Exscite

Housed within the Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery is Exscite, an interactive discovery centre offering a vibrant and engaging learning experience. Exscite’s seamless blending of fun with education makes it an ideal destination for families, especially those with children under the age of 15.

Exscite reopened in July 2024 with a whole new look. It spans two floors, each level providing a unique focus. The ground floor, known as Exscite: Home, highlights the role of science in everyday life, while the upper floor, Exscite: Taiao, draws inspiration from the awa (Waikato River) and New Zealand’s interconnected natural environment.

Visitors to Exscite can expect a wide range of interactive experiences, from high-tech activities like a touch-screen colouring station that brings digital birds to life in a forest, to viewing the impressive 30-million-year-old Kaawhia giant penguin fossil. Fun fact: the specimen was discovered on the Waikato coastline by school children in 2006 and has been confirmed as a previously unknown prehistoric species. 

Other highlights include hands-on games about pest control, a real-time lunar display, and a speed track that measures how fast you run, even comparing your pace to that of a worm. The maara kai productive garden features soft fabric vegetables for harvesting, and the traditional storehouse has been given an eye-catching contemporary twist by New Zealand artists Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole, renowned for their vibrant crochet installations.

Through its evolution, Exscite is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the museum staff, who have brought together research, creativity, and craftsmanship to create an immersive learning environment. By aligning its exhibits with the school curriculum, Exscite offers an educational experience that is both fun and enriching, bringing a dynamic new energy to Hamilton.