Media
Contacts:
Chad Mertz, (513) 287-7054, cmertz@cincymuseum.org
Laura Partridge, (513) 345-2658, lpartridge@cincymuseum.org
Ben Cober, (513) 287-7099, bcober@cincymuseum.org
Nine Exhibits
in Duke Energy Children’s Museum
Offer Education and Entertainment
General
Information Sheet
Kids use their imaginations to learn about themselves
and the world around them while climbing and crawling through the Duke
Energy Children's Museum's nine interactive exhibit areas. The state-of-the-art,
exciting and educational Duke Energy Children’s Museum features
developmentally appropriate exhibits for toddlers to ten-year-olds.
“Duke Energy Children’s Museum at Cincinnati
Museum Center attracts more than 400,000 visitors each year,” said
Douglass McDonald, president and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. “The
size and diversity of the exhibits make Duke Energy Children’s Museum
one of the top ten in the nation.”
“We are so proud of our Duke Energy Children’s
Museum at Cincinnati Museum Center,” McDonald continued. “It
demonstrates our commitment to the community to provide an educational
and synergistic museum complex that serves people of all ages and interests.”
The Woods
An adventure-based wilderness, The Woods, challenges children’s
imaginations through dramatic and physical play. The exhibit looks and
feels like a real forest, from the soft, “muddy” floor to
the tall trees and leafy ceiling overhead. Children’s sense of adventure
takes over in the midst of the shady woods and the sounds of birds and
crickets chirping. Look out from the two-story tree house (it is wheel-chair
accessible) to view the real waterfall that empties below into a pond
full of live river creatures. Cross the rope bridge spanning the “river”
below, or brave the horizontal climbing wall. The two-story exhibit has
hollow log-climbing structures throughout, as well as areas for discovering
fossils and the animals that live in the nooks and crannies of the woods.
Plus, there’s a treasure hunt hidden throughout the exhibit.
Water Works
The winding river running through this gallery is a hydraulics laboratory
where children can experiment with the many ways water exerts force. Turn
a handle to make a cloud burst with rain and see how that can affect the
river valley below. Manipulate the water flow to see how movement affects
its force. Open and close a system of locks to learn how to store and
release water energy to transport objects from one end of the stream to
the other. A boat-building area encourages children to put pieces together
to make a boat that floats. The water conveyor has a system of scoops
that fill a pan with water. Children can direct this system to make a
water wheel spin faster or tip a bucket.
Energy Zone
Through a variety of simple yet imaginative machines, children learn cause
and effect relationships that are basic to understanding the physical
world. In this popular, lively exhibit, adults can join in or watch from
outside the netted enclosure as children work together to become part
of a machine. Eight individual satellite workstations, all simple machines
in themselves, can work collectively as one great machine. Through trial
and error, using pulleys, peddle power, Bernoulli’s Principle, and
other elements of machines, children discover the solutions to move balls
from each satellite station to the Big Bucket. When the Big Bucket is
full, the buzzer sounds and it’s look out below!
Animal Spot
Children love animals. What makes animals different from each other? Are
humans also animals? Whimsical windows of the natural world display objects
from Cincinnati Museum Center’s natural history collections that
encourage children to learn more about animals. The different themed cases
teach children how to classify animals by varying traits such as bones,
coats, and teeth. Activities are designed to help children learn some
of the elements of the scientific process like observation, hypotheses
and investigation.
Little Sprouts Farm (2 exhibit areas)
These two exhibit areas provide a protective and appealing setting for
children four years of age and younger, and their caregivers. Filled with
developmentally appropriate activities that engage all the senses, the
infant and toddler area uses a farmyard and garden theme to introduce
children to experiences that support motor and processing skills. Toddlers
and preschoolers can ride down the slide through the barn, sort fruit
and vegetables in the garden, fish from a row boat, play at a sand table
and gather around the story tree theater for puppet shows. The infant
area includes the Parent Resource Center as well as a play space for crawlers
and early walkers. The soft-sided area is filled with plush toys and mirrors
to enhance early sensory experiences.
Kids’ Town
Enter this neighborhood to learn about the workings of communities from
a child’s point of view. Role-playing is natural for children and
Kids’ Town provides the settings to nurture their imaginative interpretation
of everyday events. The exhibit includes collections from the Cincinnati
History Museum, and provides the opportunity for children to try on the
roles that adults usually hold. Children can pretend to be the adults
who make the rules in the house setting, bring an animal to the veterinarian’s
office for a check up, stop and shop at the grocery store, cook up food
in the diner, play in the town square or fix a car in the garage.
Kids at Work
A backdrop of the Cincinnati skyline provides a context for activities
that encourage children to use different building techniques and materials
to construct fanciful and real-life structures. Children learn how to
connect simple shapes and forms in increasingly complex ways in the construction
process. Photographs from Cincinnati Museum Center’s history collections
provide local contexts for building and demolition activities. Children
can put on neon construction vests and get to work building a giant arched
bridge with blocks or use a 12-foot tall crane to experiment with how
objects are lifted and moved.
Children Just Like Me
Develop a child’s sense of him or herself in relation to the world
in this global gallery of children. Based on DK Publishing’s books
Children Just Like Me and Celebrations, the exhibit takes children around
the world to meet their peers in different countries and cultures. Like
the book of the same title, Children Just Like Me presents life-size cutout
images of children from their daily lives, focusing on common activities
and objects that are easily compared across cultures. Mold clay with Esta
of the Maasai, practice ballet with Olia from Russia or meet and learn
about the other children in the diverse vignettes from around the world.
Compare favorite foods, subjects in school and games with international
children in the exhibit.
Admission to the Duke Energy Children’s Museum is $7.25 for adults
and $5.25 for children (ages 3-12). Children ages 1-2 are admitted to
all museums for $4.25. Seniors (60+) receive a $1 discount. Members are
admitted free. Prices are subject to change. The museum is open Monday
through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For
membership information, call (513) 287-7000 or (800) 733-2077. Web site:
www.cincymuseum.org
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