Dinosaurs Rock - The Age of the Dinosaur, Natural History Museum

Last week we managed to secure the hottest tickets of the Easter holidays!  We got into the press launch of the new fantastic exhibition at the Natural History Museum - The Age of The Dinosaur which opened to the public on Friday 22nd April. It was great to be there with some fabulous bloggers and tweeters - @zooarchaeologis @superamazingmum and @dadtalk.

The exhibition runs right through to the end of the Summer holidays and closes on 4th September so there's plenty of time to catch it.

Ruby had an amazing time, and although she was interested in dinosaurs, it has awakened a new passion in her.  She's learning the names of some, and I'm pretty impressed at only just 3 years old she can say 'Tyranasaurus Rex'; 'Stegasaurus'; 'Diplodocus' and 'Triceratops'.

Whilst I was marvelling at the beauty of the giant ammonites,

Ruby was enjoying the interactive computer screens ("like a big iphone Mummy!").

There was virtual fossil digging, facts and figures and her personal favourite - examining dinosaur poo under a microscope!  What child isn't fascinated by poo after all!

Some of the exhibits were mind-blowing.  Sadly, when you are trying to keep tabs on a toddler, there's not much time for taking in all the science.  I'd love to come back another day with Daddy in tow, so I can really take my time and hopefully learn something!  For example, I can't remember what this was.  Ruby was knee-high to a...

Then we moved on to the stars of the show - the animatronics.  I really should have taken videos of these, because the movement and sound effects were amazing - however I was a bit unsure how Ruby would react coming face-to-face with life size moving dinosaurs!

She was absolutely fine and totally fascinated by them.  She watched to see what they were eating, and pointed out characteristics.  She was fine until we met the Tarbosaurus - cousin (or possibly even the same species) as the T Rex.  When he turned and ROARED directly at us, she was completely terrified and even 'did a little wee in her pants'!!!  Bless her. 

The solution?  We hit the shops.  Well, the gift shop to be precise.

Here she was in her element at all the things she could buy to fuel her new-found passion for dinosaurs, and we came away with a new cup, a cuddly dinosaur and some chocolate and postcards for her equally obsessed cousin.

Before leaving there was time to scan in the barcode from our tickets and load up an interactive scrapbook.  We haven't had chance to log on the website yet, but I'm sure it's going to be a fabulous rainy-day activity and will let us re-live our visit.

If you fancy meeting the dinosaurs, the exhibition is on at the Natural History Museum with tickets costing adult £10 per adult, £6 for child and concession tickets (under 4s go free) or £28 for a family.

For futher information, check out  www.nhm.ac.uk/dinosaur-age

Disclosure: We recieved a free invite to attend a pre-launch event, however no financial reward or expenses were recieved.  All views expressed are my own.