Scientific Fun

The other day there was a science fair in town so we decided to go.  Actually, we had other plans for the day but the weather didn't cooperate so we found ourselves looking for alternatives at the last minute because we wanted to do something but that's another story.  As it went, we ended up at the science fair, which turned out to be a very fun time indeed!

The whole thing was held in one of the local museums so there were plenty of exhibits that were long-term displays.  They were cool.  Often such displays get old and dusty looking but many of the displays at this museum were fresh and clean, that was nice.

But in addition to the normal displays, they had brought in some additional activities, many of which were hands-on activities the kids could get their hands in on and have fun with.

One of the one's I thought was the coolest was a dynamic topographical map activity.  They had sand under a computer that must have used ultrasound to detect the shape of the sand in the box and then project topographical lines onto it, as well as colors as the elevations changed.  At "sea level" the color changed to blue that moved like water.  But if you stuck your hand out over the sand it did something similar to represent the water in clouds.  Incredible!

They had sandbox toys the kids could play around with to change the shape of the sand piles with and watch the colors and lines react to what they did.  We spent a fair amount of time at that one - the kids loved it.  It was also very entertaining for the adults.

They had the obligatory dinosaur bones and skeletons on display.  One they had hooked up to a recording of what someone imagined a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have sounded like - the kids had fun playing that recording over and over again.  And the lower jaw moved up and down like it would have in life.  That was another favorite.

They even had hands on things for the littlest kids.  This little munchkin had a lot of fun with the puzzle.  We had to keep an eye on her as she kept making a break for the hall with puzzle pieces.  I think they were all there when we left that area  . . . ?

That same display presented a certain challenge for some of the adults present as well.

Rock displays, another hands on activity.

Fascinated as much by the hole as by the rock the hole allowed you to touch.

In another part of the science fair they had animals that the kids could touch, including a well supervised snapping turtle.  Pretty fearsome looking creatures.

There were snakes, lizards and turtles that the kids could touch and pet. That was popular, the kids visited that one and then came back to it later.  They had several different kinds of snakes, lizards and turtles, all available for well supervised touching.

And what kids activity would be complete without face painting?

They picked their own design and colors.  Though, being primarily a reptile display, the options tended to be reptiles.

But that was perfectly okay with the kids!

They each got to pick their own painting and were quite happy to wear them the rest of the day!  And the people doing the painting were really good with the kids, as well.

In fact, all the people hosting, supervising, and explaining everything were really good with the kids.  I didn't see a single one that looked like they would have rather been someplace else.

And when it was all done we hit our favorite ice cream place for a cool treat, even though it was only about 35 degrees out.

It was a very fun way to spend a couple of hours with the kids!  We may have to do something like this again!