Visitors can bring along their cuddly friends to one of Manchester's most popular museums this summer as it transforms into a teddy hospital, uncovering more about the fascinating inner workings of the human body.
From Saturday 22 July to 3 September, visitors to the Science and Industry Museum can bring their fluffy friends to special medical 'departments' around the museum. The departments of Heads, Hearts, Bones and Bottoms will demonstrate how to keep whole bodies healthy with playful and engaging activities for all ages.
At the Department of Bottoms, visitors and their soft, squishy companions can discover more about the important topic of poo. The department, supported by Andrex® working with Bowel Cancer UK, will get people talking about bowel health with a variety of special activities. Visitors will discover how much guts we all have, the toilet habits everyone needs to be looking out for and what poo is really made of.
Why we have blood and what goes on inside our veins will be revealed at the Department of Hearts. The surprising links between joints in the human body and in household objects will be explored in the Department of Bones, and the Department of Heads will provide a relaxed space for visitors to explore their emotions through art.
The transformation is inspired by the museum's new world-premiere exhibition, Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You, which will take visitors on a dive through the digestive system when it opens on Friday 21 July. It is the first time hit BBC children's show, Operation Ouch!, has been brought to life as an exhibition, and will include a host of super-sized science, fascinating facts and interactive experiences during an investigation into some of the body's funniest functions.
Also premiering at the museum this summer is a new interactive science show. Led by expert Explainers, the performance will be packed full of fun facts and explosive 'wow' moments as it gets under the skin to explore the ways our bodies are all the same but different too.
Dani Bryers, Schools and Families Producer at the Science and Industry Museum, said:
'We can't wait for our visitors to turn into mini medical professionals for the day when we transform the museum into a teddy bear hospital for summer and share the amazing secrets of the human body.
We're celebrating our weird and wonderful inner workings with everything from a skeleton puppet to giant jigsaws all about poo. Our brand-new science show will be full of audience interaction as we champion our differences and try to find the "rarest person in the room". We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors of all ages to discover more about what goes on inside all of us.'
Ultimate gaming experience, Power Up, will also be open every day during the holidays. With five decades of games and over a hundred different consoles to enjoy, visitors can rediscover classic arcade favourites like Pac-Man or explore the future of gaming through virtual reality experiences.
The museum's free family favourite galleries and displays will also be available to explore. See science brought to life in interactive gallery Experiment; meet the machines, people and stories that made Manchester the first industrial city in the Textiles Gallery; and journey through Manchester's rich legacy of world changing ideas in Revolution Manchester.
Incredible objects from Professor Stephen Hawking's office also create a special display that explores Hawking's remarkable life as a scientist, science communicator and as a person who lived with motor neurone disease.
General admission to the museum, including visits to all the teddy hospital departments, is free, but tickets need to be booked in advance through the museum's website (www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk) or by calling 033 0058 0058. Full details of all the activities taking place at the museum over summer can also be found on the website.
Tickets for Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You are available to book and priced at £10 for adults, £9 children, senior and concessions, with children aged three and under going in free. Tickets for Power Up (www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/power-up) are £8 for adults/£6 for children (family discounts available).
The museum is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound restoration programme. The project is revealing inspirational new spaces and perspectives for all to enjoy, play and learn in. Although this means some areas, including the Power Hall, will remain temporarily closed, there is still plenty to do, see and enjoy as visitors explore 250 years of innovations and ideas that change the world. The works include carrying out crucial work to restore and tell the stories of the historic listed Power Hall and the 1830 Station and Warehouse; building awe-inspiring new indoor and outdoor experiences for families; bringing to life the story of the revolutionary railway; and using its collections to create new galleries revealing the wonder of how Manchester's past and present continues to shape the modern world.
-ENDS-
For more information, please contact communications officer, Catherine Tindsley at catherine.tindsley@scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk.
NOTES TO EDITORS
ABOUT THE SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY MUSEUM
The Science and Industry Museum tells the story of where science met industry and the modern world began. Manchester was one of the first global industrial cities, and its epic rise, decline and resurrection has been echoed in countless other cities around the world.
The museum's mission is to inspire all its visitors, including future scientists and inventors, with the story of how ideas can change the world, from the industrial revolution to today and beyond.
The Science and Industry Museum site is on the site of the Liverpool Road Station terminus of the Liverpool Manchester Railway, the world's first purpose-built passenger railway. Among its internationally significant buildings are the world's first passenger railway station and the oldest existing railway goods warehouse. In total there are two Grade I listed buildings and four Grade II listed buildings on the site.
The museum is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound regeneration project that will see brand new spaces opened and significant improvements made to some of its best-loved galleries.
The Science and Industry Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, a family of museums which also includes the Science Museum in London; the National Railway Museum in York and Shildon; and the Science and Media Museum in Bradford. The Science Museum Group is devoted to the history and contemporary practice of science, medicine, technology, industry and media. With five million visitors each year and an unrivalled collection, it is the most significant group of museums of science and innovation worldwide.
