5/3/2023 0 Comments Discovery cubeAnother big hit with other kids at the museum was the Park Science area with the Santa Ana wind tunnel. The novelty of the iPad was probably the biggest draw for our young crowd, but older kids really seemed to be into it. Each child had their own iPad to explore the ‘house’ learning about resource efficiency. There were plenty of other activities such as the home inspection area. A separate area in this section was full of large foamy shapes/cylinders for building interesting projects. The kids were also able to dress up as dinosaurs, while running around looking for dinosaur eggs to ‘guard’ in their caves. Here they could run around freely, up walkways, down slides and through little caves. This ended up being where our kids spent a good portion of their time at the museum. The Cube’s Early Learners Zone was another favorite with the kids in our group. My son was very proud of himself for being able to do all three! The easiest being 4:1 and the most difficult being 2:1. The weight ratio is different on each chair. There are three different chairs where the kids can sit and pull themselves up using a pulley system. My son loved it and went back 3 times to try each chair. The chair lift seemed to be one of the favorites of all the kids visiting the center, as there was almost always a line. Chair pulley lift, Discovery Cube Los Angeles Make sure to check out your photo on the shoppers wall at the end. However, as mentioned above, it would be nice to have picture options for younger children as there was a lot of reading involved in this activity. He had his own shopping cart and his own personal scanner! There are several different ‘games’ that kids can choose in this area which makes it fun to return again and again. My son’s dream came true in the Discovery Market. Without the help of adults, younger children or even new readers would have a more difficult time playing. However, to make it a bit more user friendly for all ages, it would be nice to have pictures in addition to text when the categories of trash change. The kids liked the concept of this, the mechanics and the hands on nature of it. Our first viewing had no line, but the second viewing had a more than 30 minute wait.Īnother hit was the Race to Zero Waste exhibit that mimics the fairground horse racing games. Visit this exhibit early if you think it will get crowded. The attendant on duty said it’s better for the adults to sit further back, rather than right up front (where the kids obviously will want to sit!). I am not one to usually get motion sick, but I was queasy for a good hour after our first viewing. The kids did not seem to have any dizziness issues, but the adults in our group had a few queasy moments. There are two movies on rotation – an aerial tour of how Los Angeles gets it’s water supply from 300 miles away and a movie showing the sewer systems at work. The preschoolers in our group loved almost all of the activities downstairs with the favorite being the helicopter simulation tour. Race to Zero Waste exhibit, Discovery Cube LA Exhibits: I would say kids from 4-10 would have a great time, with the older kids being able to get a bit more education from the activities and presentations. Even though some of the science principles were above their heads, they still enjoyed the hands on nature of the activities. We went with kids aged 4-5 and they loved it. The space is open and nicely spread out, so that even when it starts getting crowded you don’t feel like you are constantly bumping into people. It feels like a smaller version of the California Science Center and KidSpace (Pasadena) combined. My expectations aside, I would recommend the Discovery Cube LA for a good day out with the kids. That said, their use of technology was far above other museums in the area which was impressive and fun for everyone. I didn’t feel that it quite lived up to what I had mentally prepared myself for (think exploratorium in San Francisco – yeah I know, high expectations!). We are so blessed in Los Angeles to have an abundance of great educational museums geared specifically to children that I wasn’t totally blown away by the Discovery Cube. This might have been my problem, but overall I was a bit underwhelmed. However, the kids absolutely loved it, and I guess that’s what really matters right? The few posts I had read on it made it sound amazing, so I went with high expectations. Last week we had the opportunity to visit the science focused children’s museum Discovery Cube Los Angeles (which is actually in the Valley).
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