This week is “Camp Gram and Grandad” at our house! Our perfect grandchildren 😉, ages four and one, will be staying with us. Here are some kid-friendly geo-activities that we’ve enjoyed in the past, a few of which we’ll be repeating this week.
Sharon Lyon
Editor, GeoLifestyle
Jurassic Quest
Ride on a T. rex that moves and growls, at Jurassic Quest
Billed as “the largest and most realistic Dinosaur Exhibit on tour,” Jurassic Quest came to the convention center near us last summer. Our grandson absolutely loved the experience. Here are a few of the highlights:
Trek through a vast, dark room full of true-to-detail (and size) animatronic dinosaurs. Watch them move and hear them roar. Videos inform you about the different species.
Ride on top of a life-size T-rex, 80-foot-long Apatosaurus, or 60-foot-long Spinosaurus.
Meet baby dinosaurs and their dinosaur trainers, as well as the walking dinosaur, Diego.
Tumble in dinosaur bounce houses of all sizes. Roll around in an inflatable Megalodon.
Dig for fossils in a sandy pit.
Toss basketballs into dinosaur mouths.
Trip tips: Our grandson wore sneakers with soles that lit up, and they were helpful for keeping track of him in the darkened portion of the convention center.
Be aware that some of the bounce houses have more than one exit, a lesson we learned the hard way 🙃.
Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit at the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore
There are many museums and science centers with exhibits that encourage young children to explore. One of our favorites is the Maryland Science Center, located at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.
The Maryland Science Center features three floors of interactive exhibits and programs, an IMAX theater, a planetarium, and a Kid’s Room with daily activities.
At the Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit, walk under and around full-scale skeletons and casts of dinosaurs.
Explore a trackway of dinosaur footprints.
Uncover dinosaur fossils using paleontological techniques.
Meet Astrodon johnstoni, the Maryland State Dinosaur, face-to-face.
In the SciLab, conduct chemistry experiments and use a microscope. (Children must be eight years old or older).
In Newton’s Alley, interact with sound, light, motion, and force.
At Power Up, become an electrical engineer and figure out how to power a city, build a circuit, and explore future fuels.
The exhibit entitled You—the Inside Story challenges you to feats of strength and balance. Trick your senses and take a ride on a bed of nails.
In Science Aglow, investigate the electromagnetic spectrum with prisms, mirrors, and lenses.
The One World One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure show inside the planetarium is geared toward young children. Big Bird, Elmo, and Hu Hu Zhu, a Muppet from the Chinese co-production of Sesame Street, take an imaginary trip to the moon.
The bottom line: Many museums and science centers are no longer just cabinets of curiosities, but feature interactive experiences, making them ideal places to start children on their science journeys.
Geo-crafts for Children
Crack some geodes and start a collection, or paint rocks to create a rock garden
Geode cracking: What child doesn’t love to hit things with a hammer?! Go outside, put on protective goggles and gardening gloves, and show them how to crack open some geodes with a rock hammer.
We stock up on uncut geodes at the local gem and mineral show but have also had good luck with the National Geographic Kit.
Rock painting: On our recent trip to Lake Erie, we picked up quite a few smooth, flat cobbles on the shoreline, perfect for rock painting. Create a rock garden with a collection of painted and unpainted rocks.
Create a ‘Jurassic World’ Terrarium: You can make a terrarium in a variety of containers—from a mason jar to a fishbowl.
Line the bottom of a glass or plastic container with gravel for drainage.
Place a piece of screening on top of the gravel to separate it from the dirt.
Spoon in enough potting soil to be twice the thickness of the gravel layer.
Plant patches of moss in the soil.
Decorate with plastic dinosaur figures. Add small rocks for interest.
Sprinkle the moss with a small amount of water (not too much, or the terrarium will mold).
Seal the top with the lid or with plastic wrap and a rubber band.
Place in indirect sunlight. The terrarium will self-water the moss. I’ve found that weeds will also sprout, adding to the shrubbery.
Bed time in an unfamiliar place—especially after a long day of activities—can be challenging. Fortunately, there are many geo-books to read before turning out the lights. Books on dinosaurs for all ages can be found here and here.
After that, Gram and Grandad will be passing out from exhaustion.😴
👍 If you enjoyed this edition of GeoLifestyle, consider supporting AAPG's brand of newsletters by forwarding to a friend or colleague and signing up for our other newsletters here.
➡️ Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up for GeoLifestyle here.
AAPG thanks our advertisers for their support. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. If you're interested in supporting AAPG digital products, reach out to Melissa Roberts.
