It’s Electric!

Saturday I took some special time out to spend just with Joshua. I think it’s safe to say that I haven’t had any alone time with Joshua (except for in the doctor’s office) since well before the baby was born! So, I decided to treat us both to an afternoon at our local children’s museum – the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. (Preceded by lunch and followed  by ice cream – holla!) I hadn’t even seen their new zoo that was unveiled in September (plus the otters are going on exchange program to other zoos so I wanted to see them again, they are so funny!  But don’t worry, new otters will be coming to replace them), and I really wanted to check out their featured exhibit – It’s Electric! – that runs through the first week of May.  The exhibit celebrates 100 years of our local power company, Dayton Power & Light and gives kids the opportunity to explore the history of electricity as well as look at what’s in store for electricity in the future.

The exhibit was really hands-on and fun!  There were tons of “Try It” – cause and effect things for Joshua to do that demonstrate electricity’s origins and effects.  And, I must say, it explained the phenomenon of “static” way better than I could!  He got to make sparks, produce static electricity, and make all kinds of things light up!

He wasn’t as interested in the history as I was but I really enjoyed the period desks with telegraph machines to tap out morse code, photos of electricity used in our area throughout the years, and all kinds of crazy old-fashioned early electric devices (like the “Electrostatic bath” – yikes!).

Joshua tapping out some morse code

He was mostly interested in the magnets, the static, the lights, the cranks, the wheels and the fun of learning about what made it all happen.  It was a lot of really cool science and learning packed into one exhibit.  I was super-impressed and Joshua loved it!

We had a great time at the Boonshoft and especially at the It’s Electric exhibit.  If your kiddos  have spring break coming up this month or you have a few hours on the weekend, I highly recommend checking it out!

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The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery sponsored this post.  I paid our admission to the museum and all opinions about our time there are completely my own.

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2 Replies to “It’s Electric!”

  1. I remember going to Serpent Mound, just Daddy and I, when I was a kid…very good memory…he’ll think about this often when he’s older.

    UP

    1. UP – I have a very similar memory of going to Serpent Mound just me and Grandpa. Those are such good memories.

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