The Natural History Museum has always been one of my favourite museums and more so since I have been a mum. Now that my son is at school age he can really take part in the fantastic family activities suggested by the museum for children in his age group.

As well as the hand-on activities, which are a truly entertaining way to learn about science, I like the Trails including the Explorer Backpack for the under 7s and the Explore and Discover Guides for school age kids. The museum provides an explorer backpack to families who want to enjoy the galleries to the full by turning children into little explorers on an adventure. Backpacks are available between 10am and 5pm and each is filled with drawing materials on topic, binoculars and an explorer hat. The best part is that they are free, but you will need to provide a refundable credit card deposit of £25.

The Explore and Discover trail offers resources for primary school kids between 5 and 11, which will stimulate them to answer quizzes, make sketches and discuss what they see in the galleries using the fun cover guides provided. Each gallery has an activity sheet to match its theme so Key Stage 1 kids will become Dinosaur detectives and explore how dinosaurs fed and reproduced by answering questions and describing what they see using the correct vocabulary during their visit to the Dinosaur Gallery; while they will take the animal adventure and explore similarities and differences between us and other animals in the Mammals gallery.

Explore and Discover resources cost 50p and you must book and pay in advance; to order call the telephone booking line +44 (0)20 7942 5555.