Museum of Nature & Science

Nathan and I ventured downtown to Fair Park to visit the Museum of Nature & Science. We have been there a couple of times before and I think hands down, this is Nathan's favorite museum.

I let Nathan plan our day and tell me what he wanted to see and do . . . which turned out to be everything.

The Science building had a water exhibit and Nathan enjoyed learning about water. He touched ice, played in water and with some encouragement walked through a fog curtain that was representing steam.

Nathan learned about water pumps and how they pump water from the ground to people's houses. He loved to turn the handle round and round to pump the water. If you pumped all the water out of the ground, it would rain to fill the reserves back up. Nathan did this several times until I pulled him away to give others a turn.

We are studying dinosaurs this week and we stopped by the Dino Dig to search for dinosaur bones. Nathan quickly found a big one by brushing the sand away with his brush.

Then, he measured it to see how long it was.

Nathan made sure we didn't miss out on making giant bubbles. We each took turns to see who could make the biggest bubbles. Nathan likes to pop the bubbles and swish his hands in the soap.

We headed down stairs to the Children's Museum. We had to stop at the dollhouse where you can turn the lights on and off. You can even light the fire in the fireplace.

I had to drag him away from the dollhouse after I noticed he was telling the other kids that it was "his" and they couldn't touch it. Nathan has started to be more assertive about things he is passionate about.

We also had to play with the numbers that you can flip around. One side has numbers and the other side shows dots. Nathan remembered this from his last visit and was requesting to play with it once we arrived at the museum.

We had to skip the water room because it was closed for a mopping. So, we headed straight to the farm. Nathan planted seeds in the garden and shopped for veggies. We also picked eggs from the chickens' nests and put them in egg cartons.

We were surprised to find the cow full of milk (water) because it had been empty on our other visits to the museum. Nathan was very eager to milk the cow and patiently waited his turn. The cow was very easy for him to milk it and he really enjoyed it.

After the farm, we headed to the backyard area. Nathan crawled through ant hills and spider webs. There is also an exhibit on neon gas with buttons to push to light up the tubes of gas. So, yes, we were there for awhile so Nathan could push the buttons over and over.

Our tummies started to growl, so we headed back upstairs to the cafe for lunch. Nathan picked out chips that left his lips and fingers orange.

After lunch, we walked to the Nature Building to see the dinosaur bones.

There is also a light exhibit in the Nature Building that has lots of hands on stations that Nathan loves.

Nathan is turning on the light bulbs to the same wattage and seeing that one is brighter than the other.

This photo wall is another one of Nathan's favorites. He played with it what seemed like forever. You stand next to the wall and it flashes. Then, you step away and it leaves your shadow on the wall. Nathan put his arms out and up. Then, he started to lift up his legs in funny poses. He giggled and laughed each time. Everyone around us enjoyed watching Nathan play with it.

Anything with buttons grabbed Nathan's attention and wouldn't let go. This cave exhibit was one of them. It had buttons to push that lit up different parts of the cave with tiny red lights. Nathan would push a button and ask me what lit up and I read him the description of each part of the cave over and over and over.

I finally dragged him away by letting him choose one more thing to do again. He choose the Dino Dig. So, we walked back over to the Science Building to dig for some more dinosaurs.

By this time the museum had cleared out a bit, so he found his own spot all to himself.

We spent about 30 minutes playing in the sand before we left for home.

We both had a great day at the museum. I enjoyed taking our time at the museum and letting Nathan lead the way. It was fun to see all the exhibits that caught his eye and keep his attention. We can't wait to return!