Family Adventures at Kentucky Science Center

I need to make a confession. I went somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And, given the chance, I’d go again.

Technically, it was okay for me to be in the...
...“Science in Play” exhibit at the Kentucky Science Center. But, it was designed for someone else. Someone much younger – ages 3 to 7. Everything in the room was meant to be played with. It was also intended to help children build, test, and explore science using their senses and imagination.

I wasn’t the only guilty one. When my husband, Ross, and my children (Ethan, age 13, and Autumn, age 10) entered the Exhibit, they headed straight for one of the building areas. Scattered on the floor were various sections of ramps and supporting blocks. We worked together to collect blocks and elevate the ramps. We good-naturedly argued about how many loops and curves to put in. Then, we seriously argued about whose turn it was to let loose of the ball at the top of the ramp to see how far it would go along our loopdy-loop, curvy course.

Eventually, we migrated to the back section of the room, where an entire wall (floor to ceiling) was covered with a maze of clear plastic tubing. Ethan and Autumn lifted the lid at one of the entry points and dropped in two colorful balls. A compressor pushed air at great pressure, propelling the balls. They whooshed through 135 feet of tubing and came flying out one of several open holes.

We finally dragged ourselves out of the exhibit and went to explore the rest of the museum. Even with the ever-changing displays, one of my favorites is still the machine from the 1940’s that gave your hair a permanent wave. This helmet apparatus with wires coming out resembles a cross between Frankenstein’s new hairdo and an alien mind probe. It makes me smile to think what women used to go through (and we still do!) to have pretty hair.
 
What Ethan Worrall Liked (A boy’s perspective)
The IMAX theater was humongous. The screen took up an entire wall and was bigger than a drive-in movie screen (or at least we were a lot closer to the screen). We watched “Born to Be Wild,” a movie about elephant orphans in Kenya and orangutan orphans in Borneo.
I liked the elephant part best because I have visited one of the Sheldrick’s orphan locations in Kenya! When I was there, they also had a baby rhino. He really liked me . . . or at least I think that’s why he tried to knock me over!
 
What Autumn Worrall Liked (A girl’s perspective)
I liked the Chemistry Lab demonstration. We saw different chemicals make different colors when they burned. The best one was copper sulfate. It burned green. I bet that’s what they used to make Floo Powder in the Harry Potter movies.
 
Kentucky Science Center (formerly Louisville Science Center)
727 W. Main St. Louisville, KY 40202
502.561.6100
Adult = $13 ($18 with IMAX – and you don’t want to miss the IMAX!)
Children (2 – 12) = $11 ($16 with IMAX)
 
By Kelly Watkins, Global Thought Leader on Corporate Effectiveness & Communication. Kelly travels the world for business, but writes about her adventures for fun. Kelly@keepcustomers.com www.KeepCustomers.com