If you go
› What: “Sid the Science Kid: The Super-Duper Exhibit.”› When: Opening party noon-4 p.m. Saturday, May 28; exhibit open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (subject to change).› Where: Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St.› Admission: $13.95 ages 2 and older.› Phone: 423-756-2738.› Website: www.cdmfun.org.Museum hours for ‘Sid the Science Kid’› Spring: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through June 19.› Extended summer: 9:30 a.m-5:30 p.m. June 20-Aug. 7.› Summer: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 8-Sept. 4.› Fall: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (except closed Wednesday) Sept. 7-Feb. 29, 2017.
Hey, Sid! What do you say?
Whatcha want to learn today?
Preschoolers and their parents know those lines open the "Sid the Science Kid" theme song on each episode of the award-winning PBS Kids show of the same name.
Now children can do hands-on experiments just like Sid does in Miss Susie's class with the arrival of "Sid the Science Kid: The Super Duper Exhibit" at the Creative Discovery Museum. The exhibit will open Saturday, May 28, for a 15-week, summer run at the children's museum on Chestnut Street.
Inspired by the popular preschool cartoon, the exhibit includes sets that replicate rooms seen on the show: Sid's bedroom, his kitchen and Miss Susie's preschool class. And just like Sid and his buddies Gerald, May and Gabriella, children will explore scientific concepts of simple machines, friction, inertia, measurements and nature with hands-on activities.
Activities are designed to encourage a child's inquisitiveness, just like Miss Susie does in her Fab Lab. In fact, several of them are patterned on things kids will have seen Sid do on his show.
* Children can send stuffed animals up into a tree house using a pulley to learn about simple machines.
* Sid learned about friction in the "Slide to the Slide" episode, and kids will explore that concept by sliding a block down different surfaces.
* Kids discover the effects of inertia while giving stuffed animals a ride on a skateboard. Sid and his friends discovered inertia in "Ignatz's Inertia" episode.
* Sid learned about elasticity in "That's the Way the Ball Bounces." CDM visitors can test the elasticity of various balls by bouncing them from the top of a play set.
* Visitors can sing and dance in the playground and participate in "Good Laughternoon" like Sid and his friends do on the show.
* Kids can sit at Sid's kitchen table with baby brother, Zeke, just like Sid starts his day.
To celebrate the opening of the new exhibit, a party will be held Saturday afternoon, May 28, from noon to 4 p.m. Curtis Jolley, CDM public relations coordinator, says in addition to the exhibit's activities, the museum will have arts-and-crafts activities for children and a Sid costume character will make appearances between 1 and 3 p.m.
Admission to this opening party is included in regular museum admission and is open to all.
However, a Breakfast With Sid, to be held 7-9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 4, is open only to member families. Tickets are $4 for adults, $2.50 for children 2 and older.
The exhibit was created by The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum, in collaboration with the Jim Henson Co. It will continue at CDM through Sunday, Sept. 11.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.
Inside the exhibit
Kitchen› It’s “Breakfast Time!” Set the table with a healthy breakfast.› Weigh and sort items in the pantry.› Use your senses to investigate spices and utensils.› Take “Sid’s Survey” about your breakfast of choice.› Determine which gadgets sink or float in the kitchen sink.› Practice making patterns while baking cookies.Sid’s Room› Design your own “Super-Duper-Ooper-Schmooper Big Idea!”› Put Sid’s toys away into the toy box using a lever (catapult).› Play a game of memory with toys on the bookshelf.› Investigate non-standard measurement and simple machines.Backyard› Use a pulley to lift toys into the backyard tree house.› Share secret scientific ideas with a friend through the whisper tube.Classroom› Research and role play STEM careers at “Rug Time.”› Exercise your engineering skills with gears, ramps and blocks.› Explore the properties of magnets, sound and color in the “Super Fab Lab.”› Shoot the air cannon to see how air travels.› Examine items under a magnifying glass and microscope.› Investigate the effects of friction on different surfaces.Playground› Use a wheel and axle in the sandbox.› Dance and sing with Sid and his friends.› Investigate how inertia affects toys on a skateboard.› Experiment with elasticity on the play set.› Identify different sports balls using only your sense of touch.› Tell silly science jokes at “Good Laughternoon.”› Hop in the car and sing along with Sid on the way to school.