Just ring and book your visit two weeks in advance and, on the day, your visit will be free. We are confident that you will have had such a good time that you will want to return – and then you can buy an annual pass and book your second EPOH visit! 


Word is spreading fast about Extra Pair of Hands and we’re taking bookings now. Initial feedback is very positive, and I am sure this unique service is going to be very popular with families of disabled children. I am looking forward to telling you lots of lovely EPOH stories and bringing you lots of pictures in my next blog!


Trizia Wells
Helping Hands Project Lead 


The Extra Pair of Hands Service is part of Eureka's Helping Hands Project, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Kidspace Children’s Museum, California.

Kidspace children's museum in California

Kidspace is a children’s museum in Pasadena, California. Its aims and goals are very similar to Eureka!'s as it is structured around a learning through play philosophy, and aims to “inspire learning through self-directed, interactive experiences and play in the arts, sciences and humanities that enrich children, families and the community”. 

I was in the USA recently with Rebecca, one of the other Enablers here at Eureka!, and decided to go and pay the people at Kidspace a little visit. Children’s museums are extremely popular in America, with at least twenty-nine of them in California alone so, no matter where we were, we would have had no problem in finding one, but it just so happened that Kidspace was only a fifteen minute drive from where we were staying. We rang up, explained that we were members of the Eureka! team, and were invited for a tour around the museum. Awesome.

Kidspace caters for children aged 0 to 9 years old and, although Kidspace is a lot smaller than Eureka!, there is still a lot for children to do. We didn’t get a chance to play on all of the exhibits, but even with our time limitations it took us a good two hours to make our way around the five galleries .

The Kidspace galleries are:

The Early Childhood Learning Centre

• EarlyChildhood Learning Centre – A gallery where children aged  0-4 years can play, dance, sing, read at their own pace, and where child-adult interaction is encouraged.
• Central Courtyard – One of the few places in the museum where parents are allowed to sit and relax, the courtyard offers children water fountains and an outdoor dig-it build-it area.
• The Digging Deeper Gallery – As one of the main galleries, Digging Deeper offers children the chance to get up close and explore nature. Digging Deeper also has real insects on show, fossils to unearth (see the video on the right!), and an amazing Nature Exchange (which I’ll talk about later).
• Wisteria Courtyard – An actual child-sized road for children to peddle trikes around whilst learning the meaning of everyday road symbols.
• The Gardens – The gardens has a lot to offer. Vegetable gardens, a climbing wall, waterwheel and water cycle exhibit. All the different plants offer a huge range of colours and smells, and the winding paths make everything feel that little bit more magical.

Bugsy's Diner in Digging Deeper

Just like Eureka!, Kidspace uses its surrounding environment to its advantage. Being situated at the foot of the Pasadena hills, and in the grounds of the Arroyo Seco Park, Kidspace is surrounded by lots and lots of nature. There is a giant park at the front and a giant forest to the rear and, because of this, a lot of the exhibits are designed around nature. The main gallery, Digging Deeper, offers a lot in the way of this. We were able to come face-to-face with scorpions, a baby goliath spider (which absolutely terrified me), and even bumble bees. We even got to watch a show all about how bees communicate through different ‘dances’, which were re-enacted by one of the Educators, who are similar to our Enablers here at Eureka!

The Nature Exchange

One thing I must talk about though is the Nature Exchange. As a way of getting children engaged with the world around them, and as an introduction to trading, collecting and making observations I thought that this was brill. Children are encouraged to learn while exploring, so if the children discover anything they find particularly interesting they can either collect it, or make a note of it by drawing a picture or writing a description. The children can take their findings to one of the Educators at the Nature Exchange, who will award the child points for their discovery. Over time the child can accumulate points which they can then trade in at the Nature Exchange for ‘nature based’ rewards - things like small shells for a few points, and large pine cones for a lot of points. Not only this, but the children are encouraged to keep making discoveries  away from Kidspace, which they then bring with them when they return, so in this way the learning never stops. I really did like this a lot.

Some of the items traded in at the Nature Exchange

There is so much to talk about that I can’t possibly fit it all into one post, but you can always visit the Kidspace website if you want to have a closer look at what they offer.

Eureka! and Kidspace are both children’s museums, and they both offer a learning experience for children that is built around play and discovery, however they are both very different in how they offer this. I think it has a lot to do with the environment in which the museum is set. Anyway, that’s just a little bit about our trip to Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena, California. It’s really awesome and we had a brilliant morning there, so if you’re ever in the area you should check it out.

Benjamin Guilfoyle

Early Years Enabler 

Loose parts is AWESOME!

Wait… what? You don’t know what loose parts is? Well, let me bring you up to speed. The term ‘loose parts’ is just another way of saying ‘junk modelling’, and it’s a really cool, simple, fun activity that anyone can do.

Loose parts activities encourage open-ended learning, and are great tools to use with children of all ages and abilities, as it engages the imagination and helps to unlock creativity. Children love having the freedom to make and do whatever they want, so that’s what I try to give them.

I dedicated all of Sunday 25 September to loose parts, loading up the Imagination Space here at Eureka! with a whole host of bits and bobs that would otherwise have been thrown away. Big bits, little bits, plastics and fabrics, old boxes and tyres, scraps of fabric, garden canes and loads, loads more. We had a real treasure trove of junk just waiting to be made into something amazing. I also gave the children the opportunity to try their hand at designing by having a designer’s area where the children could plan their creation before attempting to make it. Boy, did we make some awesome stuff!

Creativity and FUN! at loose parts day, 25 Sept 2011

We had all sorts of amazing creations: monsters, robots, dolls and animals, right through to spaceships, trains, musical instruments, and bows and arrows. The photos here capture just a few of the amazing creations that we made. Even some of the Enablers came to join in the fun!

Loose parts day was a really big hit, and everyone who took part said that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, both adults and children alike. Best of all, the children could take home everything that they had made - and why shouldn’t they? All the materials were things that we didn’t need, and the children spent a lot of time turning those unwanted objects into something so much better than what they were originally made for!

We had a lot of fun on loose parts day, and would hate for anybody to miss out being part of such a great opportunity to be creative, so come along and join in if you can. We’ll be holding our next loose parts day on Sunday 4 December. If you’d like to make something as cool as the creations in the pictures, why not come on down to Eureka! and join in the fun? Come along to use your imagination, be creative and make something fantastic!

Ben Guilfoyle
Specialist Play Enabler

Making mealtime count in the Nursery

At the Eureka! Nursery, a child’s whole day is about learning through play. Meal times are no exception, where the pre-school children really develop with the positive approach we take to include them in meal times.  We have done some really exciting mealtimes for the children, to introduce them to new foods or experiences. An example of this was with the World Cup, where every day they had a new food from a different country. There was everything from South African ‘bobotie’, to Brazilian ‘feijoada’ and of course good old bangers and mash when England played!

Eating for England during the World Cup!

However, learning isn’t just about new and novel experiences, although they’re really fun for all of us. We learn a lot through every day experiences, and at the Nursery we work hard to make sure that there are plenty of opportunities, from assisting setting places for dinner to learning to eat with a knife and fork—however messy that might be.

Each day in the Nursery, children take turns being the day’s superstar. With their ‘key person’ (a member of staff who has responsibility for monitoring the child’s development and providing them with in-depth personal support), they help to assemble the meals delivered from the Eureka! Café, lay tables and serve both meals and snacks. Today, it was Freya’s turn. She told me ‘I’m helping to give dinner out today, I’m the superstar’.

The other children are still involved too. Sam was waiting patiently for his dinner, but he still let Freya know ‘We need two more dinners over here please!’ Through these activities, they’re continually developing their personal, social and emotional skills and it’s a great confidence booster as children are so excited about having a role to play. Sam did a great job of demonstrating how these activities help children take ownership: not only was he applying knowledge by calculating how many dinners were left to serve, but he also had the confidence and self-esteem to articulate this to Freya and her key person.

Tea on this particular day was sandwiches. Another positive of having all of our children eat together and get involved in the mealtime process is they’re able to become more aware of each other, through speaking and sharing, and by learning to identify differences. Understanding dietary differences, due to allergies or cultural and religious beliefs is another key outcome for our children. Sam and Kai were putting together their sandwiches, and as Sam put a slice of ham on his bread he looked at Kai and said: ‘You have to have cheese Kai, cause you’re vegetarian, aren’t you?’

Having your child involved in food preparation gives them ownership and encourages independence

They’re also aware of healthy eating practices—something very important these days! Oliver was quick to point this out, telling Molly: ‘You have to eat your carrots Molly, because you want to get big and strong, like my daddy! And my daddy goes to the gym too’. What was really lovely was that it was Oliver and his friend Molly having a conversation. He wasn’t ‘telling’ her, he was sharing the knowledge he’s gained at home and in the nursery.

There’s so much to learn from a simple meal time, as we know very well here at the Nursery. For us though, one of the most important reasons for getting the children involved with dinner is that they’re having the chance to take pleasure in who they are and what they can do. They’re learning about their identity and abilities, and that in turn helps them in how they share and learn with others.

Meal times are a great way to get involved with your child’s learning. Here are a few easy things you can do at home!

• Learn more about different cultures through your meals. Even something as simple as having a Chinese takeaway and eating with chopsticks can introduce new ways of eating. 
• Let your child help with meal preparation, and eat with cutlery just like the grown ups. Not only do they have ownership in what they’re eating, but any opportunities to develop complex physical skills (like those used for grating, chopping and peeling). 
• The table settings might not be perfect, but setting out the dishes and spoons develops understanding of maths, and helps with spatial awareness.Ask questions and encourage a discussion at dinner. 
• When you’ve just learned something, you want to share it… and a child is no different! Linking experiences helps children to develop a positive sense of community and expand their vocabulary.

Do you have any ways that you get your child learning at mealtimes? What works well for you?

Clare Dean is an Early Years Professional in the Eureka! Nursery.