Past Events › Hands-on Activity
Do-it-yourself Costumes
Visit The Shop to get a jump on your costume for Halloween. Choose from a variety of cloth and materials and assemble your scary, silly or scientific costume using hot glue, needle and thread, or knots. And best of all, what your create is yours to take home! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this…
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Flying UAV’s
Inspired by Naval fighter pilot Missy Cummings, test your piloting skills in Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you take The Discovery’s UAV for a test flight through a challenging obstacle course.
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Do-it-yourself Costumes
Visit The Shop to get a jump on your costume for Halloween. Choose from a variety of cloth and materials and assemble your scary, silly or scientific costume using hot glue, needle and thread, or knots. And best of all, what your create is yours to take home! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this…
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Play the Theremin
It may sound like it’s from the future, but it’s actually from the past. The theremin, invented in 1920 by Léon Theremin, is an instrument you play by waiving your hands near two antennas—you never actually touch it! Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to try your hand(s) at creating a song of your own on a modern-day theremin!
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DNA Exploration
Inspired by scientist Rosalind Franklin‘s discovery of DNA’s double helix structure in 1952, museum visitors will extract, isolate, and observe the DNA of an ordinary strawberry to understand more about the building blocks of life and pursuits in the field of geneology.
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Do-it-yourself Costumes
Visit The Shop to get a jump on your costume for Halloween. Choose from a variety of cloth and materials and assemble your scary, silly or scientific costume using hot glue, needle and thread, or knots. And best of all, what your create is yours to take home! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this…
Find out more »
Visiting Artist: Katie Packham
Join visiting artist Katie Packham of Copper Cat Studio for an introduction to the art of mosaic tiling. Learn the basics of design, assembly, materials & grouting. All tools and materials required for this class are provided. Best of all, you’ll create your very own mosaic work of art to take home. Visiting Artist program supported by:
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Pumpkin Racers
Put your automotive engineering skills to the test when you design, build and test a pumpkin racer in The Shop. Use available tools and materials, along with the pumpkins provided*, to create your Halloween-inspired racer and then test its speed and handling on The Discovery’s test track. Experts from the PumpkinPalooza will be on hand from 5:00 to 7:00pm to assist with your designs. Racers created at The Discovery will be eligible to race in a special “Discovery class” at…
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Pumpkin Racers
Put your automotive engineering skills to the test when you design, build and test a pumpkin racer in The Shop. Use available tools and materials, along with the pumpkins provided*, to create your Halloween-inspired racer and then test its speed and handling on The Discovery’s test track. Experts from the PumpkinPalooza will be on hand from 10:00 to 11:30am to assist with your designs. Racers created at The Discovery will be eligible to race in a special “Discovery class” at…
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Visiting Tinkerer: Rebekah Stetson
Rebekah Stetson is an educator and artisan. Her passion as an artist is in reusing things from nature by transforming them into a new creation. From local, organically grown chicken feathers for earrings to wild harvested materials for dream catchers, all of creation is revered in her work. Join Rebekah to explore a variety of ways to appreciate nature and nurture creativity. Our thanks to the Meyer family for their support of the Visiting Tinkerer program at The Discovery.
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Pumpkin Racers
Put your automotive engineering skills to the test when you design, build and test a pumpkin racer in The Shop. Use available tools and materials, along with the pumpkins provided*, to create your Halloween-inspired racer and then test its speed and handling on The Discovery’s test track. Racers created at The Discovery will be eligible to race in a special “Discovery class” at the annual Pumpkin Derby in Sparks. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials…
Find out more »
Pumpkin Carving
Slice, scoop, sculpt and carve your very own Halloween jack-o-lantern in The Shop. Using a variety of tools and the pumpkins provided*, you can create a spooky, silly or downright scary Halloween icon. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. Pumpkins provided by: *Pumpkins provided while supplies last. Visitors are welcome to bring…
Find out more »
Pumpkin Carving
Slice, scoop, sculpt and carve your very own Halloween jack-o-lantern in The Shop. Using a variety of tools and the pumpkins provided*, you can create a spooky, silly or downright scary Halloween icon. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. Pumpkins provided by: *Pumpkins provided while supplies last. Visitors are welcome to bring their own pumpkins.
Find out more »
Pumpkin Carving
Slice, scoop, sculpt and carve your very own Halloween jack-o-lantern in The Shop. Using a variety of tools and the pumpkins provided*, you can create a spooky, silly or downright scary Halloween icon. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. Pumpkins provided by: *Pumpkins provided while supplies last. Visitors are welcome to bring…
Find out more »
Flying UAV’s
Inspired by Naval fighter pilot Missy Cummings, test your piloting skills in Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you take The Discovery’s UAV for a test flight through a challenging obstacle course.
Find out more »
Pumpkin Carving
Slice, scoop, sculpt and carve your very own Halloween jack-o-lantern in The Shop. Using a variety of tools and the pumpkins provided*, you can create a spooky, silly or downright scary Halloween icon. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. Pumpkins provided by: *Pumpkins provided while supplies last. Visitors are welcome to bring…
Find out more »
Do-it-Yourself Clock
Time keeps on ticking, so why not create a way to keep track of it? Visit The Shop to use available tools and materials and a provided clock kit* to design and build your own timekeeper. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. *One clock kit per museum visitor while supplies last.
Find out more »
Do-it-Yourself Clock
Time keeps on ticking, so why not create a way to keep track of it? Visit The Shop to use available tools and materials and a provided clock kit* to design and build your own timekeeper. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. *One clock kit per museum visitor while supplies last.
Find out more »
Do-it-Yourself Clock
Time keeps on ticking, so why not create a way to keep track of it? Visit The Shop to use available tools and materials and a provided clock kit* to design and build your own timekeeper. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely. *One clock kit per museum visitor while supplies last.
Find out more »
Recycle Upcycle
Make what’s old new again in The Shop! Repurpose a variety of materials into new, interesting and functional objects using available tools and your own creativity. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely.
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International Science Center & Science Museum Day
November 10, 2016 is the first official International Science Center & Science Museum Day (ISCSMN), and The Discovery is a part of the celebration. Building upon UNESCO’s theme of “Science for Peace and Development,” ISCSMN’s goal is to create new ways for science institutions to proactively address global sustainability while reaching increasingly diverse audiences. Visit The Discovery on this special day to explore these sustainability activities: Can you create a sustainable future city? The game introduces the three pillars of…
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Recycle Upcycle
Make what’s old new again in The Shop! Repurpose a variety of materials into new, interesting and functional objects using available tools and your own creativity. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely.
Find out more »
Recycle Upcycle
Make what’s old new again in The Shop! Repurpose a variety of materials into new, interesting and functional objects using available tools and your own creativity. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials in this space safely.
Find out more »
Open Build
In The Shop, hands-on gets serious. During “open build” take your pick of real tools and materials to design and build nearly anything you can imagine. Best of all, whatever you create is yours to take home! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.
Find out more »