We love going to museums in our family and the fact that they are often free is an added bonus, especially in the summer holidays when you may be trying to make your money stretch. It was our first visit to the North Lincolnshire Museum and I took my youngest two and we met some friends here. It’s easy to find in Scunthorpe and has a free car park.

The museum is very family friendly and they have really considered children and made it as interesting as possible for them. They have items to look at and touch at a low and floor level so that as an adult you may get a chance to read some of the information as they are looking at things. For example, in the first section they have an interactive floor projector.

The museum has lots of information about the local area which was interesting. There was a replica of an air raid shelter and an example of a cottage from 1911 so quite engaging for the kids to see how people lived. Each area seemed to have something for children to do as you go around the museum; a little table and chairs with toys in one section, dressing up in two areas and colouring in one. In addition, there’s a dedicated children’s area (Dudley’s Den), which my three year old could quite happily have spent quite a while in. It is here they host an under 5s session 10:30 – 11:30 on a Wednesday and Friday which is free.

They had an exhibition on when we were there ‘A Thousand Tiny Wings’. This was right up my daughters’ street who is fascinated by insects. There was an opportunity to dress up as butterflies, snails, and bees. They had great fun doing this! There was an area where they could dress up in costumes from history such as anglo-saxon etc.

After we had looked around everything we got our lunch from the car and ate our picnic in the courtyard which we had to ourselves. The staff were very friendly and helpful and were quite happy for us to eat in the courtyard. There is no cafe here. After we ate, we had a look in the gift shop which I was impressed with as it had some very reasonably priced items so I was more than happy to let my daughter have a bag of gems for £1.50 which she was thrilled with. I would definitely recommend a visit here.