The Idea Factory

First of all can I say “put on your walking shoes”. My girls were off of school for winter break so we decided to take them to The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. We have gone 2 other times in the past few months, but for very short periods of time.

Our goal for this visit was to see everything we could see….at least that was our Brainy idea for the day. So we visited, the Farm area , The “Future”, The “I Spy” area, we went on a Submarine, went on an Airplane, visited a Ship, a Train, A miniature city with Trains (Chicago and Seattle), Watched Chix hatching…and now my 6 year old will NEVER and I mean NEVER eat an egg again, especially after seeing the stringy stuff in the shell…

Our favorite part of the whole visit was the “IDEA Factory” which is for kids up to age 10. It was awesome! There are wind tunnels, tons of water. Here is a little tidbit from their website:

Children can explore the attributes of four basic objects: cube, sphere, tetrahedron and cylinder. Using these objects, they’ll experiment and test their own theories about the fundamentals of construction, simple machines, light, color, magnetism, balance, air and water. For example, kids aged three to five years can explore the effect of differently shaped wheels on the speed and flow of movement and how air pressure affects the flow of bubbles.

Construction Crane encourages children to use hand-eye coordination to retrieve and move objects with an electromagnetic crane. Kids aged 6-10 years can use a crane to lift heavier objects remotely and determine how weight affects distribution of balance. They can also observe the different ways to manipulate white light versus laser light using prisms, lenses and mirrors.
The Water Spectacle contains 3,300 gallons of water and invites children to build and navigate their own boats, discover how water moves objects and help set off the great geyser—an enormous water spray that is triggered by manipulation of hand and foot controls.

This was the best part of the museum for my girls and a definite when you visit the museum. Just make sure to put on your walking shoes!