Des Moines Science Center with our friends

Some of our good friends at church (Mom M and her three girls who I will refer to as E, C, and L) recently got a family pass to the Science Center in Des Moines, and invited us to come along as their guest during the week.  So last Friday we met them there and had a great time!  The Science Center is not huge, but there are tons of interactive displays and things for kids of all ages to play with, so our 5 kids ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 11 all had a good time.

I love doing all kinds of braids in Laurel's hair...she does not like having anything in her hair!  Usually I just let her wear it down, but sometimes I tell her she has to put something in it, and then I let her decide what.  We had seen a picture of this braid, and she told me she wanted the "snail braid that goes around my head."

Nicolas the astronaut

Laurel the astronaut

 The first room we went into was aimed more for toddler and young kids.  There was a bridge with giant legos, a magnetic farm scene, a big play kitchen, conveyor belts and a supermarket with thousands of plastic fruits and vegetables, a fishing area, and a bubble station.  We spent a lot of time in this room

The fish were fabric and the fishing poles had velcro on the ends.  C's goal was to catch every fish!

Laurel playing with the "pokey things"

Laurel and L playing in the kitchen

 Next we went into a room with a wind tunnel and lots of tables where the kids could draw, build card towers, use tools, learn about battery power, etc.

The kids are discovering what objects will float to the top of the wind tunnel--the filmy fabric worked the best!

The kids all enjoyed watching the pendulum and looking out the window at the fountains.

 Next it was lunch time!  I had packed a picnic lunch of snacks--babybel cheese, meat sticks, carrots, grapes, squeezies, and fruit snacks--and our friends purchased their lunch in the cafe.  We shared our food with them, and they shared all their pizza crusts and watermelon with us.

E and Laurel enjoying lunch

We tried really hard to get a good picture of all 5 kids.  This one is the only picture I had where all 5 faces were turned toward me...too bad everyone is looking at Mom M!

 After lunch we went upstairs to a room with a cave, reptiles and turtles in aquariums, and the WhoTV Channel 13 weather station with green screen.  We got there right before the weatherman (or weatherlady in this case) did her afternoon weather update, so the kids got to stand next to her and be on tv!  Well, our friends were on tv.  Laurel stood there for about 2 second then ran off screen, and I didn't even try to get Nicolas to stand in one place because it would not have happened!

The kids and Jennifer McDermott preparing for the weather update.

Making leaf rubbings

Fun with the green screen

It took Laurel a few minutes to figure out that she was on the tv.  She kept looking behind her trying to figure out where the pictures were, and really struggled with understanding what happened when she held a green cloth in front of her!  That might be a lesson for next time we go.

 Next we went into a room with many interactive displays--a ball wall, a water path showing hydroelectric electricity, a place to shoot paper rockets, an egg dropper, car ramps, and a few other things.  We spent a lot of time in this room!  When we first got there it was a little crowded, but after a while we were the only people there.  That was really nice--I was actually able to sit for a few minutes without having to chase my children.

Both Laurel and Nicolas spent a lot of time putting the balls into the pipes and seeing where they went.

Nicolas and his favorite thing in the whole wide world--water!  He was enthralled with the bubbles and loved splashing the water with his hands.  At one point he found a little stool, brought it over, got up, and then tried to put his face and upper body into the water!  He was pretty wet and smelled like chlorine for the rest of the day.

 There is a stage in the middle of the Science Center where they do presentations throughout the day.  We learned about animals and got to touch a snake in the morning.  In the afternoon we saw a "Crazy Chemistry" presentation about solid, liquid, and gas.  They mixed a lot of things together to make slime, explosions, and more slime. 

E got to go on stage and make slime!

 Nicolas was pretty tired, and during the presentation I got him to go to sleep.  We then went back into the food room and played for another 30 minutes or so while he slept on my shoulder.  Finally around 3:30 we took a final potty break and headed home!  Nicolas slept the whole way home, so I guess we really wore him out!

Mom M and L take care of Sleepy Nicky.

We had a great time, and hope to get another chance to go with these friends before their pass runs out.  The kids see it all as play, but they are learning at the same time.