The Science and Industry Museum hosts a sense-ational festive programme this December

From shadowy science and gooey experiments to seasonal excitement and engine-powered adventures, the Science and Industry Museum’s Christmas programme offers a fun-filled festive extravaganza for visitors of all ages, with major exhibitions, special hands-on activities, festive creativity and more.

Running from Sat 20 Dec to Sun 4 Jan, the museum’s yuletide calendar presents the final chance to catch the museum’s hit exhibition Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You, where curious visitors can get stuck into the senses with an immersive, interactive and delightfully digusting adventure through a super-sized human body. Crawl through an ear canal, sniff around the ‘smell library’ and navigate rooms dedicated to sight, smell, touch, taste and sound before finally being sneezed out of a giant nose to collect a free gift from the museum shop (while stocks last).

To mark the exhibition’s final weeks, the on-site Explainers will lead a series of free sensory activities, testing visitors’ perception through optical tricks, audio illusions and brain-boggling challenges.

After the sense-ational excitement, visitors can revel in Christmas creativity and explore the wonders of light and darkness, whether it’s playing in a shadow skyline, experimenting with colourful projections or drawing festive silhouettes of friends and family.

For a more traditional dose of seasonal nostalgia, visitors can step inside the newly reopened Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery, where the sights, sounds and smells of Manchester’s industrial heritage roar into life. With working engines and locomotives that once powered cotton mills, workshops, generators and railways, the hall’s captivating collection provides a fascinating reminder of the engineering that shaped the city and sparked the creation of the model trains that still sit beneath Christmas trees today.

Over in Revolution Manchester, budding builders can even make their own engines using super-sized blocks inspired by the collection.

As always, the museum’s free attractions will be open throughout the programme, including the hands-on Experiment, the Textiles Gallery with its working mill machinery, Revolution Manchester’s celebration of world-changing ideas and an unmissable display featuring remarkable objects from Professor Stephen Hawking’s office.

Gamers can also revel in decades of digital delight with Power Up, the ‘ultimate gaming experience’ which charts interactive journey through five generations of playable consoles, classic titles and latest-gen technology.

Tash Camberwell, Interpretation and Content Developer at the Science and Industry Museum, said: “It’s great to be offering something for everyone to enjoy this December. There’s bucket-loads of family fun to get stuck into in Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You. I’d urge anyone who’s not been before, or anyone who has and loved it, to come and enjoy it for a final time ahead of Sunday 4 January.

“Our free galleries, including the iconic Power Hall, and additional holiday activities make the museum a perfect destination for everyone looking to make some magical memories over the winter holiday.”

The Science and Industry Museum is open daily from 10am until 5pm throughout December, closing only on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Find out more and plan your visit via the website.