Dear mummy, we were recently invited along to the Santa and the Elves Christmas Experience at Winchester Science Centre in Hampshire. Being a brand new experience for Christmas 2017, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We’d heard a special portal had been discovered at the Science Centre which leads directly to the North Pole so packed our rucksack and headed off on a new adventure into the unknown.
We’ve been to the science centre many times before and love their themed events. My daddy especially likes the Star Wars days they hold there. The first time I saw a Stormtrooper was when I was one at the science centre. However this time Christmas magic ran through the educational exhibits and games. The centre makes a great educational day out for kids and adults and every time we come away with learning something new. We had plenty of time to explore before our timed 1 hour session with the elves started.
The Christmas Experience started downstairs where we joined a small group in the Elves’ Invention Studio. We met two of Santa’s Elves, one called ‘Mystique’ who’s character seemed a bit grumpy, we weren’t sure if this was intentional or sadly the result of too many sessions and ‘Inquisitive’ the science elf. They demonstrated lots of colourful experiments through a live science show. The children sat on cushions while the adults perched on chairs to watch the magic happen.
We enjoyed the dry ice experiments, creating white mist and making a cold self-inflating balloon, which grew bigger and bigger as it was passed around the room. With elf and safety on board, audience participation was included and children helped the elves change colours of various liquids from clear to green, red and blue in a clear test tubes baubles for their science themed Christmas tree. It was a wonderful educational workshop but went a little over my head at four years old. The finale included a huge flame which was met with a lot of excitement from children and adults alike.
Watch our video of the action and see for yourselves.
Following the Colours of Christmas science show, we were led through another door to Santa’s house! There were tables for everyone to sit around and we were given instructions on how to make our own snow globes, experimenting with making the liquid different colours.
We found this quite tricky and many of the other families on our table expected drastic colour however the result was less exciting however I did enjoy making the colourful snow globes. For those under 3, there was also the opportunity to make frames with different coloured film in them to change the colour of things when you look through them.
During the crafts, each family was invited up to see Santa one by one. We sang his favourite song, Jingle Bells in a group and he was happily singing along with everyone else. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed, however not very private as everyone could see us talking to Santa.
I received a little science themed goody bag to take home, along with the snow globe which we made. It was nice that the Colours of Christmas science theme ran right through to the gifts and I loved my special glasses which made rainbows dart out of the Christmas tree lights almost as if they were alive. My folks were also relieved not to get more toys ahead of Christmas!
Afterwards we headed to the ‘Reindeer Round-up in Space’ planetarium show which was highly interactive and children were encouraged to shout out and to join in with actions. I was the perfect age to join in and loved my first experience of a planetarium. With comfy seats set in position to allow us to look directly up into the dome we became completely immersed in the experience.
As soon as the show started it was ‘interrupted’ by one of Santa’s Elves who somehow managed to lose all of Santa’s Reindeer and needed help from the audience to find them while travelling through space. We visited each planet in our solar system to find them and it was very educational and fun.
I had lots of fun playing in the rest of the exhibits and soft play area after the Christmas experience. It was like a sensory overload with so much to see and do, I ran around like a headless chicken. It was nice to see my folks participate in challenges too. My favourite part was the Little Big Room which we spent lots of time in having fun on the funny floor and daddy made me laugh when he pretended to dance like in a music video.
The Santa and the Elves Christmas Experience is a good alternative to a traditional Santa’s Grotto – especially if your kids love science! But be quick the magic portal is only open until the 23rd December! Find out more about Winchester Science Centre’s Santa and the Elves Christmas Experience here.
Love Bella x
Disclosure: We were invited to Winchester Science Centre in order to conduct an honest review of their Christmas Experience.
dearmummyblog.com 
Looks like you had a fantastic time! Great to see people enjoying themselves at stuff like this!
This looks like such a fun experience! #bigpinklink
This sounds and looks like so much fun – I love how different it is and that it has a science twist 🙂
What a great experience. My kids love science museums and I’ve never been to the one in Winchester which isn’t too far from us so I will try and get there. Thank you!
We used to love the Winchester Science Centre and it looks like you had a very festive time there
This looks like an amazing place for a day trip that’s both educational and fun! It also seems like you had a great time getting in the festive spirit.
This sounds amazing! I wish I was a child so I could go 🙂
sounds so cool! I bet I would be even more so excited than the kids!
This sounds like such a brilliant place – so glad to hear that you had lots of fun.
What a good idea combining science & Xmas! It sounds like a lovely experience x
Looks like such a fun experience, it’s nice when places like this get into the festive spirit x
It is a fantastic place all year round and so educational. Glad you had a fun day! #BigPinkLink
I used to love going to space centers when I was younger so I think that it is great that you had a good time! The ‘Reindeer Round-up in Space’ sounds like my idea of fun!
Science and Santa – you couldn’t ask for more. My Nephews and Nieces would love this. x
I be we realised they did Christmas events there too, looks good fun
OK how fun does Winchester Science Centre look! It really seems like it makes science fun for kids and it is always a good time to meet Santa and his elves!
This sounds like a great place for families, and I love that you can visit Santa there as well as learning!
Ah this is so cool! I love science museums, I need to visit more
It does look like fun. I bet your Daughter learn lots by having fun here too 🙂
Winchester Science Centre in Hampshire looks so cool. Made even better with the Christmas theme. Looks like you had an amazing time x
This looks brilliant , oh I am so jealous 🙂 – the girls would absoulately love to experience something like this x
What a brilliant alternative way to meet Santa! The Christmas Experience and Winchester Science Centre is an amazing opportunity for children interested in science and trying out different experiments. 🙂
We love Winchester Science Centre and this is a lovely idea for a christmas event. I think the older ones would especially enjoy it
That looks like it was really good fun. It’s great to encourage children to develop an interest in science.
Looks like such a fun experience especially for Christmas! My kids would love this
Oh my thus looks like the best day out ever. My boys would absolutely love this! Really like the fact that the elves are scientific inventors #familyfunlinky
This looks like so much fun I would have loved to go somewhere like this for a Christmas treat when I was younger! Gorgeous photos it looks like they had a fab time!
What a fun activity for kids. Great for kids that are really interested in science too.
It sounds like a great event. It’s fab when there’s lots to do, but it is a shame it’s not very private when you chat to Santa
It looks like you had a great day at the Winchester Scoence Centre. I love that the whole experience is so interactive and educational too. It’s a shame the Santa isn’t more private though.
This looks like a great experience. My kids would enjoy this. I will look up the centre.
Aww this must of been so much fun for the kids! I can only imagine! I have to tell my SIL about this so she can see if there’s something similar around here for her kids!
anything science and is practical is always a winner! merging it with was a good idea from them
This looks like such a cool place to visit with the kids. I’ll have to add it to my ever-growing list of places to try out 🙂
Louise x
This sounds great, such a different Santa experience. Sneaking a bit of education into the fun is always a good thing.
Thank you for joining #FamilyFunLinky x
I wouldn’t think of mixing science and Christmas together but it looks like a fun experience for the kids!
This looks great! As a parent to a little one who loves science and experiments, this sounds like the perfect combination of hands on fun and seeing Santa all rolled up into one fab experience. Bella looked like she enjoyed it 🙂 If only we lived closer! Thanks for joining us for the #DreamTeam x
This sounds like a great educational and fun day out #bigpinklink
Oh my word!! That sounds AMAZING! What a cool way to see Santa! Thanks for joining us at the #bigpinklink this week.
This sounds fantastic. My science mad son loves our local Science museum. And Santa too! Sounds like a wonderful day out.