Playing Hooky

One of the unfinished tasks on the kids’ summer bucket list was a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. So when the school schedule was posted, and I saw that a free day at the museum coincided with a half day at school my mom and I made the executive decision to pull them for the day and head downtown. And because all of the Chicago schools were back in session, we had the entire museum to ourselves!

{Storms and weather fascinate Mason, so it was no surprise that he spent the majority of his time creating tsunamis, withstanding hurricane winds, watching avalanches, and forming his own miniature tornadoes.}

{Camryn loved having the opportunity to play with light and colors. Her favorite colors were pink and purple. No surprise there.}

{My mom treated us to the Pixar exhibit where we learned about the science, art, and math that goes in to all of our favorite films. It was amazing! Jacob--the one whose brain is wired for engineering--took special interest in all of the displays where he could work to create some of the behind-the-scenes programming. Maybe a future movie creator?}

{Mason, who is my creative kiddo, loved manipulating the lighting, cartoons, and objects on the different storyboards. I couldn’t even wrap my brain around all of the thought and effort that goes in to creating these films. Hats off to all of those creative and brilliant folks who do this for a living!}
After a quick lunch break, we headed upstairs to explore transportation, science, and the body.

{For whatever reason, the kids always love to hang out in the United airplane that is suspended from the ceiling. Probably because they don’t have to commit to actually sitting in an airplane for several hours and refrain from kicking the seat back in front of them...}

{We sat in on a presentation about Tesla. The inventor, not the car. Jacob was selected as a volunteer to show how he could pass electricity from his wand into a very large circle of energy on the ceiling. The noise this process made was incredibly loud. Got everyone’s attention!}
We finished up the second floor of the museum with a trip through the human body. The kids ran on a giant hamster wheel, watched their hearts beat in real-time, and talked about emotions. And when Mason big time pinched his finger on a junk food display, the several models of the human body around the corner were there to take his his mind off the pain. Because wieners and butts.

{We ended our day with several laps through this mirror maze. It was not easy (even after we learned to use the fingerprints on the mirrors as our directional clues.) And it ended with a bang. Literally. When Camryn went full steam ahead into a mirror panel just to the right of the exit. Thiiiiiiiissssssss close to victory.}
So glad that we spent the day learning in an unconventional way!