Star Wars Identities opens in Ottawa May 10

by Tanya On the last day of our vacation last summer, we took a special trip to the Montreal Science Center to visit Star Wars: Identities.

What is it?

Yes, yes, a Star Wars exhibit. Big surprise, I know. But this was more than just costumes and props. Identities is a socio-psychological look into what makes us who we are.

The tour requires a headset and RFID bracelet, which allows for an interactive component. The exhibit consists of a dozen stations with monitors which play videos on a loop. Each video explains some component of personality and individual identity, exploring how our identities form from our upbringing, our social networks (IRL, not online ;) and our choices. [Yes, they do talk midichlorians. Can't ignore those, sadly.]

There are RFID stations where you get to build a character by selecting their appearance, their planet of origin, and then responding to a series of questions about their behaviour and actions. You can associate your character with that of other visitors, so in our case, hubby, The Dude and I are all connected. What I loved was that the final choice is whether to join the dark side: in the end, it's always a choice regardless of where you come from :)

The final station is where you can see your character as a whole and email their backstory to yourself for future reference.

This is my character, ElanalE. (I decided I wanted to create a name that was a palindrome; you know, balance in the force and all that). #nerd She's a senator who fights with the good guys. [Click on the image if you want to see what a full profile looks like.]

The Verdict

This was a lot of fun. First of all, we'd never been so close to so many Star Wars props and costumes in our lives. In addition to our excitement over seeing the Yoda puppet and Anakin's podracer (which is HUGE), we were stunned by the size of the battle droids, which were over 7 feet tall! They always seemed so much shorter in the movies.

The audio-visual stations were all interesting, even for the Dude. Granted he is 9, and this was not his first audio tour. I did wonder whether the content would go over his head, but his knowledge of the movies helped keep him interested. There are definitely some younger kids who couldn't care less about the audio portion of the tour, and who could not read so the RFID stations were redundant for them too. I'd suggest that this is best for kids who can read and who have enough attention span to listen to 20+ minutes of audio broken into 10 stations.

The RFID stations were the most fun. The Dude worked alone, which forced him to read the quizzes and answer questions himself. In the end, we all enjoyed comparing our characters and our selections. The dinner conversation consisted of comments such as, "Da-ad! I can't believe you joined the dark side!!!"

It took us about 90 minutes to get through the entire exhibit, reading a good majority of the panels, listening to all the stations and doing all the interactive components. We arrived early and took in the other two science activity rooms open in the museum (think Toronto Science Center, only much smaller) which kept us somewhat busy but didn't fill the entire time we had before our tour. All in all, we totally loved it. (And before you ask, since we did such a comprehensive tour, once was enough for that exhibit.)

Tips

• If you don't know the movies, you can still enjoy the exhibit. The psychological approach means that the content is relevant to anyone interested in humanity, not just the movies. Although knowing the movies does make the content much more relevant.
• Little kids seemed pretty bored. And when they tended to get loud, it made it hard to hear the audio tour. If you're little one has no attention span, best to keep them out of the way of audio stations.
• If you get to a station when a video is already playing you're better off touring the neighbouring displays and coming back when it starts over.
• Buy tickets in advance; it's too busy to just show up and hope you get in right away. People commented on the site that they arrived early in the day and got turned away until mid-afternoon. Some days are even sold out.

(Editor's note: the exhibit opens in Ottawa this Friday, May 10th and runs until September 2)

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Dino Idol at the Museum of Nature

By Kamerine I was lucky enough to attend the media preview of Dino Idol at the Museum of Nature last week. It's now open to the public so you should go!

Dino Idol is a fun initiative by the museum to stir up interest and intrigue. Like American Idol the public gets to vote on their favourite, but the contestants are dinosaurs!  The museum has more than 200 fossils in storage and a new palaentologist got to pick 5 to star in the show. The fossils are encased in rock and sealed in plaster, and are now on display at the museum. They've all been given catchy names and a description of what lies beneath the plaster. The almost 100-year-old field notes are sometimes vague so the descriptions could be right on or way off.

Kids and their parents will have fun looking at the pictures of the dinosaurs and reading the descriptions, and finally choosing a favourite. The five contestants are Mystery Jaw, Stumpy, Regal Ed, Headrosaur, and The Canadian Club. There is a ballot box set up beside each to cast your vote.

The winner will be announced March 19th and will be opened at the museum's research facility. The process of extracting bones and preparing them is tricky work and can take up to a year so the museum will be blogging with updates periodically. What a fun way to get involved in the next dinosaur bones to be displayed at the museum!

Dino Idol is open to the public and included with the price of admission to the museum. It runs until March 17th. This is your chance to have a say in what dinosaur is cracked open next so go vote!

Disclaimer: I was provided free admission to the Museum of Nature to attend the media preview of Dino Idol. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.

Music Under a Midnight Moon: A Children's Theatre Review

I decided that for my birthday I would like to take my son to see some cultural and educational performances.  Naturally, I started by perusing the National Arts Centre website.  I was pleased to find a series of three performances including orchestral and theatrical components directed specifically to children.  Prices were also reasonable $20 per adult ticket, $12 per child ticket.  Total cost for us was just under $100 for 3 performances. This past Saturday January 12th, I took my 5 yr old to see Music Under a Midnight Moon at the National Arts Centre.  This was our first experience with children's theatre and we both could not have enjoyed it more!  We arrived a little early to ensure we could find parking, visit the washroom, and make a wish in the fountain.  We were prepared for a bit of a wait before the scheduled start time, but to my surprise there were activities for the wee ones set up in the lobby to keep them occupied!  At this performance there were tables set up with all kinds of homemade musical instruments. Kleenex box guitars, water bottle shakers, bottle cap percussion instruments, the kids could bang, strum, and shake to their hearts content!  It was kind of a mad house but so much fun!  Kids could also line up and take turns winding the wheel of a street organ!  My son thought it was the coolest thing ever and made me take his picture with it.

All too soon it was time to go find our seats for the main event! The lights dimmed, the orchestra played it's opening piece and the performance began.  It did not matter what language you spoke, this performance was all done in mime so language was not a barrier.  The players took you through each piece the orchestra played in a funny way that all the kids understood.  They played some fun pieces like "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" and "Turkey in the Straw".  Their focus was any kind of home made instrument that could be played by anyone.  Bottles of water, wooden spoons on flower pots, stomping with buckets on your feet.

I also found it very intriguing how the music affected my son's mood.  During up tempo pieces he was excited, dancing and bouncing in his seat.  At one point they played a lullaby and he was telling me how he was tired and wanted to go home soon!  Once the moved on to another piece of music, he was back to bouncing again.

The performance itself was exactly an hour.  Put that together with the activities in the lobby, it made for a perfect early afternoon outing.  We were home by 3:00 and enjoyed ourselves immensely!  We can't wait to see the next show in February, Green Eggs and Hamadeus.

Amanda was born and raised in Ottawa where she continues to live with her husband and son “J”. Amanda is bilingual and interests include reading, blogging, socializing, and advocacy on children and teen issues.

A Journey Through Time: The Vale Earth Gallery at the Museum of Nature

by Victoria When the invitation went out from Karen and Lara at Kids In The Capital for a blogger (or two) to attend the members’ only opening of the new Vale Earth Gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature, the timing couldn’t have been better. I was on the cusp of starting a new job at NRCan in the Earth Sciences Sector, so I wanted to spend an evening at the museum learning more about the work of my colleagues, in addition to introducing my two older children to the wonders of geology.

The result of two years of planning and three months of renovations, the 8,000 sq. ft. Vale Earth Gallery is a smaller, permanent renewal of the gallery that opened in 2010. There is quite a lot to experience in the gallery, from building a volcano to exploring a limestone cave with a dripping waterfall (complete with life-like bats) to manipulating a two-metre animated globe. The hands-on exhibits make the whole experience literally come alive for both parents and children, with plenty of buttons to push, knobs to spin, and levers to pull.

Best of all, however, are the 14 giant minerals, including crystals, which reportedly weigh between 45 and 225 kg. It was neat to be able to show my daughter one of the best examples of an amethyst - the February purple gem that also happens to be my birthstone - in the world. I was entranced by the diamonds from theNorthwest Territories’ Akati mine, cousins to the stone in my engagement ring by source alone.

My teenage son enjoyed himself immensely with the Sedimentator, the Magmanator, and the Metamorphicator, three simulation machines that allow visitors the chance to create their own type of rock. The ability to cause an earthquake, albeit in a controlled setting, created one of the best bonding opportunities between a child and his stepfather that a mother could ask for. Their goofy grins will forever be embedded in my memory.

Entry to the Vale Earth Gallery is included with regular museum admission. For full details, including fees and hours, go to nature.ca.

Victoria Martin blogs at Girl Gone Wired (www.girlgonewired.net), a parenting and lifestyle blog; and is the Social Media Lead for Kruising for Keely (www.kruisingforkeely.ca), a family team devoted to raising funds for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. She lives inOttawa,Ontariowith her fiancé, David, and their three children.

Visiting the Vale Earth Gallery

By AndreaMy daughter and I had the opportunity to attend the newly renovated Vale Earth Gallery opening at The Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. This Gallery is open to the public on November 30th but we had the chance to see it the day before.

Our family has been members of this museum for two years now. Having this membership is one of the best educational investments we’ve made for our children ages 8, 4 and 8 months. The child-friendly and interactive displays pertaining to natural history and natural sciences have lent a hand to school projects, personal interest and regularly satisfy the inquisitive minds of two of my three oldest children with their countless questions relating to our natural world.

I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive when found out which exhibit was reopening. This particular exhibit was not one we visited regularly – not because it wasn’t well done, The Canadian Museum of Nature does not do anything poorly – but because it hadn’t appealed to the kids who were always with me. I’d enjoyed seeing the beautiful glass-encased minerals but just found myself imagining what beautiful earrings they’d have made.

That being said, I am not an expert on this or any topic of natural science. I am just a mom who wants to foster her children’s interests and provide them access to the information and experiences this museum has to offer.

My oldest daughter, Hannah, age 8, (aka. Nature Girl) has had a rock collection since she was two. I think every child has hunted for beautiful stones on a beach, a forest or a park at some point in their lives. I borrowed books to help identify these rocks but found the task of identifying and classifying minerals to be daunting.

To my delight, I found this new exhibition helped fill gaps in our knowledge and understanding of mineralogy. Even better, my daughter was completely engaged in the displays and interactive features this permanent display has to offer. Fortunately when my children are engaged, I have time read and learn myself. The gallery starts at the beginning – literally. We read about the “big bang”, touched and examined meteorites that have fallen to earth and learned about the earth’s layers. She was particularly captivated by learning the consequences of a change in the solar system (ie. the absence of Jupiter or change in distance of between earth and the moon).

Around the corner she had the opportunity to control a 6-ft animated globe. She discovered how the plates divide and what the world would look like if the water evaporated.

This exhibition allowed us to see some of the most extraordinary mineral formations, some of which she has in her own personal collection. You have the opportunity to see an animation of how rocks and minerals form and what makes a mineral a mineral. A favourite highlight included the opportunity to view minerals under fluorescent light. You will be pleasantly surprised in what happens!

A compliment to the current Nature Unleashed temporary exhibit is an interactive opportunity to make a volcano or cause an earthquake. Visitors can also make different rocks with the Sedimentator (which makes sedimentary rock), Magmanator (makes magmatic rock) and the Metaporphicator (makes metamorphic rock). Another complimentary feature was the sedimentary rock face from Saskatchewan featuring embedded fossils. Children love to search for items – especially when they’re looking for a T-Rex’s tooth!

Hands down, the most popular part of the display was the replica of a limestone cave. The opportunity to be immersed into this realistic environment with dripping waterfalls and the challenge of identifying cave features and creatures was a great experience.

I feel this exhibition was designed with children in mind. The gallery used video, interactive consoles, comic strips, experiments, actual samples and simulated environments to engage children and their senses at their height level. I also feel it filled a huge hole in the museum’s content.

Every visit to this museum involved a mandatory “visit to the dinos!” but I suspect we’ll be adding a “visit to the rocks!” as well.

PS – Ok, I did find the earrings I’d like too! ;)

I am a wife and loving mom to three amazing children ages 8, 4 and 8 months, who continue to fascinate me with their inquiring minds and desire to discover. I learn through them.