In Today’s Kim’ Adventure we’re at the Children’s Museum Houston. Founded in 1980 and housed in a whimsical building designed by Robert Venturi, it offers a multitude of innovative exhibits. The museum was rated as being number 1 in the U.S. by Parents Magazine, and it’s truly a playground for your mind. There’s 90,000 square feet of interactive exhibits for kids and is open from Tuesdays through Saturdays 10am – 6pm. General admission for adults and children is $15 with special discounts for seniors and members of the military.
The first exhibit we visited was ‘How Does it Work’. Kids can conduct hands-on investigations and explore physical science concepts. At the Science station work with a discovery guide to learn about cool science concepts through experiments and demonstrations.
Explore the building blocks of matter as your kids immerse themselves in the periodic table of elements at the Matter Factory. This is a fantastic place for children to learn about the chemical and physical properties of matter and their application in or everyday lives.
In Kidtropolis, USA you choose where to work, where to shop, and what to do with the money you earn. This exhibit encourages kids to role-play jobs that highlight the roles of city leaders, business owners, employees and citizens. Featuring nine locations, over two dozen job opportunities, and constantly changing features, there’s something new to try on every visit! This is one of the most popular exhibits here, and during peak season they give timed allotments and are only available in limited quantities.
And at Power Play put your body to the test as you explore the science of nutrition, health and exercise. There are three levels of physical challenges that are meant to push kids to the next level. Powerplay utilizes heart rate monitors at each activity station to show children that the human body has a physiological response to exercise.
Next, we went to Cyberchase, based on the award-winning PBS kids cartoon. The series centers around three children from earth, Jackie, Matt and Inez. They’re brought into Cyberspace in order to protect the world from the villain hacker by means of problem-solving skills utilizing math, environmental science and wellness. In this exhibit kids are shown that math is a tool we can use to solve everyday problems.
And right next door is the Invention Convention Unleash the imagination inside this workshop filled with gadgets and gizmos that kids can design and build. The Invention Convention exercises kid’s problem solving and creativity as they engineer their way through design challenges like building airplanes and cars. For more advanced projects with guided instructions, they have the inventor’s workshop.
To my surprise there was an outdoor area. The first one we went too was the Eco Station. Come and explore the outdoors through the native plant garden, solar-powered research pavilion, pond habitat and the woodlands section. Then we headed to flow works for some much-needed water play. This is an interactive exhibit all about the flow, pressure and power of water. It allows kids to explore water with a hands-on, inquiry-based approach.
Afterwards we went back inside to Newton Know-How Roll, spin, bounce and launch your way through Newton’s Laws of Motion. Newton Know-How provides kids the opportunities for an immersive exploration into the physics of force and motion.
And last but not least we went to the heart and Seoul exhibit. Explore traditional folktales and read personal stories told by Korean children as you discover time-honored cultural values and life in South Korea’s highly urbanized and technologically advance societies.
Address: 1500 Binz St, Houston, TX 77004
Website: https://www.cmhouston.org/