Use Your Imagination

I've been wanting to take the kids to Toledo's new Imagination Station since it opened. It's the new science center with lots of interactive, hands-on exhibits to teach different concepts of science. Many of the bigger exhibits are geared towards older kids, but they have a very cool "little kids" area and there is just so much to see and do throughout the whole building!

I'd been mentioning it to Craig and we planned to go Saturday, but then Saturday came and he wasn't feeling up to it with his sore knee. Not surprisingly, however, when Sunday arrived and the Fantasy Football end-of-season league party was scheduled (where the group of guys meet up at a sports bar and watch games), the knee wasn't a problem. Hmmm... funny how that works isn't it? IMAGINE that. (No pun intended.)

So instead of staying home, the kids and I packed up after nap and picked up my parents for a couple hours of science fun. Will has no concept of staying-close-to-mom. He'll just wander about wherever he pleases and I wanted to be able to really check stuff out with him. So I called in reinforcements to help hold Sophie and keep an eye on Will.

Here we are in downtown Toledo making are way to the center:

Inside the center, one of the first things we saw was this awesome contraption where you could send billiard balls along these crazy mazes and, in some instances, control their route by spinning levers and such. It was bright and colorful and had some musical chimes and sounds for each path. And in the end, your ball came back to you. VERY entertaining. Will LOVED picking up the balls and sending them back on their way.







My son is ELECTRIC! :)


A fuzzier picture (no flash), but much more activity.

Moving on the little kids area, they had a tree house with tunnels, slides and ladders.





Sophie checks out a littler slide.




Construction Zone


Will's very favorite part: the fire truck complete with dress-up gear and buttons that make sirens and lights. He even made a new pal.





Firemen... ahem, fireman and firewoman.




They also have a play grocery store complete with pretend food, carts and checkout lanes (Will had no interest here - LOL) and a play hospital with ambulance (more lights and sirens) and admitting area with intercoms, baby nursery and lights boards for x-rays. Will wigged out when I intercom-paged him in the ambulance from the admitting room. :)

Inside a triangular mirror with a kaleidoscope effect.



An air machine that suspended a ball above the tube. (I'm very scientific about my explanations here aren't I? LOL Thankfully, they have signs posted all over that explain every exhibit.)



Inside the water area, there were demonstrations of sailboats that you could race, all kinds of messier dump-and-pour toys, a "river" of water that you could create a dam using plastic inserts, and rubber duckies that could float along the river.

A "submarine" with more buttons and controls inside to play with. (Buttons rock!)



Back out in the bigger areas, we controlled the flight of two hot air balloons... by pressing and holding different buttons! There's a whole scientific explanation for that too, but of course I wasn't reading much with a busy two year old. You can also see the person riding the bicycle "tight rope" between the balloons.


A giant piano! How fun! Too bad Will wasn't quite heavy enough to make it work with each step. He really had to stomp.




So mommy helped him out with a piggy-back ride and some hopping/dancing across the keys.

One step inside the "off-balance" room where the floors were crooked and the walls and objects were all skewed, and Will went straight down on his belly. He wasn't hurt, but when I helped him up he looked totally confused as to what sort of other world we'd just walked into. He clearly wanted to leave the room and I was okay with that because it made me dizzy too.

Lots of play with lights. More mirrors and glow-in-the-dark lights.



Will checking out my dad's image behind this back-lit wall.

Pepper the dog lit up and growled when you rang his "doorbell". I think Will thought it was real.



Papa and Will pulling the rope to raise the bowling ball in the right tube, only to let go and the force of air shoots the tennis ball in the left tube way up into the air. Then it falls back down into the net.




We were only there just shy of two hours, but we packed a lot into that time and will was pooped on the way out.




Stopping at the restrooms before we left, Sophie was mesmorized by the bubbles.



We're definitely coming back with Craig again soon!