As I mentioned in my previous post, we had out of town friends visiting this weekend. One of the activities we did together was a visit to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum.
As we visited the museum, I noticed a number of changes. (I am not sure that we have visited since the fall). My daughter enjoyed Junior Pilot Training, she got to launch a rocket, the Lyons Country Store renovation is complete, and she found a few other smaller new exhibits. The adults also liked playing with the Google Liquid Earth display. The Block Party blocks have been replaced from a soft foam/sponge like material to a stiffer block. Hopefully these new blocks will last longer than the previous type did. Of course, as we walked by the preschool gallery my daughter once again lamented that she is too big to try the Engineers on a Roll. The exhibit opened after she was no longer a preschooler and she has always wanted to try it out.
Junior Pilot Training is sponsored by Yankee Air Museum and had an attendant assisting the children. They have a plane and the kids can control the wing and tail flaps from the cockpit. When I first saw it, I thought it was a motion ride, so I was a little disappointed. However, the kids seemed to enjoy it. The plane is located on the first floor in the room with the water table next to the elevator. It had an attendant, from the Yankee Air Museum I believe. He was directing parents to the mezzanine to take the best picture of their child in the plane. He then kept the children busy until the parent returned.
Right next to Junior Flight Training is Blast Off – It really is Rocket Science. In the exhibit there are two launch towers. You hold a button to pressurize the rocket (inverted empty 2L bottle) and when it reaches the appropriate pressure, you can launch the rocket. My daughter loved racing dad…especially because the rocket on the right that she was using was operating better and launching all the way to the top when the one on the left was not going all the way to the top.
The last time we visited, the Lyons Country Store exhibit was undergoing renovations. There have been several changes made. To the right of the entrance there used to be a display and a checker board. That area has been replaced with a display behind a screen that includes video projection characters complete with dialog… we saw a teen girl and a young clerk. After an initial fear that the checker board was gone, I located it to the left of the door. We have played checkers there many times over the years.
There were several other small exhibits that had been improved or were new to us. I love that the museum is constantly evolving with new exhibits. We really enjoyed our visit to the Hands on Museum and will be visiting again.
