Wind tunnel
Fold a paper rocket, test it in a column of moving air, change the fins, try again.
Exhibits
The halls
Six halls and more than 180 hands-on exhibits. Search below by name, hall or age, then plan your route.
Find an exhibit
Sixteen favourites from across the halls. The full list changes as new exhibits arrive each term.
Hovercraft ride
Sit on a leaf blower powered platform and glide across the floor. Feel friction disappear.
Race ramps
Roll balls, cars and cylinders down tracks and find out which wins, and why.
Giant lever
Lift a real motorbike with one hand using a long enough lever.
Rainforest floor
Walk through a living leaf litter of insects, fungi and seedlings from the south east.
Sahel sand table
Shape mountains and rivers in sand, and watch projected water flow down them.
Rooftop weather station
Live readings of wind, rain and dust from our own roof, and how harmattan arrives.
Earthquake floor
Stand on a platform that shakes like a real quake, then build a tower that survives it.
Microscope bar
Twenty microscopes, pond water from the lake and slides of hair, sugar and onion skin.
Giant mosquito
A huge model you can take apart, and how bed nets and screens stop malaria.
Solar city
Power a toy city with solar panels, then cover the sun and see what the batteries do.
Circuit benches
Build circuits with buzzers, lights and motors. Staff help with tricky bits.
Thunder bell
A safe 10,000 volt spark that rings a bell every 15 minutes.
Moon base soft play
A padded crater pit, a rocket to climb and a moon buggy to push.
Shadow wall
A wall that freezes your shadow when the flash goes off.
Robot workshop
Programme a small robot to cross a maze. Saturdays and holidays.
Deep dives
Hall guides
Plan
A good route for families
- 01
Start low
Under 6s head to Little Explorers first, while they still have energy for climbing.
- 02
Mid morning
Forces and motion before the school groups arrive at 10.30am.
- 03
Lunch
Crater Cafe or the picnic garden, then the 2pm show in the dome.
- 04
Afternoon
Living planet and Tiny worlds, which are calmer after 3pm.
How we build exhibits
Every exhibit is designed, built and tested in our workshop behind the dome, by a team of engineers, teachers and a carpenter from Jos.
- 16new exhibits a year
- 3test classes per exhibit
- 92%parts made in Nigeria
- 24hfix time when one breaks
Exhibit questions
Can my toddler touch everything?
Nearly everything. Anything fragile is behind clear covers, and Little Explorers is built entirely for under 6s.
Are exhibits explained in other languages?
Labels are in English, with QR codes that read the text aloud in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Pidgin.
What if something is broken?
Tell any staff member in a red Orion shirt. Our workshop aims to fix it the same day.