This summer, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester welcomes the world premiere of immersive exhibition Food, Poo and You, from the brains behind CBBC hit Operation Ouch!. The exhibition is truly for the whole family, providing interactive education on the digestive system and human biology. It promises plenty of giggle-worthy grossness, from exploring a set of super-sized gnashers, to slipping down the oesophagus and investigating the innerworkings of the intestines.
Opening at the Museum of Science and Industry Manchester on Friday 21st July, Food, Poo and You will see visitors sent on a special mission to get up close and, in one case, extremely personal, with presenters Dr Chris, Dr Xand and Dr Ronx as they are shrunk, swallowed, squeezed through and spat out of Dr Xand’s digestive system during a lively, interactive and playful adventure to better understand our brilliant bodies.
The job of each digestive organ will be discovered through interactive activities that reveal the biology behind that body part. These include sniffing out the science of how food is broken down during a smelly challenge and protecting the body from bugs by fighting off bad bacteria in a game to test even the most energetic child. An interactive poo-duction line will also see visitors work together to help move waste through the large intestine and out the other end.
Of course this is a fun and silly day out for all the family, but really understanding how our bodies work is crucial to our own health as we grow up. With gut health being a huge topic of discussion at the moment, experiences such as this can really help to decipher how certain foods can affect our bodies for better or worse, and is important to learn as young as possible.
Key highlights not to miss as part of Food, Poo and You exhibition in Manchester include:
- The Big Flush. A once-in-a-lifetime experience of travelling like a poo and being flushed down a giant toilet. Put on a ‘poo hat’ before passing through the pan!
- Journeying through a super-sized set of interactive teeth.
- Taking part in the world’s only interactive “pooduction” line – “make” a poo and discover how our bodies absorb nutrients and expel waste.
- The Dr’s elusive ‘cupboard of everything’ and interactive Lab, brought to life from the screen for the first time.
- Meeting Larry the Vomiting Robot, designed to help scientists understand how far sick splatters (and how norovirus particles are distributed), on display for the first time as part of an exhibition, along with fascinating objects from the Science Museum Group’s collection.
- New stories from young people living with a range of digestive conditions, along with the modern-day medicine helping to treat them.
- A specially designed soundscape heightening the feeling of being immersed inside the human body.
Steven Leech, Curator of Exhibitions at the Science and Industry Museum, says: “We’re smashing taboos with this exhibition, proving that it’s not only fun to talk about everything from burps to belly rumbles and projectile vomit to poo, it’s essential in understanding and maintaining a healthy relationship with our bodies.
“It’s a truly spectacular show of super-sized science and one that we hope will leave people feeling entertained, empowered, and impressed with their grossness!”
Drs Chris and Xand say: “This exhibition is our most epic experiment yet! Find out how your food gets mashed, pulped, squeezed and absorbed, and soak up the sights, sounds and even the smells of your incredible digestive system!
“Our bodies are amazing, and one of the first questions kids often ask is the biology of how we put food in and something else comes out! If we can understand that process, we’ve learned something that’s fundamentally important to life. So, as well as being brilliantly entertaining and of course absolutely disgusting, this exhibition is full of really amazing and essential science.”
Plus, from Saturday 22 July to September 3, visitors to the Science and Industry Museum can bring their cuddly friends to special medical ‘departments’ around the museum, which is being transformed into a teddy hospital. Tickets for Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You are on sale now here, with tickets being £10 for adults, £9 for children and concessions, and ages three and under go free.