My father was a control and instrumentation engineer. I was never very clear what that meant. I was the one mumbling at the back when we had those “What my dad does for a living” talks at school (it was the 1970s – it was never mum). He was always trying to get me to join him in soldering things on the kitchen table but I could never summon up any enthusiasm for such a strange, smelly activity. I left science behind as soon as I got to choose my A-levels.
Imagine my surprise, then, to find myself hunched over a soldering iron with my seven-year-old son, cajoling him to keep the solder moving at the right pace and the fiddly transistors in place while he constructed his own circuit board. He was alternately frustrated and enthusiastic but, boy, was he delighted to have constructed his own “Stop Thief!” mini alarm, which would, with the light sensor and buzzer he’d carefully soldered into place, alert him if his little sister tried to steal his prize model cars. By the time we finished we were both, for different reasons, profoundly moved. Who would have thought this emotionally freighted familial stepping stone would have come courtesy of Butlins?
In search of a weekend treat that involved something more substantial than another day or two queuing at a theme park, I had been drawn to the Astonishing Family Science Weekend run by Butlins,which piloted in Minehead, Somerset, in mid-September last year. Never having been to the home of the redcoats before, I was a little hesitant, but having roped in his favourite cousin, I figured it should at least have my son’s burgeoning passion for science indulged without the effort being solely mine.
Better known for its chalets than its chemistry, Butlins has made the clever decision to partner with experts in popular science education – BBC TV’s Stefan Gates, The Royal Institution, Horrible Science among many others – and brought them together in one place. So, instead of dragging the kids on the train or through traffic to the nearest science museum, we strolled the 50 yards from breakfast and were doing Newton’s laws of motion by 9.30am, courtesy of Holly from the Science Museum in London. Its “Greatest Hits” show involves exploding balloons and flaming flour showers and all manner of other devices that kept my son and his eight-year-old female cousin totally thrilled – and they weren’t alone.
True to the family part of the title, there’s plenty in this for adults, too. By 11.30am we were with Tom from Bletchley Park who was introducing us to playfair ciphers, binary pixels and caeser shifts; parents and children knuckled down together in teams, competing to complete his code-breaking challenges. Tom had bought with him a real Enigma machine that the kids were free to use; the absence of science mediated by glass cabinets was one of the weekend’s most compelling characteristics.
Across the Butlins campus, there were bookable workshops, interactive drop-ins, performances and bits of science you could just stumble upon. Most of the activities that could be booked were repeated several times a day to allow maximum flexibility. There was so much to do we felt the need to spend the Friday evening planning the next two days: like a military operation but fuelled by ice-cream and wine. With some canny manoeuvring we managed to fit in everything we wanted to do and easily filled the weekend, especially once we allowed for a break from the science with a quick swim. And when the time came it was so refreshing to meet no resistance to leaving the water chutes; no nagging needed when activities such as constructing and launching your own rocket with Leicester’s National Space Centre were on offer.
The wisdom-to-wow ratio could have been upped at times. The Walking on Custard drop-in by Plymouth University had children running the length of a long tray of ankle-deep custard without sinking, providing they got the technique right. So much fun was being had the implied promise of an explanation of this advertised “physics phenomenon” didn’t materialise. Almost all of the science was included in the price: we were out from breakfast until bedtime and yet during the whole stay we only paid£6 extra for the soldering project’s circuit board.
The early-evening entertainment was excellent and all science- and maths-themed too: from Brainiacs Live (taken from the television show that is approximately the Science Museum meets Top Gear) to the final Sunday night show, Matt Parker, who makes maths funny. It was a fitting end to a fun and educational weekend As a parent, I’m not sure what more you could want – and as a daughter … well I’m sure that my dad, who died the year my son was born, would have been most proud.
Butlin’s Astonishing Family Science Weekend is available in three UK locations in 2016: Bognor Regis 15 April, Skegness 10 June and Minehead 16 September, and is suitable for children ages 6-14. This year there will also be Microsoft workshops where children and their parents will learn how to design, create and play a computer game in an hour. Prices are for three-night breaks based upon four people sharing “silver” self-catering accommodation; Bognor Regis from £65pp, Skegness from £79pp, Minehead from £89pp, 0330 100 6648
