Why your whole family will love Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW!

Posted on 15 September, 2025

Finding an activity the whole family will love can be something of a challenge.

Sometimes, the kids adore it, and the parents are bored to tears. Other times, it’s the other way around, but without emotional regulation (cue: tears and endless declarations of “I’m BORRREEDDD”).

But Questacon’s latest exhibition is something people of all ages will genuinely enjoy – and the best part is, it might even inspire a lifelong interest in scientific exploration.

Helping young people engage with science, technology and innovation through interactive exhibits for the past 37 years, Questacon is targeting kids and kids-at-heart with Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! – an interactive, fun exhibition, featuring a fresh take on some old favourites from the past three decades.

From becoming a human battery to lifting herculean loads with levers and using mechanisms to make mechanical music, it’s all about the exciting world of electricity, machines, and motion.

Here are three reasons why your family will love Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! according to Ella Cameron, the Senior Exhibition Designer.

You can touch everything (yep, really!)

Designed to be a celebration of hands-on learning, powered by curiosity and creativity, every aspect of Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! encourages visitors to explore real scientific principles through movement, experimentation and play.

With 17 highly interactive exhibits that appeal to different ages and interests, Ella says that when designing Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! The Questacon team wanted to ensure the exhibits could be enjoyed from almost any angle.

“The exhibits are designed in a way so that you interact with them and get a result or see something happen – that’s appealing to all ages,” she explains.

“Our main age group is school-aged children, so that’s really who we’re aiming for, but the phenomena that we’re representing is interesting to everyone. Even if you’re an adult.”

With experiments covering circuits, gears, gravity, motion and more, throughout Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! there’s a variety of different activities to discover. Even adults will find joy in sending homemade flying machines shooting into the rafters or lifting their own body weight with pulleys. There’s even a take-home component, so the fun doesn’t have to stop when you leave.

“On the back of every graphic panel, there’s a QR code that you can scan with ideas on how to do the activities out of materials you might have at home,” says Ella.

“People take the time to read that, and there’s another layer of fun that you can get out of it!”

Be transported into the pages of a comic book

With bright colourful aesthetics, attention-grabbing experiments and comic book motifs, you won’t be bored walking through this exhibition. From the moment visitors enter Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW!, the adorable Pickle, Spud and Bip guide you through some of the core scientific concepts the centre has been exploring for decades.

“The thought was, if we make it look like a comic book, that might be more appealing to kids,” explains Ella.

“It turned out to be quite a useful technique for breaking up information on a panel for people to take in.”

Add in some delightfully cheesy dad jokes mixed with scientific facts, and you have something that will have all ages smiling.

“There are quite a few different exhibits, so kids or visitors can move around if one doesn’t appeal to them. There are lots of specialised interactive exhibits, so there’s always going to be something for different people,” says Ella.

It’s a supercharged bonding experience

Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! is all about the shocking and surprising science that powers our planet and makes things move; and while it was designed with children in mind, adults will be sure to learn something too. Name a better way to bond than playing with electromagnetism or testing your skills on a circuit table!

“Lots of parents haven’t necessarily done much science, so either they get something out of it, and they learn something, or they’re able to make that connection with their own kids,” says Ella.

“I’m a parent myself, so I know how hard it can be to get your kids to talk to you about what’s happening at school… But when you’re in a place like Questacon, learning together, working side by side, it’s a great opportunity for parents to interact with their kids.”

Ella says that, ultimately, the Questacon team hopes Questacon Presents: ZAP! CLANK! POW! sparks the interest and curiosity of everyone, and it helps kids feel like science is for them – whether that means they study it further or develop a lifelong respect for it.