Dawnosaurus — The Natural History Museum London you were a dinotastic delight!
After the Science Museum escapades (https://medium.com/@SENFunLondon/you-win-some-you-lose-some-b51a740b2c7a), I will confess it has taken us a while to re-focus, re-think strategy and give something different a go again. But, we couldn’t give up on this endeavour to expose our son to as many different experiences as we can so it was time to give an outing to an unknown location another try. Since we missed the last Dawnosaurus due to illness, it was time to roar back into South Ken for another stab at the Dawnosaurus event at the Natural History Museum. and having re-registered for a place, we had been successful in gaining a pass for our son and us,
For those of you who have never heard of Dawnosaurus, it is an early morning opening of The Natural History Museum in London for those with autism/those who struggle with crowds/noise/queues etc, giving them a chance to explore the museum in relative peace and quiet without the madding crowd. And what a treat it was!
Both my husband and I decided to drive to the museum as we realised the relative unfamiliarity of the tube coupled with an entirely new place to visit was too much for our son to take. We had seen the error of our ways after the Science Museum exploits and this was the first step on the right path.
The journey down was great — we had already had the dawn chorus courtesy of our own little bird at 4:30am, so leaving the house at 7:30am wasn’t an issue. We were all awake (I wouldn’t say wide awake in all our cases but our son was decidedly sprightly). Barely any cars on the road — not many so foolhardy as us it would appear on a Sunday morning — so we made it across town in 35 minutes. Perfect.
We got there, parked up and sauntered over the museum. No queue — straight through after checking off our names — brilliant. Our boy seemed excited to be there. This was a good start. A very good start.
As soon as we got in, he became instantly de-regulated and defaulted to fight or flight mode, resulting in loud yelps and some frantic running. There was only one solution; find the cafe! After a quick iPad sess, a muffin, apple juice and some cola bottles (clearly the breakfast of champions — NOT!), all was right with the world again. Over our much needed cappucinos, hubby and I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe today wasn’t going to be a disaster. Maybe we were in for treat.
Initial nerves and intrepidation made way for smiles and delight as we made our way through the various sections of the museum. The mammals seemed to enthrall and delight but the biggest smiles and whoops came for the dinosaur section. While the animatron T-Rex clearly gathered a lot of interest, it was manageable. Everyone could enjoy and there was no need for clamouring or queues; we all had front row seats.
I tried to engage my son with the token press machine (which turns 1p coins into T-Rex tokens) but by then, interest was starting to wane. Not to worry — a short distance away, we could venture into nature via the wildlife garden which gave our boy a chance to run in the sun and feel the warm air on his skin. Bliss. (I really thought the Bee Tree was great 🐝🐝 where you take a look at them busy-ing away)
We left shortly after this jaunt, realising that boyo was starting to get tired and increasingly demanding lifts and carries. My husband and I left with renewed vigour and pride etched on our hearts; our boy had made it through the morning without incident and seemed to have enjoyed himself which is obviously the main thing.
We loved how warm the staff were and didn’t flinch at the sight of kids throwing themselves to the ground or having a bit of a moment. We would go back in a heartbeat. Well done Natural History Museum — Dawnosaurus was truly Dinotastic!
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If any of you have any tips or ideas of SEN friendly places to go in London, SEN Fun London would love to hear from you so do get in touch.
Next stop….Special Children’s Day at ZSL Whipsnade on 16 June 2018.
