This summer, Winchester Science Centre invited children and their families to Play Wild with three brand-new exhibitions; Dino Dig, The Chalk Stream and Dormouse Den. The new installations are just the beginning of our Strategy 2030, For People and Planet, connecting children and visitors to our landscape at Winchester Science Centre. It is the Science Centre's first major outdoor development in its history and draws inspiration from the chalk landscape and ecosystem of the South Downs.
As summer fades, we are pausing to look at what's worked; has it met our primary objective of a positive impact on visitors, especially young ones, and is Play Wild tracking against our business ambitions?
A launch that made noise
On 18 July, our opening launch had the energy we hoped for: kids sprinting straight for the mosasaur skeleton, a busy gaggle at the water pumps within minutes, partners and supporters onsite to witness the fun.
As CEO Ben Ward put it, "the best adventures start with a question. What lives here? Why does that happen? What if I try this? Play Wild takes the curiosity we inspire inside Winchester Science Centre and lets it loose outdoors”
Coverage from the BBC gave Play Wild a platform well beyond Winchester, sharing our aim to get children discovering science through movement and nature, and raising the issue of preserving the region’s rare chalk landscapes. See more from the BBC here.
Attendees to our opening event included some of our closest allies such as the MP for Winchester, Danny Chambers, Cllr Jackie Porter, Cllr Amanda Barnes-Andrews, Amanda Ames, South Downs National Park, Dan Hoare, Butterfly Conservation, Emma Vickers, Edina Trust, Nathalie Hinds, University of Surrey and Dr Neil Gostling, University of Southampton.
Coverage of the opening was echoed across our own channels, with some wonderful feedback from our first visitors;
"We thought [the Play Wild exhibits] were amazing and really enhanced an already excellent place."
"The new areas are absolutely incredible"
The launch gave us an opportunity for our partners and closest supporters to test the exhibits for us and give the Winchester Science Centre team a sense of how it would run in practice. It was wonderful to celebrate with such a supportive group of attendees.
Why Play Wild?
Play Wild has been carefully designed to support our For People and Planet 2030 strategic objectives of connecting people with nature through play. Each zone is designed to turn a piece of real South Downs ecology into something children could climb into, get wet in, or dig up. Find out what the Play Wild exhibits offer here.
Play Wild connects children with nature through playful, inquiry-based experiences linked to chalk grassland ecosystems and local heritage and uses playful enquiry to build awareness of fragile ecosystems. It is a bridge to the natural history and the heritage of our landscape. Dino Dig uses dinosaurs as a familiar entry point to spark curiosity about fossils, evolution, and the unique chalk geology of our site.
To help us achieve engagement through play we have commissioned Inclusive Play Consultant, Amber Ogunsanya-William, to lead our engagement with children initiatives that wrap around this project. Amber champions play as a factor that can transform children’s lives. She is Director of Play England, NSPCC Champion of Childhood and winner of the UK Playwork Sector Award. Amber said;
"Play Wild is a project that puts play at the centre of everything and lets children’s ideas take the lead. When children dive into Play Wild, they don’t just play, they transform. One child told me, ‘My imagination gets so big in here I have to walk around to catch it,’ and honestly… I’ve been carrying that joy around like a little treasure ever since"
So, what do visitors think so far?
The exhibits have been open to the public throughout the summer, giving the Winchester Science Centre team a chance to gather feedback and gauge the impact. The initial response to Play Wild has been wild!
'The chalk stream was well laid out, plenty of room for the kids to explore and shallow enough their feet stayed dry! Excellent work!'
'Your recent improvements have been enough to spark a new curiosity in ourselves and our son that keeps us returning as often as we can.'
'We had lots of fun today at @winchestersciencecentre and planetarium. The new outdoor Dino Dig area is amazing, there’s so much going on there. Plus there’s lots of space to move around, you never feel cramped, and everything seemed very accessible. The staff are amazing, everyone is very positive, welcoming and ready to interact with all the young visitors.
Word of mouth has been wonderfully strong, and we are delighted with feedback so far.
How it's tracking against what we set out to do
Play Wild wasn't only built for fun! It was commissioned to engage children with our natural world and tick five clear business objectives. One month in, here's an early read on each.
Visitation and dwell time. Winchester Science Centre has traditionally been busier on rainy days and colder days, with families choosing other outside activities in the region. The intention is that with the installation of outside discovery spaces, the centre will expand the use of the outdoors, increase dwell time on site, and encourage more visitors on sunnier days. Early indications show that visitor figures were at their highest this August since pre 2020.
Secondary spend. The extended outside spaces give families more welcoming places to eat while children continue playing, particularly with the picnic tables on the South Lawn and the downstairs mini café being open for all holidays. The Meeting Den and buggy shelter on the North Lawn give families a reason to linger near the café. Every bite, sip, and sweet treat helps to sustain our charity and there is also plenty of space for picnickers, keeping the day out affordable.
Year-round revenue resilience. It's definitely too early to speak to seasonality as we come out of summer, but we’ve just had the most successful August since the pandemic suggesting that these spaces are already repositioning the Science Centre as a must-place to visit in the summer months. The design intent was to create discovery spaces that allow the Science Centre to become a year-round destination, and the early indicators are positive.
New and repeat audiences. We are excited that a higher proportion of visitors are first timers this summer, with many saying they will attend again. Our measure of customer loyalty and satisfaction is up by a whopping 28 points.
What comes next
Discovery at Dino Dig has been wrapped into schools' visits for this new academic year. Fossil Detectives is an engaging, hands-on science workshop where learners handle real fossils, explore ancient ecosystems, and discover how incredible creatures survived, evolved and vanished over time. This interactive workshop brings prehistoric worlds to life while developing scientific enquiry and critical thinking skills. Find out more.
The early signs are that Play Wild is doing what it was designed to do: engage young people in science and nature through play and celebrating our natural environment right here on the South Downs, while giving us a genuinely weather-resilient, accessible, all-ages outdoor offer that extends a visit to Winchester Science Centre.
For now, the simplest measure of success is still the one you can't put in a spreadsheet: watching a child work out, with three other children they've never met, how to get the water flowing all the way down the stream, where to find the best fossils in the dig, and how to hide like a dormouse.
Find out for yourself.
We thought [the Play Wild exhibits] were amazing and really enhanced an already excellent place.
“The new areas are absolutely incredible.”
“Play Wild is a project that puts play at the centre of everything and lets children’s ideas take the lead. When children dive into Play Wild, they don’t just play, they transform. One child told me, ‘My imagination gets so big in here I have to walk around to catch it,’ and honestly… I’ve been carrying that joy around like a little treasure ever since.”
The chalk stream was well laid out, plenty of room for the kids to explore and shallow enough their feet stayed dry! Excellent work!
Your recent improvements have been enough to spark a new curiosity in ourselves and our son that keeps us returning as often as we can.
We had lots of fun today at @winchestersciencecentre and planetarium. The new outdoor Dino Dig area is amazing, there’s so much going on there. Plus there’s lots of space to move around, you never feel cramped, and everything seemed very accessible. The staff are amazing, everyone is very positive, welcoming and ready to interact with all the young visitors.
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