A little scientific fact

While my son is on vacation from school, I try to do a balance of activities.  Some things are completely my agenda, while other activities are totally kid focused and driven.  Of course, I also plan days where we do absolutely nothing, not even going to the park, to force him to figure out how to entertain himself.

Today we followed his recent obsession with science and headed to the Itabashi Science & Education Museum.  It was a bit of a bike ride in the heat of the morning.  Despite leaving at 8:30 am, it was already 32°C/89°F.  But we drank a lot of water and headed for the air conditioning of the nearest science museum.  My friend's daughter joined us as she is out of school and looking for things to do.  Despite being 9 years older than my son, she enjoys hanging out with us and we are pleased to have the company.

We arrived shortly after opening.  I saw a vending machine selling tickets of some sort.  I asked the woman at the desk how much the museum cost and she informed me it was free.  They only charge for the planetarium shows - ¥120 for kids and ¥350 for adults ($1.10/$3.25).  I was a bit shocked, but happy to enjoy a practically free museum with my kiddo. 

Just inside the entrance, there were several robots for the kids to interact with.  It was exciting for my little robot fan.  Some of them were interactive and even spoke to the kids.  The kids could climb inside one robot and use the controls to be an extension of themselves.  It was pretty neat. 

After the robots, we headed downstairs to the exhibits.  Everything in the basement was pretty tired.  The exhibits were a bit dated, but my son didn't mind one bit.  He ran from the huge human digestive system to the propeller to the solar powered cars.  He was delighted to play with everything.  Frankly, I didn't mind that it was old school.  My son doesn't care that something has seen better days.  All he cares about is that it works. 

After a couple hours, we went to the planetarium show.  The first half showed us lots of starts and constellations.  The second half was a popular cartoon that was about telescopes and viewing the stars.  It was an interesting combination. 

The museum is pretty small, but we spent 4 hours there.  Between the exhibits and the planetarium, he was very entertained.  Although it was pretty empty when we arrived, by the time we left, it was pretty packed.  On a day that reached 35°C/95°F outside, it was a great alternative to playing in the park.