Tag Archives: Museum of Discovery

18th Big Boo!-seum Bash Tonight

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bigbooseumFor the 18th year, Little Rock Museums have joined together to present BIG BOO!-seum Bash Thursday, October 24, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This FREE event provides a safe alternative to door to door trick-or-treating. Each location will offer games, story-telling, candy and fun!

Participating members of the Greater Little Rock Museum Consortium will host BIG BOO!-seum Bash at the following locations:

  • Central Arkansas Library System (Main Branch)
  • Central High School National Historic Site
  • Curran Hall Visitors Center
  • Historic Arkansas Museum
  • MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History
  • Museum of Discovery
  • Mosaic Templars Cultural Center
  • Old State House Museum
  • Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center

Visitors can drive to each location, where FREE parking is available.

Participants can start at any location where Game Cards will also be issued at each site. Visit all nine participating locations to qualify for the Grand Prize-Flat Screen TV (additional information listed on Game Cards). 

New this year, each site will offer a prize drawing for kids who visit that site.  Be sure to register at each of the sites visited.  For instance, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will draw for a FREE boys or girls bicycle.

Tim and Space Cadets at Museum of Discovery Today

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modThe Museum of Discovery welcomes the chart-topping band Tim and the Space Cadets today at 2pm at the museum. Admission to the museum also gives you admission to the concert. The cost is $8 for kids, $10 for adults and FREE for museum members.

Brooklyn-based Tim and the Space Cadets play songs about the important things in life: pizza parties, snow days, and summer vacations. Songwriters Tim Kubart and Matt Puckett weave their own childhood memories through textured pop tunes, rockers, and lullabies, including their XMKiDS chart-topping single “Superhero.”

Their new album, Anthems for Adventure, aims to inspire everyone to turn off their TV’s and computers, and get outside and play. It celebrates adventures as grand as riding a cardboard rocketship to space and as small as giving up an old pair of sneakers for new ones.

The thirteen-song collection takes on familiar and iconic childhood experiences with indie flair, distorted guitars, and lyrics that bridge the gap between innocence and wisdom in a way for listeners of all ages to appreciate and understand, bravely exploring the full spectrum of childhood emotion.

While attending Fordham University, Tim volunteered weekly at a New York City homeless shelter, where he assisted in the nursery. Asked to play the guitar for the shelter’s residents, he composed and performed “The Octopus Song,” and knew it was his calling when he saw the joy on the kids’ faces. Tim then set out to achieve a level of catchy power pop that pleases five-year-olds as well as their 15-year-old siblings.

“I like to say Tim and the Space Cadets isn’t music for kids, it’s music about being a kid,” Tim says, “so kids can relate and everyone else can relive those memories.”

Tim and the Space Cadets are veterans of renowned festivals like Lollapalooza’s Kidzapalooza, and venues like Symphony Space, The Smithsonian Museum, and New York City’s South Street Seaport. Tim’s energy is infectious, and a Space Cadets set is engaging and interactive – a true indie rock experience for families and fans, full of strong musicianship, and a tap dancing sidekick.

Labor Day Museum Monday: Museum of Discovery

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modThe Museum of Discovery is open today from 9am to 5pm. 

The featured exhibit (at the Museum until September 22) is How People Make Things. 

Every object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology.

The exhibit, inspired by the factory tour segments from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes – molding, cutting, deforming and assembly.  

Step into the exhibit’s main office, where you can don coveralls, lab coats, aprons, safety glasses, boots and hard hats to become a factory technician, worker or supervisor. 

hpmt small logoUse a die cutter to make a box and a horse, operate a 3-axis mill to carve a block of wax, assemble parts of a real golf cart and see who can assemble a replica of the signature trolley from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood the fastest. You can also mold pourable wax, explore vacuum forming and injection molding and match products to the mold from which they were made.  Or play the “People in Your Neighborhood” matching game, developed with The Saturday Light Brigade radio program, where audio clues and stories help you match the person to the object they make.

“Manufacturing is an industry critical to Arkansas’s economy, and we are proud the Museum of Discovery has leased this blockbuster exhibit that shows children and their families through hands-on experiences the variety of engaging activities that take place every day on the floor of manufacturing facilities,” said Kelley Bass, Chief Executive Officer at the Museum of Discovery. “Our museum’s mission is igniting a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment, and How People Make Things brings that mission to life for our visitors.”

The exhibit also features factory tour videos from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series that depict the making of crayons, carousel horses, balls, traffic lights, quarters, shoes, toy cars and toy wagons.

Additional products featured in How People Make Things include 10,000 Crayola crayons in 90 colors, 10,000 plastic pellets, traffic lights, cooking pans, sneakers, baseball bats, baseball mitts and matchbox cars.

Arkansas manufacturers will be represented through supplemental exhibit pieces, including valves from Cameron Valves and a pump produced by Franklin Electric. A streaming presentation from Cameron will also show how the company’s valves are made and can be deconstructed.

How People Make Things is sponsored by Cameron Valves, Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions and Franklin Electric. 

Adults can go “Back to School” with Science after Dark tonight

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scienceafterdarkaugust13The Museum of Discovery’s monthly adults-only Science After Dark goes “Back to School” this month.

Tonight, Wednesday, August 28 from 6-8 p.m. the program is celebrating back to school with a trip to fifth grade. They will have some hands-on science activities that you’ll remember from elementary school along with a few other things you once learned but have probably since forgotten.

And because no back to school themed event would be complete without a homage to the cafeteria, there will be a signature drink called a hot tater toddy. We might even have a cafeteria lady serving up some grub.

Tickets are $5 or free for members. There will be a cash bar.

Science after Dark occurs the last Wednesday of each month from 6pm to 8pm. Museum educators pick a science-related topic, and develop an event around it. The event is for ages 21 and older.

It is a great chance to explore the museum’s exhibits and enjoy downtown Little Rock.

Reynolds Foundation Continues Support of Museum Network

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adnlogoEarlier this week, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation announced it is is continuing its major support for an innovative seven-museum partnership known as the Arkansas Discovery Network.  Since the launch of the museum collaborative in 2006, the Reynolds Foundation has awarded more than $13.6 million in funding for the state-wide effort

The latest $3.5 million grant will bring a number of the nation’s top interactive museum exhibits to the state.  The grant will continue support for a 40-foot mobile museum truck that delivers hands-on science education to the most rural areas of the state.  It will also provide stipends for underserved schools to visit partner museums, and the grant also will support The Arkansas Discovery Network’s most recent initiative, the establishment of Tinkering Studios at partner museums across the state.  Tinkering Studios are designated museum spaces in which visitors can stop and build, play, engineer, and tinker with paper, circuits, magnets, and a variety of materials.

“Open-ended experiences like tinkering activities are great ways for kids to experiment with basic science principles and for families to connect,” said Arkansas Discovery Network Director Kathleen Lawson.  “We appreciate the continued support from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation,” continued Lawson. “Their generosity will allow us to continue to grow and expand the important interactive learning experiences we provide to children and families across the state through our partner museums and programs.”

Arkansas Discovery Network partners include the Network’s managing museum, Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, as well as Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Texarkana Museums System, Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, Arkansas State University Museum in Jonesboro and the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Museum, Amazeum, which will break ground soon in Bentonville.

Steve Anderson, President of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation remarks, “It’s been nearly 10 years since we realized how impactful it could be for museums to complement the school classroom experience with vibrant, interactive learning opportunities for children.  More important, we have found that museums can get far more for their money and provide more programs to rural communities when they all work together as a team.”

The Network’s partnering museums have served more than 2 million Arkansans, and it has been an accomplishment involving many in Arkansas.  Lawson notes, “Since the Foundation’s initial grant to seed theArkansas Discovery Network, many corporate and foundation sponsors have invested in these important hands-on science programs that enrich a child’s school experience, bring families together in the community, and provide teachers with creative ideas for teaching science in their own classrooms. We are grateful to all these supporters as well.”

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named.  Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it has committed more than $80 million to enrich hands-on learning experiences for kids, their families, and their teachers through its Children’s Discovery Initiative.

For more information, visit www.arkansasdiscoverynetwork.org.

Museum of Discovery lauded by Mensa

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20120814-171022.jpgThe Museum of Discovery was named number six in a list of the top 10 American science museums chosen by Mensa educators and scientists.

According to American Mensa, the organization chose 30 science museums with an excellent reputation for science education and patronage, then asked a group of Mensan educatiors and scientists to chose the best 10.

Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test

The Museum of Discovery reopened its doors in January of 2012 after a $9.2 million renovation made possible by a Donald W. Reynolds Foundation grant.  It’s mission is to  ignite a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment.

To view the full list of the museums chosen, visit: http://www.us.mensa.org/welcome-to-our-site/the-mensa-top-ten-survey/mensa-top-ten-science-museums/

New Museum of Discovery Exhibit explores How People Make Things

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hpmt small logoEvery object in our world has a story of how it is made. How People Make Things tells that story by linking familiar childhood objects to a process of manufacturing that combines people, ideas and technology.  This exhibit opens today and runs through September 22 at the Museum of Discovery

The exhibit, inspired by the factory tour segments from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series, offers hands-on activities using real factory tools and machines to create objects with four manufacturing processes – molding, cutting, deforming and assembly.

Step into the exhibit’s main office, where you can don coveralls, lab coats, aprons, safety glasses, boots and hard hats to become a factory technician, worker or supervisor.

Use a die cutter to make a box and a horse, operate a 3-axis mill to carve a block of wax, assemble parts of a real golf cart and see who can assemble a replica of the signature trolley from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood the fastest. You can also mold pourable wax, explore vacuum forming and injection molding and match products to the mold from which they were made.  Or play the “People in Your Neighborhood” matching game, developed with The Saturday Light Brigade radio program, where audio clues and stories help you match the person to the object they make.

“Manufacturing is an industry critical to Arkansas’s economy, and we are proud the Museum of Discovery has leased this blockbuster exhibit that shows children and their families through hands-on experiences the variety of engaging activities that take place every day on the floor of manufacturing facilities,” said Kelley Bass, Chief Executive Officer at the Museum of Discovery. “Our museum’s mission is igniting a passion for science, technology and math in a dynamic, interactive environment, and How People Make Things brings that mission to life for our visitors.”

The exhibit also features factory tour videos from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television series that depict the making of crayons, carousel horses, balls, traffic lights, quarters, shoes, toy cars and toy wagons.

Additional products featured in How People Make Things include 10,000 Crayola crayons in 90 colors, 10,000 plastic pellets, traffic lights, cooking pans, sneakers, baseball bats, baseball mitts and matchbox cars.

Arkansas manufacturers will be represented through supplemental exhibit pieces, including valves from Cameron Valves and a pump produced by Franklin Electric. A streaming presentation from Cameron will also show how the company’s valves are made and can be deconstructed.

How People Make Things is sponsored by Cameron Valves, Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions and Franklin Electric.