I don’t think I have ever known activities as fantastic as these for developing problem solving skills. Having to work out angles to put pieces at, what to do if the marble flies off an end (as it did hundreds of times while they worked it all out), what effect a bouncy trail piece has, judging bounce distances etc etc… well it was just a joy to watch!
Neither of them wanted help, they were both determined to work it out for themselves. The concentration on their faces was lovely to see as they were both 100% engrossed in what they were doing. The big wall in particular was extremely popular so you might have to wait a short while before you can have a turn, but there is so much to do there it really isn’t an issue. At one point during our visit a family erupted into the loudest cheer ever as the dad had created a huge marble run completely filling the wall and the marble had successfully followed it. You’d think England had scored in the World Cup by the excited cheers! It was brilliant! Just shows how this is a place for all ages, and the sense of achievement is incredible.

Something else that tells me how wonderful this place is was the way Luke in particular behaved. Luke had speech problems as a younger child. He has only been told in the past year from speech therapists that it is no longer an issue. His inability to communicate clearly with people apart from family for so long means he now lacks confidence to wander away from my side. This is something we are working on. However, for the first time ever Luke left me so he could run off to see what else he could explore in the MAD Museum. His excitement and keenness was overwhelming and he didn’t want to be tied to wandering around at my pace. He wanted to race ahead, try something new, and rush back to tell me to hurry up and see what was around each corner. He felt safe and happy, and that was incredible. He has never done that anywhere else before (or since), so that to me is a sign of how fantastic The MAD Museum is. It will always hold a very special place in my heart.