UK grocer Co-op has partnered with Eureka! The National Children’s Museum to launch a new sustainability-focused interactive Play Shop at the West Yorkshire tourist attraction.
The space, which has been unveiled at the Halifax-based museum, is designed to help children learn about shopping, food, and sustainability through hands-on play.
Located within Eureka!’s Living and Working Together Gallery, the Co-op Play Shop allows children up to the age of 11 to step into the role of shoppers and store workers. Young visitors can browse shelves, use mini shopping trolleys, operate self-service tills and even try tasks such as shelf-stacking as part of the immersive retail experience.
The initiative forms part of Co-op’s wider social value commitment to “access to a sustainable future” – and the retailer said it aims to introduce sustainability concepts to families in an engaging and accessible way.
Through in-store style signage and digital content at the new museum facility, children are encouraged to think about reducing food waste, sustainable diets, and energy use, while learning how everyday decisions can have an environmental impact.
Heather Thomas, Co-op Group property & sustainability director, said the retailer wants sustainability to feel “relevant and accessible from an early age”.
She added the partnership with Eureka! helps bring those ideas to life “in a playful and practical setting”, enabling children to explore how daily actions connect to wider environmental issues.
The Play Shop also features a series of educational videos narrated by pupils from Year 5 at Co-op Academy Beckfield. The pupils are expected to visit the museum later this year to see the finished installation and their contributions in action.
Alongside the attraction itself, Co-op and Eureka! plan to deliver a broader programme of family and school engagement activities, including themed events and informal learning sessions centred on sustainability and career opportunities.
Leigh-Anne Stradeski, chief executive of Eureka!, said the collaboration reflects a “shared commitment” to supporting learning and social mobility through play-based experiences.
Eureka! has welcomed families to its Halifax museum for more than 30 years and attracts around 300,000 visitors annually, focusing on interactive learning experiences.
The project was supported by several partners, including Sign Solutions, which provided British Sign Language interpretation for the Play Shop videos, as well as CTS and Omega Signs, which assisted with the installation.
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[image credits: Co-op]
