It's Going to Be a Year for Science Museums: Back to Martinsville for Dino Day

Kim has mentioned it before, but we are thrilled with our ASTC Travel Passport!  With it, we headed back to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville to take in Dino Day, one of their special annual events. 

Dino Day is a "fun day" all about dinosaurs that is very accessible to elementary-aged children.  This year's event featured two animatronic dinosaurs, a dinosaur origami station, Appalachian State students chatting about their experiences on fossil digs, a balloon artist, and similar items of interest to kids.  One of the niftiest parts?  The event included a true variety of interests and even included a station where a watercolor artist created pictures of dinosaurs.  If you go, know the stations crowd the museum a bit, and we noticed crowds were thinner as the event progressed.  It is our understanding the event returns each winter for a day of fun sponsored by local industry.  While visiting, we continued to enjoy the other exhibits, spending more time in the current temporary exhibit about the role of water in Virginia on this trip.  This exhibit features a sophisticated sand/water table which Elijah and Gwen enjoyed for well over 20 minutes, and they would have stayed longer if I had let them.  To read more about our overall take on the museum, click here.  For a real throwback, see our first visit here, one of the first times Kim and Elijah went out adventuring for a mommy-and-me date.   

Young Earth Scientists' Paradise: Virginia Museum of Natural History

It's true there have been no major troves of dinosaur fossils found in Virginia, but scientists know they were here and may find them.  Better yet for most of us, you can see dino fossils now without leaving the state if you head to the Virginia Museum of Natural History, a museum of impressive scale found in small Martinsville, Virginia.  The museum opens to the Hall of Ancient Life, the site's main hall and beautiful display area for several dino skeletons.  As Elijah pointed out, look up for the pteranodon, and don't miss going to the small exhibit area upstairs to walk the bridge and get a bird's eye view of the fossils below.  From the hall, you can also observe scientists at work in a few working labs.  As you can see from the photo of Justin, Gwen, and Elijah above, there's a lot to look at!

Other exhibits showcase many carefully taxidermied animals including river otters, prairie dogs, lions, deer, and even a mother opossum carrying her babies! Virginians are sure to appreciate the Virginia-focus of many of the displays, including information on the formation of coal, the lives of Native Americans in the region long ago, and Caroline County's fascinating Carmel Church fossil dig site.  To indulge your more worldwide Earth science interests, there's a space full of good descriptive information on plate tectonics and volcanoes.  There's also a travelling exhibit space adding variety for regular visitors.

If you are traveling with preschool or elementary-aged children, there is a small play area within the museum that includes climbing equipment.  Take note that it features some steep ladders and dress to "spot" your younger children accordingly.  Whether or not you have kids with you, go to the basement classroom-style space--interesting leafcutter ants and other live specimens are on display there.

If you live in southwest or central Virginia, we recommend you check out the passport-level family museum memberships currently available at a discounted rate at the Science Museum of Western Virginia.  The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) passport feature results in an impressive list of "free" museums and other cultural sites in Virginia and North Carolina in particular, including the Virginia Museum of Natural History.  We plan to be repeat visitors this year--and in warmer weather, we want to also take in nearby Fairy Stone State Park.

Relevant Twitter Handle: @VMNH

Dinosaur Run

On a sunny spring day off, Elijah and Kim struck out on a one-day adventure to Martinsville's Virginia Museum of Natural History, one of those places on the "been meaning to visit there" list. The museum, small but glowing with newness, was a fun place for a toddler visit. There's an indoor playstructure called Discovery Reef on which Elijah enjoyed climbing, and the dinosaur skeletons on display wowed him.

In the main lobby, you'll find several large fossil exhibits, and off to the side, the best permanent stop seems to be a gallery of taxidermied animals. There are also view-able paleontology labs, and while there was no work being completed today, Kim can imagine fascinated elementary children staring in the window. Downstairs, there are a few live animals in the teacher resource center. Elijah most enjoyed Shelton the turtle who he quickly described as "turtle swimmin'".

If you are heading there with a young child, we recommend going NOW. A nifty animal exhibit called Animal Secrets is about to go off-display, and while we are sure that the next exhibit will be fun, too, the current display is very child-friendly. Elijah amused himself in the exhbit space for quite a while, particularly playing with the river model and the "life size" Eagle's nest. The exhibit changes May 7--go while you can!

Relevant links:
Virginia Museum of Natural History

Greensboro Science Center: Good Deal, Day of Fun

K, E, G, and family friend A took off for the Greensboro Science Center in Greensboro, NC, a perfect distance from Roanoke for a day trip.  Recently renovated, the center includes a zoo, an aquarium, and a science museum with play area.  It's all very attractively presented, and on the weekends, we found lots of competent teen volunteers able to provide some interpretation.

For the zoo,  think "bigger than Mill Mountain but smaller than Asheboro; for the aquarium, bigger than aquatics in  Roanoke but smaller than Chattanooga; for the museum itself, around the size of the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville.  This all combines to make a very manageable day for young kids.  We adored the pneumatic tubes in the play area, the tigers in the zoo, and the expansive sting ray touch tank. Taking bigger kids?  Consider the Skywild aerial ropes course add on (must be at least 10 and 70 pounds).  E and A enjoyed an add-on dome theater show about stars.

If you go, know you can pack a picnic--there are tables in the zoo and at Greensboro's Country Park (it literally backs into the property).  There's a fountain you can play in and animals to pet at the zoo, too.  The public park also has playgrounds and paddleboats.  Educators, take your ID--basic admission to the center is free.  ASTC Passport holders are also free, or if based regionally, discounted.   We were able to combine both programs for a great deal.  You may come and go, using your receipt for re-entry.