Life as a SEN mum

At the start of the Easter Holidays we took a trip to the Black Country Living Museum, I’ve been looking at going for a while and finally we booked the tickets and went. We absolutely loved it, but I will say, both my kids do love museums and history anyway, but there is a lot to keep everyone entertained.

Cost

I’m going to start with this because it’s always the most asked question, from entrance fees to money spent on the day.

The entrance fee is probably inline with most attractions, whilst this is technically a museum, it isn’t your typical museum, and it is more of an experience. It also comes with 12 months entry. So you will be able to visit again over the year without additional costs (always double check for special events that may not be covered). We were also able to have a free carers ticket, which meant I only needed to pay for the kids tickets, again saving money.

The saving definitely came in useful, given that on the day we spent quite a lot, now a lot of this isn’t necessary spending, and on future visits we wouldn’t be spending as much. There’s lots of little shops to buy treats, plenty of places to get food or even a pint and of course the gift shop. There is also a car park fee of £3 which you will need to pay before leaving.

Food and drink

There are plenty of options for food and drink. Whether it’s a full meal or just a quick snack, you’ll be surprised how many options there are. Of course there’s your usual cafe, in fact at the BCLM you’ll find 2 cafes, one in the visitor centre and one near to the children’s play area. As we went on Good Friday it was only right to take a trip to the chippy, of which again, there is 2. We chose Hobb’s and Sons, of the 2 this one is larger, there is space to eat in, but there are plenty of tables outside to sit and enjoy your chips. The chips themselves are actually quite well priced, £3.50 per portion and you can have gravy free of charge. When we visited there wasn’t fish on offer, however, the slightly smaller “Village Fried Fish Shop” did have fish on offer. There were signs around and a notice on their website as well as staff informing those in the queue, so there’s no worry about being disappointed when you come to order if that happens to be the case.

It may seem that everything comes in pairs, and that includes the pubs. Yes you read that right, there is 2 pubs. The Elephant and Castle Pub and the Bottle & Glass Inn both give that old world charm of a proper local pub with a range of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks and a small range of food.

There are also a few little kiosks, whilst the website states these close at 4 they did shut early when we went, possibly because it did rain quite a bit in the afternoon. These sell drinks, ice creams etc.

There are also a number of shops you can actually make a purchase from. You’ll find a selection of pies and other savoury delights in Mash & Baxter’s butchers shop (again double check opening times). If you want a sweet treat head to Veal’s Baker’s Shop or T. cook’s sweet shop. Or as we did do both. My only complaint is that the sweet shop uses modern measurements. I was ready to as in ounces, not grams. Burgin’s Newsagents also offers a few sweets but bear in mind whilst most shops do accept card payment the Newsagents is cash only.

If you’d rather take your own food, there are plenty of picnic spots, and I would definitely suggest taking your own food if you want to save a bit of money because with everything there is on offer it’s very easy for spending to slowly creep up.

Keeping the kids entertained

There are lots of things to do to keep kids entertained. When we went there was a range of old fashioned games at set times, think egg and spoon races and that sort of thing. These change seasonally so double check their website and socials for details. Kids can also take part in lessons at the school or see what’s on the big screen. For children over 5 you can also take a trip down a mine. All the staff in the houses and shops are also brilliant with children and keep them engaged while staying in character.

If the kids still need to burn or some energy there is a small playground, or if you need a little adrenaline rush, check out the funfair. The funfair will cost extra with each ride/attraction costing one token per person, although we did find that they were happy to allow adults on free to the rides that smaller children couldn’t ride alone, but be prepared to pay per adult for things like the ghost train.

Overview

Personally we really enjoyed it, and the kids are still going on about it weeks later, so we will definitely be using our return entry later this year. As I’ve said at the start I do have children that love museums, and so they already went into the dat excited. I understand that the cost can be high if you’re not sure whether kids would enjoy it, but I do think that if you’re close by (we travelled about an hour) then it is certainly worth a visit.