Robot Zoo - the new exhibition at The Horniman Museum, London

In the middle of a row of grand old houses and new estates in Forest Hill stands the Horniman Museum, a former family home transformed into a museum.

When Frederick Horniman, a Victorian tea trader, began to collect objects from around the world in the 1860s his aim was to bring the world to the people of Forest Hill.

Horniman's museum started out in his own house and grew until he needed to commission a museum building, which opened in 1901.

The founder died five years later in 1906, but he gave the museum and grounds as a gift to the people of London, and over a century later the public are still enjoying his unique collections and the many exhibits that have been added since.

"There is an old story entitled 'Eyes, No Eyes'. Those who use their eyes obtain the most enjoyment and knowledge. Those who look but do not see go away no wiser than they came."

Frederick Horniman (1835 - 1906)

Robot Zoo

The Horniman Museum may be smaller than many other exhibitions and galleries in the capital, but its unique mix of formal displays and child-friendly objects make it a firm favourite with families.

This is definitely one museum kids won't yawn at the suggestion of visiting – with so many interactive and hands-on displays, the Horniman is designed with families in mind.

Robot Zoo is the newest temporary exhibition and it's a paradise for kids (and adults) who love pushing buttons, pulling levers, playing games and generally doing anything that's not standing silently in front of a glass case.

Based on the book Robot Zoo: A Mechanical Guide To The Way Animals Work by John Kelly, Philip Whitfield and Obin, the exhibition has toured the world to places including the USA, Poland, Holland, France and Abu Dhabi.

This is the first place it's been to in the UK and it looks set to be one of the Horniman's most popular attractions over the next eight months.

Keeper of Natural History at the Horniman Museum Jo Hatton says, "The exhibition assembles animals from all over the world and brings them to life in a way that's brilliantly fun and accessible for children.

"The robots and other hands-on activities are fantastic and help visitors understand how incredibly specialised and adapted for life some animals really are."

The Animals

Robot Zoo has eight larger-than-life creatures; chameleon, giant squid, rhinoceros, giraffe, grasshopper, platypus, house fly and bat.

The huge, moving models are made up of everyday machines to show how each of their special features work.

Pistons are used to show muscles, brains as computers and filtering pipes become intestines.

The chameleon's body is made up of TV screens that change colour at the touch of a button to show anger or to camouflage itself.

A massive model of a house fly has eyes made up of lots and lots of different lights to show its multi-faceted view of the world.

The rhinoceros is still under construction to show visitors how the Robot Zoo was put together, with illustrations and a workshop backdrop.

Just the animals alone with their movements and fascinating machine bodies would be enough to have most children enthralled, but there are 11 different interactive activities to keep them busy, too.

Kids can test how long they can hang from a monkey bar next to the bat display, or look through fly vision eyes.

You can also fire the chameleon's tongue at hanging pictures of its insect prey to see how many you can catch, or have a go at building up your own platypus with body parts.

Little children will love the tortoise race – strap a tortoise shell to their back and let them crawl around the track to see who is the fastest.

There are loads of buttons and levers to make the animals move and learn how their bodies work and adapt to the places they live in.

Sarah Beckett from the Horniman Museum says: "The exhibition is great, because for example a live giant squid has never been seen and most children might not have seen a giraffe or a chameleon because they're not native to the UK.

"Robot Zoo lets them see how those animals work and also shows them really tiny insects like the house fly up close.

"They can see why a creature looks like that, or why it makes that noise.

"It fits in really well with the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth too, because it shows how these creatures have adapted to their environments."

With hands-on activities, noise and rushing around all encouraged in Robot Zoo, it's a very different experience to museums kids might have visited before, and a fun way to learn about the natural world.

Robot Zoo opened last weekend and runs until Sunday, November 8 during normal museum opening times.

This is a paid-for exhibition, tickets £5 adults, £3 concessions, £2.50 children, £13 for a family and free for children under three.

Fun for Families

The Horniman Museum is a great day out for families, with loads of displays aimed at children.

Its exhibitions of archaeology and anthropology, natural history and musical instruments are of national importance, but they're just as keen on making sure kids enjoy themselves.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS...

As well as the fantastic Robot Zoo, there are free displays families will love.

Aquarium

The aquarium is always popular with children and adults alike.

From tanks of British seashore fish to rainforest mangrove species and tropical Fijian reef fish, the aquarium is a colourful basement gallery with lots to see.

As well as the fish, look out for a big blue lobster, scuttling crabs, serene see-through jellyfish, little frogs, pretty anemones and coral and a tank of starfish.

Some tanks are at a lower eye level so kids can see comfortably and activity trail sheets are fun ways of encouraging them to learn more.

Music Gallery

The impressive collection of musical instruments range from classical orchestra items to drums used at a wedding in Uzbekistan and guitars from local performing arts college the BRIT School.

Costumes and explanations of how the instruments are used make the displays more interesting for children.

Interactive screens of the instruments invite visitors to press buttons and hear what they sound like.

Gardens

If all that time indoors has left your kids squirming for somewhere to run around, the Horniman Museum has 16 acres of gardens surrounding it.

Voted Best Park in South East England in 2005, the gardens are the perfect place to relax with a picnic when the sun is shining.

THE LOWDOWN

Address: Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3PQ

Tel: 020 8699 1872

Web: www.horniman.ac.uk

Open: Daily from 10.30am - 5.30pm museum, 7.30am - sunset Monday to Saturday and 8am - sunset Sunday gardens

Price: Museum and gardens are free, some charges for special exhibitions

Access: Wheelchair and pushchair friendly, lifts available

Get there: Trains from Croydon and Surrey to Forest Hill, then a five to 10 minute signposted walk to the museum. Limited free parking in surrounding streets, pay and display behind Sainsburys, limited on-site parking for disabled visitors (call the number above)