Eureka in Halifax offers 100s of fun activities for kids this Easter

Parents busily planning trips for the upcoming Easter break will certainly not be disappointed if they head to Eureka!, the national children's museum.

This sensory extravaganza is found in Halifax, Yorkshire and boasts hundreds of tactile and interactive exhibits that are sure to thrill and entertain the whole family for hours on end.

The Independent newspaper recently named Eureka among its top three favourite family days out, which is no surprise, given the huge number of entertaining attractions on offer.

Eureka's main aim is to help children up to the age of 11 understand themselves and the world around them, in a fun and exciting way. Children can examine their own skeleton, build a house or even play at working in a Post Office.

There are also plenty of opportunities for kids to burn off some energy too, with a outdoor PlayScape offering a 'beach' sandpit with all the tools required to build sandcastles of epic proportions.

The creatively conceived Snug loose parts playground also encourages children to create their own bespoke environment to explore. Nine large, inter-related shapes are flexible and can be reconfigured by children themselves as many ways as their imagination will allow.

A more focused Eureka Wonder Walk is one of the latest additions to the museum and features safe tools and installations to explore and interact with. Experience different naturally occurring textures using hands and feet, or visitors can use senses to identify the origins of other interesting sounds, sights and smells in this truly engaging outdoor adventure trail.

Inside the museum, children receive a special guided tour of the SoundsSpace gallery by virtual alien Orby, who encourages them to create their own music compositions and experiment with sounds.

Children are given the opportunity to see sound vibrations, as well as bang, pull and push different objects to see what sounds they make.

Eureka also features a dedicated area for children and toddlers, which is padded and allows less mobile infants to explore without risk of injury.

Themed sections such as Boulder Mountain, Cactus Construction and Desert in the Dark each present little ones a different, thought-provoking set environment which encourages them to play independently and with each other.

The Mission: Active Future exhibition presents a bleak, lazy future in which the world's inhabitants have become lazy and docile. The challenge for visitors is to think about ways to get active and behave sustainably.

A total of 16 activity based challenges are engaging and fun, for both children and adults.

Parents and kids that are inspired after a visit to Eureka can take advantage of a host of resources made available on the museum's website. Learn about how to have fun with vegetables, make the most of musical instruments and create exciting scientific experiments to demonstrate pressure, gravity and the properties of air and water using common household goods, such as bottles, drinking straws and even chicken eggs.

Find out more about what Eureka! has to offer.

More information on what else to do with kids in Yorkshire.

Visit London's alternative, the Science Museum.