New list reveals most ‘fun’ educational visitor attractions in Liverpool

According to various scientific research papers, the human brain is more receptive to learning when having fun. Accordingly, a survey was carried out to find out which of the UK’s educational visitor attractions was the most ‘fun’ and therefore the best at helping people learn and remember scientific or historical information.

The company that commissioned the research, Saturn Visual Solutions, has subsequently created a list of the ‘UK’s top 50 most fun educational visitor attractions’. The rankings are based on the number of people that named the site as a ‘fun’ attraction, rather than metrics like visitor numbers which tend to discount many smaller educational visitor attractions.

Three visitor attractions in Merseyside were listed. The Maritime Museum in Liverpool was the highest ranked educational visitor attraction in Merseyside and 15th in the overall rankings. It features collections relating to the Titanic, border control and customs, and also documenting the colourful history of the Liverpool Docks and is free to enter.

The Museum of Liverpool, which also free to enter, was ranked 43rd for its variety of exhibits which range from locomotives and Viking silver to Beatles memorabilia.

The World Museum, which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical science, was ranked 45th in the list.

Ian Murphy, Head of Maritime Museum: “We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the UK’s top 50 most fun educational visitor attractions. Securing the 15th spot is a testament to our team’s dedication to making maritime history engaging and enjoyable for all ages. It's also so exciting to see our other venues, Museum of Liverpool and World Museum, ranking in this list. This achievement underscores our commitment at National Museums Liverpool to providing an enriching experience that both educates and entertains."

Saturn CEO, Chris Welsh, said: “Every year there are tables of data about which visitor attractions are the most popular, but something that’s often overlooked is how much ‘fun’ they are. Both adults and children are more likely to learn and remember information if it’s part of a ‘fun’ experience, so we thought that it was important to find out which educational visitor attractions were most successful in making learning fun.

“Our research found that nearly half of adults categorise something as being boring if it doesn’t have engaging activities. So, it’s no major surprise that so many of the highest-ranking educational visitor attractions in our research, like the Maritime Museum, have interactive exhibits and experiences on offer.”

Saturn Visual Solutions is a digital signage consultancy that works with leisure businesses and charities to help them make the ‘visitor experience’ more engaging and fun.