Tuesday, July 26, 2011

science museum.


There are a few museums that we visit once or twice and the boys have it down and just are not interested in visiting again. And then there are a few museums that they find endlessly interesting no matter how many times we go. As they get older they read more of the displays, do more of the activities, and spend more time just digging into the details. The science museum in Milwaukee is like that for them - and they always want to go again every few months.


Although we have been many times they always find new things. A brand new exhibit - with a cool periodic table interactive display. Checking out new mine production maps for the globe (gold, diamonds, coal, oil, copper, etc....interesting!). Virtual welding.


This time they didn't just look at the fish but read all of the interactive screens about what the fish actually are called, where they live, and their ideal environment.


They hunted down every single hidden exhibit type of camera and made silly faces and (not surprisingly) wiggled booties at every one.


They stayed in the submarine lab area looking at equipment, exploring tanks and checking out the cameras.


They interacted with a diver in one of the fish tanks. And they visited the design lab to build a laser cut house and make a funky windsock.

Of course no trip is complete without the favorites too.


Lying on the floor in front of the huge aquarium glass. Touching rays and sturgeon.


Repeat turns on the bed of nails. Exploring the ship. Working levers and bevels. Seeing a worm farm.


Making music. Virtually flying and landing an airplane. Checking out engines and robots and hybrid cars and seeing if they could run fast enough on the giant wheel to pump water and light the light bulbs.


And hanging out by the lake for a few to watch people, boats, birds, and skyline.

It was so nice to have a normal family museum trip day after the past few hectic months. Just what we needed.

6 comments:

Kelly said...

one my favorite things to do at the museums we go to (mostly Boston Science) is to see how differently they interact with the displays each time we go. your museums there look pretty sweet!

Astrid in Bristling Acres said...

I'm seriously thinking of taking the girls there but it'd be a four hour drive (one-way). Do you think it's worth a very long day trip? Is the museum easy to find?

Jodi Anderson said...

Have you visited the submarine in Manitowoc yet? That could be good or bad, I suppose. I'm a touch claustrophobic, so I would not like to visit again, thank you very much, but it was a fun stop when we traveled with Rob 10 years ago.

slim pickins said...

omigosh. we are usually traveling between madison and sheboygan, never stopping in milwaukee on our wisconsin jaunts, but this looks AWESOME. might be worth trying to fit it in during one of our trips...

Shady Lady said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
denise said...

Astrid - YOur girls are getting bigger so I think they would like it and would last a good long while. My guys usually last a half day - and we make at least two full museum rounds in that time. Even if you spent only 4 hours there, there are many spots to visit in Milwaukee or on your way back. Nice lakefront for picnic. 3rd Ward. Public Market. Milwaukee Public Museum. The Domes...all fun! :)

Bonni - Oh yes. That is why we went on Sunday morning. It didn't start getting crowded until we were ready to leave!