Body Carnival: The Science and Fun of Being You. at the Children's Museum of Atlanta. Located at 275 Centennial Olympic Park Drive NW (Corner of Baker Street and Centennial Olympic Park Drive)Atlanta, GA 30313-1827
Body Carnival (February 9 – May 27, 2013): The Science and Fun of Being You: explores the physical science of the human body. The concepts of force, pressure, light, sound, mathematics, and the laws of motion are all part of how our bodies interact with the world. Through a variety of exciting and engaging activities, children can understand the science of how their body works.
This exhibit has eighteen different components to help visitors grasp scientific body concepts. The stimulating stations include:
Balancing Act: Visitors can explore how the center of gravity and the base of an object affect stability. Each side will have a doll with a set of metal rings. Children can place rings to the left and right of the outstretched arms of the doll to demonstrate varying degrees of balance.
Dizzy Tunnel: Visitors walk through a rotating star field which creates the illusion of movement or spinning. The challenge for visitors is trying to maintain while trying their balance as they make their way through the tunnel.
Tunnel of Blood: Children can crawl through a giant coronary artery with realistically sculpted walls simulating the build-up of arterial plaque. Visitors see and hear the effects of blood flow as it is decreased by plaque build up which is demonstrated as the tunnel becomes increasingly narrow as the further visitor crawls through the artery.
Sit and Reach: Children will attempt to measure how flexible they are. They can measure their reach and understand how the body’s muscles when inactive or active. Visitors can compare their flexibility based on others of their same age and gender.
Hang Time: Visitors can measure their extended and flexed arm hang times with a timing device that tells them how long their feet are off the ground. Visitors can compare their hang time based on others of their same age and gender. They will also be challenged to hold their hands in different locations on the bar to determine what the easiest position to hold is.
The remaining learning zones include: Walk the Plank, Goofy Goggles, Wacky Wall, Get a Grip, House of Color, Pressure Vessel, Go with the Flow, Calculation Station, Feel the Music, Body Challenge, and Think Fast.
Daily Programming during Body Carnival:
Laugh and Learn: Mondays and Saturdays at 10:30 AM; Sundays at 11:00 AM
Join the Imaginators to learn about how your heart works. Children can listen to their heartbeat with a stethoscope and learn about go foods and slow foods and how they affect your heart.
Terry’s Incredible Adventure: Monday and Tuesday at 11:30 AM; Wednesdays at 1:00 PM; Thursday and Friday at 11:00 AM; Saturday at 11:00, 1:00 and 3:00 PM; Sundays at 12:00 PM
Join in on the adventure with Terry and his friend Professor who shrinks them both by accident and sends them on a wild journey through the human body. As they move through the bloodstream, the two encounter an unexpected enemy - the villainous Plaque! Terry and Professor get a lesson in how to take care of your body as they are slowed down by Plaque’s evil plans. See the show to find out how they escape!
Dancin’ Body Carnival Style: Tuesday through Saturday at 2:00 PM Can you name all of your bones? Join the Imaginators to learn about your bones by singing and dancing to the Body Carnival Rap!
Heart B. Smart Story-time: Tuesday through Friday at 3:00 PM ; Saturdays at 4:00 PM
Join an Imaginator and listen to the heartfelt book My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall.
Big Top Hip Hop:Sundays at 2:00 PM Did you know your heart was a muscle? Find out how it beats during a relay race, tight rope walking and hula hooping!
Super Ben Story-time: Mondays at 3:00 PM Join Super Emily in a reading of Shelley Marshall’s book, Super Ben’s Dirty Hands. Even superheroes need to stay clean!
REVIEW: My family and I recently were invited to see the feature exhibit: Body Carnival at The Children's Museum of Atlanta.
You walk in and it begins with going through a big top carnival entrance. You are immediately transformed into being at a carnival.
The first thing you see is the Dizzy tunnel. I couldn’t keep my 5 year old out it. She discovered the goggles, they made it feel like everything was spinning.
Next was the balancing act, there were doll with a set of metal rings. The object is to put the rings on the dolls to make them balance. My 9 year old son liked trying to get the doll balanced.
My son learned he has to take care of his arteries, after crawling through the tunnel of blood. It was interesting to him, hearing the noises that his body makes.
My husband and children all did the Hang time. It was interesting for them to compare their differences in strength. They were all competitive and my after husband, my son won. This was my seven year old, daughter’s favorite part because it reminded her of monkey bars.
We were only there for the Dancin’ Body Carnival Style Show. My five year old daughter had a blast while dancing. My two older children loved the rap and liked learning about different body parts.
*I received complimentary tickets to review the exhibit, but all opinions are my own.
