Families came together for a day of scientific discovery delivered by the Science Museum and several departments from the Faculty of Engineering.

As part of this year’s Bring Your Child to Work Day, 80 children joined their parents and guardians for a morning packed full of exciting activities. The day started with the Science Museum’s ‘Out of this World Show’, where participants were shown what it takes to become an astronaut and explore the Solar System looking for alien life.

This was followed by a ‘Mission to Mars Workshop’, again delivered by the Science Museum, which explained the science behind launching rockets and satellites into space. Participants were then invited to make their own rockets using some of the knowledge they had acquired, whilst younger children were treated to a face painting and entertainment session. According to one parent, the Science Museum presentations were “very good indeed” and “at just the right level”.

The children were then divided into groups to take part in further sessions provided by a number of the Faculty of Engineering’s departments, including Computing, Earth Science & Engineering, Aeronautics, Bioengineering and Civil & Environmental Engineering. The activities ranged from fossil hunts, exploring volcanoes and a paper aeroplane masterclass to mini-robot building, an electric stethoscope workshop and programming.

The response to the event was very positive, with one parent reflecting: “Thank you so much for organising such a great event and giving me the opportunity to enjoy it with my son. This is the 2nd year that I have attended the event and we both really enjoyed it. The Science Museum presentation was excellent and kept the audience of all ages thoroughly entertained. As my son is 4, we stayed in the room with the entertainer and my son was thrilled with the balloon snake he was able to take home.”

Another parent said: “The children seemed to really enjoy the paper aeroplane activity. There was great interaction with the department staff who were friendly, supportive and maintained the children's attention.”

A gallery of images from the day is available below: