Monday, December 29, 2003

Science World

I tried to take the kids there on Wed/24th, but they closed early, so I thought today we'd try again.


Maddy

Michael in the mirror room.


We love Science World. Not just the kids, me too! There are so many activities going on that we can be there for more than four hours and they still want to play. We had a few mishaps, but overall Michael and Maddy were well-behaved. We saw two shows on centre stage: Balloons (which they've seen a couple of times before, but it still holds their fascination), and Illusions, which was late in the afternoon and Michael was ready to nod off from fatigue. I considered taking them home then, because Michael didn't nap in the car, only Maddy, and I knew he would be cranky... but I decided to brave it and take them back up to the second floor to the smaller kids' play area instead. We also saw a "magic" show in the Weyerhaeuser Theatre -- the seasonal theme was "A Magical Christmas" and there were professional magicians from the local chapter of the Society of Magicians performing all over Science World. The show we saw was amusing -- a Hong Kong magician with colourful costume and lots of bright props.


spaceship

water table


Every time we go to Science World, I notice the kids learning a bit more, experimenting, and making advances. For example, there's a station in the smaller kids' play area that holds circulated water and teaches kids about current. Before, Maddy just played with the boats, but today I showed her how to control the current by moving around the grey wall pieces, and this really held her attention for a long time. She went all around the table, moving pieces and floating boats "downriver."

One of Michael's current favourite stations is the parachute launch...

We miss having Melissa with us, but Science World will still be here when she returns!