Dinosaurs Unleashed at the Eden Project (#FlashbackFriday)

When my brother was a young boy he had 2 obsessions which ruled his life for several years dinosaurs and Star Wars. Dinosaurs were first and I remember he had lots of books on them and knew so many of their names and let’s face it they are long names to memorise. Burton and Jenson do not have a dinosaur obsession as he did, but they do have some books and figures which they play with, and I am sure as they grow older and learn more about them they will certainly have an interest in them.

An exhibition I know my brother would have LOVED to have visited as a child, is the new Dinosaurs Unleashed at the Eden Project

I took Burton and Jenson along on Wednesday to have a look, and as we passed through the entrance they were handed their own Adventure Journals, which is something they could take away after their adventure filled with information and activities to fill in once they are home.

The exhibition is spread out across the site, and there are 6 activities for your wannabe palaentologists to participate in

The Crater of the Tyrant King
Become an explorer
Explorer Field Stations
The Dig Pit
Dinosaur Exhibition
The Escaped Dinosaur

We did not see the first one because the queue to get to it was rather large and slow moving, and it does warn you on the website that the experience , although realistic, is a little gory and I was not sure if it may have been a little disturbing for the boys. We also missed the Explorer Field Stations in favour of an ice cream!!!

However,  we did do the other activities and we also had a lot of fun in the process.  We learnt about the dinosaur family, how big they were and why it is thought they were wiped out. We also saw real dinosaur teeth, a fossilised dinosaur brain, a skeleton and, possibly the most fascinating artifact of all – actual dinosaur poo!!

The boys also got the opportunity to be palaentologists as they had a go at unearthing a dinosaur skeleton. Kitted out with safety goggles, a paint brush and a small hammer they were able to chip away at the pit to see if they could uncover any more parts of the burried skeleton. The plan is that by the end of the summer, all of the parts of the skeleton will be revealed thanks to every child who took part in the big dig. This was the part of the day that the boys enjoyed the most, and they looked so happy chipping away trying to see if they could reveal any bones (they didn’t). You do have to queue up for this, and I guess we waited about half an hour and then the boys had 10 minutes hands on time which wasn’t bad really.

There are also a couple of deep sand pits with some mini hidden bones and fossils in for younger children to unearth, but the whole time we were there a lot of older children were doing this too!

Part of the hands on experience that Dinosaurs Unleashed enables visitors to do is to see hunt down a dinosaur. We did this and we ended up in the mediterranean biome, where we saw a walking dinosaur which I have to say looked very real, and it certainly unnerved a few people and there were a few screams let out!! Burton simply said “but you told me that dinosaurs don’t live anymore mummy”. That told me!

The boys also got to create their very own dinosaur and pin it up on the wall for eveyone to see in the dinosaur art gallery.

The Dinosaurs Unleashed experience is really good and very well thought out, and there is lots to see and do, certainly enough to keep your dinosaur fans busy all day. I really liked the fact that the exhibition was a mix of reading materials for older visitors, with lots of hands on fun, like the dig pit, for younger ones who prefer a more hands on approach. Yes it was busy, but it was the summer holidays and to be fair it was not so busy that we had to wait for too long (queuing for an ice cream took almost as long lol!).

Dinosaurs Unleashed is at the Eden project from now until 2nd September, and is included in the admission price, and I think this was excellent value for money considering all that you can do in one visit. I have to say that all the staff were really helpful, knowledgeable and friendly and had a good way of coversing with children. And as you leave Eden, as with most attractions, you have to exit via the gift shop (ond of my pet hates about such places) and there is, quite naturally, a large section selling dinosaur items. However, they are quite reasonable priced and I bought the boys a wooden dinosaur model each for just £3 a piece which I thought was educational and good value, and they were chuffed to bits with them.

I was given a press pass which gave the boys and I free admission to the Eden Project, as I was asked to review the Dinosaurs Unleashed experience. All words and photos ofour day are honest and my own.

This post was brought to you as part of Flashback Friday

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Remember – a flashback can be from any time whether it be yesterday, last week, last month, last year or yesteryear! It can be a flashback of your own, your children, your partner or your friends.