*The following was a gifted experience. All opinions are my own*

 

We’ve done Sea Life before. We’ve had a go at LEGOLAND Discovery before. But both in one go? Now we’re pushing it. The last times we went to these places were when Marlo was way too young to benefit from it, and when we were still scared of Cameo hurting himself on everything. Now – we’ve got a pair of boys that love activities and can very much handle themselves. Hollie and I decided the time was right to take our nearly-3 and 4.5-year old to Birmingham and pack in as much fun as we could.

This trip was delayed for a couple of weeks. The boys thought they were coming here a little while ago, but Cameo ended up waking up with suspicious symptoms the day all the action was due to take place. That said, the boys properly couldn’t wait to just get in there and run wild inside.

 

LEGOLAND Discovery

After an hour’s drive to Birmingham, we got straight to things. Our boys are still at the stage where even going in the lift is an experience for them. After being greeted by a mask-wearing giraffe at the entrance and taking the obligatory photo, they were blown away when the lift opened on the opposite side of where they entered it and they were found themselves in a literal wonderland.

They stepped in and literally ran towards all the life-size figures they found, before we guided them around the many, many different things within.

Among them are:

• Kingdom Quest. You hop into the ride and then use your laser guns to shoot at skeletons, trolls and other creatures around the course. The four of you can go together as you attempt to save the Princess. Marlo asked to “Get them trolls again” as we were about to leave, because he proper loved it and you already know Cameo would be into it.
• Miniland. Following on from that, they’re a room filled with mini interactive attractions. I’m talking things like football pitches, concerts, cricket grounds and whole mini towns to explore. Again – it was a winner with the boys, because they could see all these amazing sights and play with them.
• 4D cinema. Continuing the interactive theme, we had the 4D cinema experience. They run a short LEGO film, where you can expect to be sprayed with water and whooshed with wind. Neither of them could believe the 3D effects and were shocked that we would ever allow them to get wet. It was a great first-time cinema experience for our littlest one.
• Merlin’s Apprentice ride. The boys love a ride and this one delivered. It’s one of those ones that goes up and around. To get it to go higher, it’s the parents’ job to peddle around.
• LEGO City Soft play. A soft play facility is always going to score points with our two and neither could get enough. Both of them were the right size for it, so they had plenty of fun together.

Overall, amazing. They literally didn’t stop. And that’s without mentioning all the time they spent playing with LEGO and they even had a game of musical statues too. It’s ideal for kids of their age and I can imagine they’d still have as much fun if we went there in the next few years.

LEOGLAND Discovery Centre is at Arena, King Edwards Road, Birmingham. B1 2AA.  Sea Life Birmingham can be found at Eleven Brindley Place, The Water’s Edge, Birmingham B1 2HL. (They are literally around the corner from one another).

 

Sea Life

After a lunch break, we resumed the action around the corner at Sea Life. After meeting an Octonauts character at the entrance, they were very much intrigued about what else they were about to encounter. They’re fresh off a few animal-based days out recently (including a few I haven’t even had time to write about), so they knew the deal: explore, see the good stuff and have a good time. So that’s what they did.

Among the favourites were.

• Penguins. You see these at the very beginning and very end, and kept the boys entertained by trying to peck at them through the glass. As it’s at the start, there’s a temptation to hurry past this bit, but they’re definitely one of the best bits.
• Starfish. They give you the chance to touch these, so Cameo obliged. Marlo liked the idea of doing it too, but couldn’t commit in the end.
• Turtles. There were so many more of these than I can remember seeing before, and they got a big reaction from the boys when we went to explore their section.

• Sea otters. We wanted more otter action, but those guys just wanted to hang out at the very back of their section away from the screens. They obviously wanted a bit of privacy, but gave the boys a little game of peekaboo before we went past.
• Clownfish. Our boys haven’t seen either of the Nemo films, but the two of them can identify a clownfish without a prompt, so were excited to be able to go and see them up close.

Should You Do Both in the Same Day?

I think we did the right thing by going to both of these attractions on the same day, but it’s very much based on how old our kids are. We’re now at the stage where the two of them are very manageable when we’re out and about, so it was a successful trip for us. If you’re dealing with kids with a bigger age gap, I can imagine it would be a bit more of a challenge. However, I advise you to just give it a go.

It’s a great day out and with pre-schoolers there’s just so much at each of the attractions to keep them occupied. Also, the format of both of them means that you’re not trapped needing to do anything that they’re not that into. You can just keep it moving and get to the good stuff.