Our (family of 5 - 2adults 14yrs, 13yrs & 7yrs) first visit to the think tank and based on some reviews I was unsure if it would be an enjoyable experience. I allowed 4 hours for our visit, but we could have easily stayed longer. The kids and adults really enjoyed learning all about engines, pistons, pulleys etc and loved how interactive the whole experience was. Mini brum was great for under 8’s and the science garden was great fun. However, we all said the best but by far was the planetarium. We say the Webb universe show and it was absolutely amazing. ( sit towards the back if you can as you would have to crane your neck a little sitting at the front) We ate in the signal cafe - I wouldn’t again just because it took too long out of the time we had. The two members of staff were working so hard ( so kudos to them) but food still took a long time to come out ( 35mins) due to busy/high demand and it wasn’t great quality unfortunately. There is an indoor picnic area if you wanted to take food along. Overall, would definitely recommend a visit.

The most important thing to remember, when you book your tickets, this place is too big to be explored in one go. If you are meticulous, you will do 2 floors, maximum 3. But there is more. So plan your visit in 2 attempts. Luckily, you buy an annual ticket for the price of one visit. An operational cafe would be nice, but here is covid, so all your food comes from vending machines. The robot drummer is crazy off sync ))) But overall, firm top mark.

We visited in a Sunday and pre-booked so there was no que to enter, so a great start. The museum itself is spread over three floors of the millennium point complex, ground floor had the cafe (we didn't eat here, as we brought our own food) and the exhibit regarding transport, and industrial revolution. First floor is about what makes Birmingham great. Including much of its industry in silver and vehicle building. Level two consist of our plant, including ourselves, the animals on it and how we have to look after it. Level three is the future and technological advancement. There is also a kiddies play area on this floor as well. Level three also houses the museum's growing glory the planetarium. It's 2.50 per person bit there's a show every HR and it's spectacular and well worth the price. Outside is a science garden and (weather permitting) worth a look. We spent 5hrs in total at the museum and neither ourselves, nor our children were fed up at the end. We went home happy. Again can't say anything regarding the quality and price of the food served as we didn't eat there. Parking is in the nearby millennium point car park, and it's reasonable priced for the time we spent there. We will certainly visit again.

Fantastic value, spent 4 hours there with my 9 year old and didn't get round it all. We spent ages outside and upstairs in mini Brum but my favourite was the human body section and all the interactive exhibits. So much fun plus educational. Great day out for families of all ages!

Amazing experience, its a really good place to spend some time with kids but being honestly we enjoyed as well. Three amazing floors shop and a small place to enjoy a coffee and something sweet. The outside garden is a really nice place for kids to exercise what the learned inside. Each floor is really well design to understand what s every machinery is doing having an interactive technology. I think the proper age for kids to understand something should be 7+ maybe more.

Firstly, don't follow your Sat Nav and instead follow the tourist signs. With so many roadworks going on because of HS2, it's very easy to get lost Because of said HS2, it now means parking is pretty much limited to the multi-storey next door, which isn't actually as expensive as you might think. Thinktank itself is a great place. Very interactive and younger kids will get a great deal out of it. Older kids will get a great deal out of it, too. It's definitely worth booking the Planetarium in advance, too. It fills up quickly, and that's because it is a great little show. Nice little cafe too, but it does get busy and you will struggle for a seat.

Very good. There was a stamp colle tin for children to complete which once got all stamps you take back to entrance and are given stickers. Each level has something for all children ages I took was between 2-25years plus the free science garden outside kept them busy. O got a great deal on train and 30% entrance fee for think-tank which was bonus 😀

Spectacular, interesting and so much fun... And not just for the kids! We did truly enjoy our time here and would stay even longer if it wouldn't close for the day. There's a lot to see, try and experiment with/on. It's an excellent place to visit for families with children of almost any age, but particularly children from age of about 3. My son was extremely excited here and wanted to try technically everything, however, he particularly liked the second floor and the top floor. We will come back some time in future for sure. Meanwhile, we can definitely only recommend this place.

This museum is sadly in a run down condition. Many of the equipment were broken especially the interesting ones. Many manufacturing demo machines were not supplied with materials so they were quite boring to watch as they did nothing useful. I was there on Saturday. The play area at the top floor was provided for kids 3-8 of age but rude big kids were hogging the slide and pushing their way through the little ones. They seemed to come from a rough country and weren't raised with basic etiquette you would find in British children. The outdoor science garden was in a similar state. My toddlers liked the water fountain feature but some of the other equipment like the energy conversion setup was broken. Overall it wasn't worth £15 per adult. I would not recommend this place to a friend.

Amazing museum to spend a day out with your kids. My kids loved the rockets show. It was a great show that give children knowledge about how the rockets fly and explain the UK plan to do a spaceport. Also, there are practically experiment to show kids how rockets fly and what equipment needs to do that. Moreover, there are two playgrounds inside and outside the museum. I suggest that you need to spend around 3 hours enjoying everything there. Finally, it could be said, it was an incredible experience.

Great place to go, it's so big we didn't get to see everything. The kids loved it as their is something for every age. We liked the planetarium but it could of been a bit longer.

Can’t believe we hadn’t visited before, great place with loads to entertain all ages, Mini Brum is fab - it’s a role play area with shops, builders site with a slide, hairdressers, doctors vets and much more, it’s so involving I couldn’t get the kids out of it. It was a particularly hot day so pleased it was air conditioned. The garden was also fab both little people loved it, really interactive both my 2 year old and 5 year old really loved it.

Really excellent day out for the entire family in rain or shine. Definitely big enough to split over 2 visits, especially when it's a sunny day as the outdoor bit looks like great fun. Only gave 4 stars as there were quite a few interactive displays that were out of order which was not great considering the cost to get in.

This place is just for you to spend money, dreadful customer service, extra cost to visit the planetarium for a show that lasts 5 minutes only. More suitable for younger children, my 11 & 12 years old where NOT impressed. No parking available, the nearest, charges £5 for 4hours. We certainly would not return and we wouldn't recommend to anyone with children 10+!

One of the day trips ever. Kids would enjoy a lot. Don’t miss the planetarium (just from £2.50 available from the desk on arrival) Allocate minimum 3-4 hours to enjoy the full scale of museum. On site parking available- from £3/hour.

Great value for money. We spent six hours there with our four-year-old grandson. He just didn't want to leave! So much to see and do. He especially loved experimenting in the science garden and playing in Minibrum cafe, medical clinic, building site - just so much! A fantastic day out.

Great day out for all ages. So much to do and very friendly staff. The hamster astronaut film was a great addition to our day. The cafe is reasonably priced too which is nice as sometimes these places can be expensive. All in all a great family day out

Fantastic place to visit, could of spent the whole day there but had to leave early. Plenty of exhibits for adults and children alike and many of them are interactive so youngsters can learn. The staff were all pleasant and asked if we needed help when they passed, we got to go in the planetarium and found that absolutely amazing and a must visit when your there. Their were a few exhibits that were out of order which was a sham but didn't take away from a great experience

I have been once before a long time ago with the school as an outing and today I came back and explored the whole venue! On three floors, it was totally amazing and I enjoyed myself 🧪 It is worth the money! It was cheaper for me as I paid for a concessionery rate and I was in there for 2 hours looking around! There was so much to see it was awesome and I recommend visiting, it's a really cool day out 🧪 At the end I went out into the science garden which was amazing! It was all really cool, I'll definitely be returning. 😊

Exceptional place for me and my 2 year old daughter. Mini Brum excellent and the planetarium is also very good. Fascinating information throughout. Favourite thing here has to be the robot who talks and sings Perfect for a 2 year old.

A great day out for all ages... Especially for a birthday kid. Energy let lose on a world of information and interaction. The venue is good as well as the odd café dotted about the floors. The staff were friendly enough at the location. The only thing that let the place down was that quite a few of the interactions weren't working which was a let down as they were some of the interesting ones.

A brilliant attraction in the centre of Birmingham, perfect for families. Make no mistake this is an expensive day out in terms of ticket price, but it is a vast, high quality 'experience', especially for kids. There's a good balance of learning for all ages, plenty of interesting artefacts and many 'hands' on features. Parking is easy and the Thinktank is in close proximity to other things to do, eat, drink in the city centre too. Don't miss the out-side water area.

It's amazing place my girls like coming. Lots of cool play areas, play kitchen, play hospital, water and boats, 3D dome cinema, It's garden is good too though last time they closed barely at 4 because it was getting "dark" for health and safety and kids didn't get to play there.

(Translated by Google) An entertaining interactive museum in a central enclave of the city. (Original) Un entretenido museo interactivo en un céntrico enclave de la ciudad.

Excellent place for children, with many many educational activities. Will need to spend 3-5 hours to maximise what they have on offer. Parking is nearby at a reasonable cost. Recommended if you have young children, but also very suitable for teenagers.

Lovely time visiting the thinktank, lots of interesting/fun stuff to explore for all ages

We visited this weekend intending to spend 1-2 hours and ended up being here for 5 hours. The kids absolutely loved it, normally they get bored quickly in museums. It has to be the best museum we have taken our 4&6 year olds to in terms of how stimulating it was for them. The Mini Brum was amazing and we spent a good hour there alone. They loved the planetarium experience and wanted to watch more there. They found the exhibits on the rest of the floors very interactive and exciting, and of course the garden was a real highlight too - we had not seen something like this before. I think the museum was like a 'best of' from all the other museums we have visited over the last few years - the science museum, the MAD museum in Stratford, the transport museum, the Welcombe medical museum, and our local market hall museum in Warwick. Most of these places get a bit samey but this had a little pinch of everything. We spoke to many of the staff, and all of them was helpful, friendly and professional, which made us feel like we were in safe hands. Genuinely impress and will return again. Thanks for a great day out.

I was very much impressed with how technology evolved over the years. Seeing the old machines in operation was very nice.

Took my 2 children and my 2 younger siblings for the day and they loved it all, the park outside was brilliant too we all had a lovely day exploring

Suitable mostly for primary school kids. my kids are too old for it but still enjoy it. quite a lot of interactive stations. there is a play area for aged 8 below at level 3. the science garden is brilliant.

A fantastic family day out. So much to do and see. Plenty of interactive exhibits still up and running. Staff were going round disinfecting surfaces regularly.

Have loved this place since primary school. Lots of interactive exhibits great fun for all ages. Cost around £40 for 2 adults and a child. Theres a shop and £2.50 per seat for the planetarium.

The think tank museum is paid and few other events inside requires additional payment at site. The museum is divided into three levels and with interest into historical machine, health, mecidines, animal, and others. It is great time for kids who are interested into scientific history.

Lovely day out with kids! Educational and very interesting for them. For me, as an adult as well to be honest. Lovely atmosphere, indoor picnic area so you are not pressured to buy overpriced unhealthy food. The science garden was an my daughter's favourite! Will be back again as it feels like there is so much we haven't explored.

Was a nice little trip we enjoyed as a family. I used a groupon voucher to pay for our tickets. My son really enjoyed the museum, only downside was that some of the interactive parts of the exhibition weren't working- other than that we did have a good time. Especially liked the science garden!

Well designed museum with a great variety of exhibits. The steam engines are probably the highlight of the show. If you rush it you can do the museum in two hours but I recommend allocating more time.

Found 2-4-1 tickets so we gave it a shot with our almost 4 year old, and we really enjoyed our day here! Lots of different zones and almost everything is interactive. Mini Brum is great too, our only gripe about our visit being that there were a fair few older kids in there throwing things around and not being careful of the younger ones. Maybe there should be an age limit or a blocked off time where older kids can explore so not to exclude them. But aside from that, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and we will definitely be coming back! The science garden was a brilliant end to our day too. Everywhere was clean and tidy despite how busy it was, even the picnic area tables, which is refreshing to see. Our favourite zones were the manufacturing area and the animals!

Visited on a Saturday with my grown up daughter, my 5 year old grandson and my daughter’s nephew, aged 6. We had the most fantastic visit. We started on the ground floor and worked our way up to floor 3 - before heading back down to grab a drink and snack in the ground floor cafe. We had booked the children’s show at the Planetarium so headed up to that only to realise that the receipt that we’d been given when paying, was actually our admission into this. We went into panic mode. Spoke to a member of staff and managed to show proof of purchase on our phone and all good. We were frazzled on arrival - children ran straight in while my daughter was paying, she ran after them, I grabbed the map and the receipt not realising it’s importance so worth noting - PUT YOUR RECEIPT SAFE. We then went into Mini Brum and wish we’d have found it earlier - it was just brilliant! The boys were gone. I stood by the little ‘Big Ben’ so my grandson knew where to find me. A member of staff on the door too so no chance of escapees! Loads of staff everywhere! So well staffed. Clean and accessible toilets too. We didn’t get into the garden due to the rain so can’t comment on that. We bought a family ticket so excellent value for money! I’d definitely recommend this as a great day out. If you can get to Grand Central too to see the bull, then do as it’s amazing!

Half-term, great place to explore and learn with kids. 4 floors exploring areas from 'the past', 'industry', 'our world' and 'the future'. Interactive exhibits, videos, stamp collections, games, and experiments. Plenty to keep kids occupied. Could spend a good few hours here. Certain times of the year they have themed exhibitions. When we went it there was a women in science trail. They also particular activities to see at certain times, such as 'our world from space' family show. There is food and refreshments you can buy on site, also family washrooms with baby changing facilities.

Really good museum for kids but also got some very interesting stuff for adults too. The top floor kids play area is a really good way to engage the kids after some learning time. Not awfully priced, maybe a tad steep. Beware however, the car park does cost a moderate amount and depending on your car, you'll also be stung for Birmingham CAZ charge. The walk from stations is also not ideal if with small kids / prams

Very good for the kids, lots of interesting interactive displays, lovely playground on upper floor to let them run around and great cafe with delicious food.

Amazing place with lots to learn and lots to do, a fun family day out, or even just a solo trip for researching if you're interested, but is very hands on in certain exhibits and great for kids!

Came here yesterday to take my mother inlaw for her covid 19 vaccination. Brilliant service and well laid out for ease and no stress

Excellent place for children, with many many educational activities. Parking is nearby at a reasonable cost. An amazing place to visit. The outside science garden is brilliant. Really cool museum. Definitely worth a visit for anyone into transport history and science. The kids loved it, it is very interactive. Interesting stuff on every floor and outside.

Lovely place and my son really enjoyed it. They just refurbished the whole kids area and looks amazing!

Wonderful! Amazing! Illuminating! Fascinating! Such a thoroughly incredible experience to be able to explore and delve deeper into the discoveries that we have made into what makes life the way that it is, our past, and what awaits us in the future!

Good

Really makes you think, doesn’t it 🤔

Very good for kids

Amazing place for kids and love the fact even kids with special needs are catered to and welcomed here.

Really interesting place to spend the day with lots of floors to investigate. Loved it.

Absolutely amazing place. My children loved every minute!

Great for inquisitive young minds!

Nice place to visit

This museum is a pale comparison to the Birmingham Science museum in Newhall St. that preceeded it up to 1999. I returned to the old museum many times but once was enough for the Thinktank. Such a shame

Amazing experience for all ages! Theres something for everyone!

Cost me £33 Admission for two adults... Spent an hour walking around... A lot smaller than expectations... "Bigger on the outside" As a regular visitor and supporter of the original Newhall Street Site... I'm extremely disappointed... No Mechanical Music No Clocks or Pen Nibs Lack of Cars and transportation In fact where is all the exhibits from the old industrial hall that surrounded the City of Birmingham Loco... Teletype machine and communcation section missing... Worse decision ever to move into such a tiny space and not be able to put a good 80% of the original exhibits on display... Spend your money on a train ticket to London and visit the Science Musuem for FREE there.

Ive been here lots of times in my childhood this is a great place highly recommend for tour

Great activity-laden science museum for adults and kids alike.

Decent

🖒🏻🖒🏻🖒🏻

Food 2 expensive

Nice museum but not a lot to see

A great place for children to learn about so many things. Totally loved it

Very interesting

Nice museum to visit. My daughter really enjoyed it.

Great for local history and more

Awesome experience. Even for us "adults"

We really love the think tank got annual membership last year, but it needs some more funding to fix the things that don't work and update some things and give a general lick of paint. Staff couldn't be faulted always happy to help.

A lot of things weren't working but still brilliant, staff were fantastic! Great time, would recommend going again

Love the thinktank. Great place for family outings, especially the planetarium. There are always lots of different activities going on too.

This was my first visit and I was somewhat disappointed as I do not think it's worth the entrance fee....especially if you compare it to, for example, the art museum which is free and has even more to offer in my opinion. The cost of the food is a lot too and not good value though the hot chocolate was nice! There are plenty of things to see and for children and adults to interact with but I unfortunately i wouldn't recommend it mainly because of the prices.

Brilliant. Just wonderful. I took a school trip. Nothing was too much trouble. Thank you so much.

We have membership at this museum and kids love going here!

Great way to keep kids entertained and the planetarium is a must

It was perfect. My son loved it. ☺️

Fantastic place, so much to see and do. Mini Brum area great fun for little ones. Worth visiting

Great for kids on a schooltrip, but not that great for adults.

Such an amazing day out for littlen and learnt so much!!

A lovely place to go, especially with children of all ages. Lots to see and do.

A bit worn around the edges and not worth the entrance fee, could definitely do with an upgrade

We were fortunate enough to get free tickets for their 20th Anniversary. My daughters both really enjoyed it. However my reason for 4 stars is that usually it quite expensive. I would definitely come more often if they had family tickets or special offers to entice me back.

Ordered tickets online prior to visit but had to allocate time of arrival. Only a 10 minute walk from Moor St station. A bit worried that my teenager daughters (16&17)might get bored, they loved certain parts of it. My 7yo daughter also enjoyed it. The science garden playground outside was a hit with all of them. We spent nearly 3 hours there in total. Some informative exhibits like the world’s fastest car in it’s era. If you want to visit the planetarium there you have to pay extra in advance which we didn’t bother doing.

Had a great time out with partner here ,we enjoyed each floor of various things to discover.

Very interesting. Lots of things for my 4year old granddaughter to do and see. Bit disappointed the planetarium was fully booked but it didn't spoil the afternoon. Plenty of room for pram and wheelchairs. Lifts to all floors. Nice cafes. Plenty of seats to rest on way round. Would recommend for all the family.

You can easily spend 3-4 hours in the museum. There's a food hall and planetarium inside. Young people 10 years and above would enjoy the walk through experience in the science museum.

A definite place to visit for anyone of any age! Will definitely be going back. Our child are 6 and under and there was something for everyone. They enjoyed the planetarium and have been asking lots of questions about space ever since. The outside play area was a big hit

Great day out for little kids, especially the Science Garden and Mini Brum. Staff are really friendly, helpful and so organised when dealing with school trips. The kids loved it. Thank you!

An enjoyable experience but IMO geared to snapshots but some good dolisplays of early engineering, many locally based.

Great place for adults and kids. The ground floor is for mechanical and scientific wonders, everything from steam engines to spitfires. The 2nd floor has a planetarium, fossils and a variety of other fascinating things. While the 3rd floor holds the giant play area for the kids. Reasonably priced and kids under 3 go free!

A really great experience for people with children. The ground floor is all about engineering and engine power.The first floor talks about the development of technology in terms of plastic, jewellery,metal working and also about the "spitfire" aircraft. The second floor is dedicated to human body, wild life and how the species are vanishing. There is a shop as well to buy some gifts. The third floor is all about space (planetarium), modern science such as micro vehicle, nanotechnology... and a place for children to run and play "Mini Brum", it is a wonderful day out.

I went as a university student on a wednesday, when it is free. On a weekday, it can be busy with school children taking trips. Apart from that, the museum has plenty of exhibits to look at and interact with. Considering it was a free few hours for me, it was brilliant.

It really is a fantastic place, especially for a little boy (and for a not so little one!) and especially on a day like today when it's quiet you could spend hours just wandering around and playing whilst learning. Would be five stars but it's starting to show its age, quite a few of the interactive exhibits aren't working any more, which is a little sad. Still, Spitfire!

Really good value for money and well worth the visit. Lots of areas to get involved in, lots to play with for adults and children. Interactive and educational about local and national history and engineering

We had a great day out! We parked at the B4 car park 15 minutes walk but £12 parking which is cheap. Spent about 3 hours there but could have stayed longer if I wasn't so lazy. We watched the star show which is £3.50 a head but worth it in my opinion. I learned where the north star is and how to find it.😁 Kids ranges from 7 to 12 and all enjoyed it which is a trial for any parent. We did however get half price tickets which made it all the sweeter. Even so we would have been happy if we paid full price for first time visit.

Interesting day out and staff who are clearly enthusiastic about their exhibits, they were really happy to talk to us! Only 4 stars because it's really expensive and in my opinion they try to cover too much in not enough detail, I'd prefer a museum dedicated to less but in more detail. Obviously industrial revolution in Birmingham is fascinating and there's quite a lot on this topic but I'd really go to town on it (but I'm an engineer)! Also the children were disappointed that some exhibits weren't working and the outside section was closed, but I'd conclude everyone came home satisfied!

A wonderful day out! We visited as a family and there really was something for everyone. The planetarium was a real hit with the whole family and the children could have spent the whole day in Mini Brum alone. The science garden was loads of fun I would advise to bring clothes that are suitable for getting wet or spare clothes for the science garden 10/10

Not as good or feature rich as it was 5-10 years ago. Would be more understanding if it was free entry maybe with the Planetarium being an additional fee or else getting the Planetarium free with your entry fee. It does not represent good value at all. What really soured my experience was the lift inside the main foyer (the outer building, not inside the Think Tank itself). They only built in 2 lifts which was marginal at the time but when I visited 1 lift was out of order and the other was impossible as it went from the lowest floor straight up to level 4 stopping at level 3 and by the time it arrived at level 2 where we were waiting it was completely full. This happened more than 5 times over 10 minutes before my disabled wife and disabled son had to use the stairs which wasn't easy for them. The stairs were hard to find without adequate signage to help. This was a weekday: Thursday 13th October around 2pm so hardly peak! They should have an accessible entrance without having to use the lift in the outer building and clearer signage for the stairs. They need a provision for when a lift is out of order. Given the Think Tank occupies 4 levels it feels as though they're internationally creating unnecessary bottlenecks and barriers. If people have an awful experience before they even get into the Think Tank they aren't going to have a nice day out!

We had the most brilliant family time here. It's a lovely half day trip out (about 4 hours we were there) my daughter's 16 and my son's 9 and we had a blast. The outdoor area is lovely! My son was blown away with the robot as thats been his love for years. Cafe was nice too. Lovely cake.

We had a fantastic time at the museum. We attended the cauldron chemistry workshop which was about 40 min which was exciting and only managed to complete the ground floor,visit the science garden and little brum ok the 3rd floor. We were there about 4.5hours including lunch. We ended up upgrading our tickets to the science museum family membership before leaving as the children loved it so much. The membership also includes other attractions.

Went here with the family after having seen and heard so much about it. I have to say, quite disappointed. It's not worth the hype, especially as compared to what it costs to enter. Yes, there's some reasonable exhibits and things, but overall, it's just not worth it. The London museums, in comparison, are so much better.

A great place that is genuinely huge and packed full of exhibits from across the ages. You really need all or most of a day to make the most of it, as there is so much here, across 4 floors! Don't miss the planetarium on the top floor too.

Thoroughly enjoyed our visit. It took longer to get around the museum than I thought it might, and it kept the whole family entertained. There's lots to look at and do, buttons to press, things to have a go at, making it exceptionally child friendly. The outside park area is brilliant, lots more things to explore and space to run about in. There was plenty of options for water play too much to my children's joy. We booked in for the planetarium, which we were a little underwhelmed by, it didn't hold the attention of any of the 5 of us on the trip unfortunately, everyone found it a little boring (and we nearly all like space/planets/stars!). We were a bit disappointed in the cafe options, hot food was available but with a large que and there was a chiller for sandwiches and children's sandwich meal deals, but this had only snack items and no sandwiches available. We opted to look upstairs for food and in the coffee shop there we found only one sandwich available and ended up opting for crisps and chocolate bars until we got somewhere else later (and we paid a hefty price for crisps and chocolate). There is an area for eating food separately from the cafe downstairs, which is a nice option and in future I'd bring my own and sit there. The play area upstairs for small children was very good, featuring a whole village of child size places to explore. Pricing seemed fair and it's easy to walk to from the city centre.