Sesame Street Presents: The Body is returning to the Discovery Science Center + Win Tickets to the Elmo's Birthday Party VIP Event!

 Back by popular demand, Sesame Street Presents: The Body makes a reappearance at Taco Bell Discovery Science Center January 29 to May 1, 2011.  Sesame Street Presents: The Body is an interactive exhibit created and produced by a partnership between Sesame Workshop and Thinkwell Design & Production, which promotes active living and healthy lifestyle through interactive exhibits. The Body exhibit is part of Sesame Workshop’s “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative, created in response to the growing crisis of childhood obesity and designed to address the importance of establishing an early foundation of healthy habits.

Sesame Street Presents: The Body offers an engaging, free-flowing learning experience set in the fun, familiar and reassuring world of Sesame Street. The loveable Sesame Street Muppets anchor an exciting collection of hands-on, interactive and multimedia experiences that allow children to explore the human body and how to keep it healthy. Each exhibit area has multiple activities to provide age appropriate and exciting learning opportunities for children at a variety of developmental levels. The exhibition emphasizes scientific investigation and developmental and curriculum-based learning goals for children ranging from two to eight years old. These learning goals tie into the National Science Education Standards, the Benchmarks for Science Literacy and the Sesame Street Healthy Habits for Life Curriculum.

 

I experienced this exhibit when it was at the Hollywood and Highland complex in Hollywood, California back in 2009  We liked it so much, we went twice.  At the time, my boys were 2 and 4 and they loved it.  My boys learned a lot about how the body works and loved the interactive nature of the exhibit.  I am really looking forward to experiencing this exhibit again at the Discovery Science Center.

I am giving away a chance for two family packs of tickets to attend a special VIP event to celebrate this new exhibit.  Winning families will attend a special birthday party for Elmo on February 3 from 6 to 8p.m.! Winners will enjoy birthday cake, VIP access to the Sesame Street Presents: The Body exhibit and a special visit with Elmo. This is a private event, after-hours.  The bakery Sensitive Sweets is making Elmo's birthday cake gluten-free, soy-free and allergy-free so all kids (and adults) can enjoy!

This is a super fast giveaway ending at noon on January 21.  All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment with your email address telling me that you want to go!  That's it!  The Discovery Science Center is located in Santa Ana, California, so this giveaway is limited to those in the So Cal area.

If you would like to win extra entries, you may do the following.  Each entry must be entered as a separate comment on my blog.

• Follow my blog through Google Friends Connect.
• Like the Discovery Science Center on Facebook.
• Like Babes In Disneyland on Facebook.
• Follow me on Twitter.
• Follow Discovery Science Center on Twitter.
• Tell me who your favorite Sesame Street character is!

This contest ends on January 21, 2011 and is good only for admission to the VIP special event.  Two people will be awarded admission to the event for their immediate family--parents and children.

Discovery Science Center Winner

Congratulations to Lora White who has won the Discovery Science Center / Pumpkin Factory VIP 4-pack of tickets.

Discovery Science Center Ticket Giveaway!

Because we all can't go to Disneyland all of the time, I love to highlight other So Cal attractions now and then.  One of my favorite attractions just minutes from Disneyland is the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana.  The Discovery Science Center is a 59,000-square-foot learning facility designed to spark children's natural curiosity.  Since opening in December 1998, it has been dedicated to educating young minds, assisting teachers, and increasing public understanding and appreciation of science, math and technology through interactive exhibits and programs.  Discovery Science Center now receives over 450,000 guests each year.  If you are visiting Disneyland and you are looking for a place to go when it's raining or way too hot to go outside, the Discovery Science Center is a great place to go to escape the outdoor elements, have fun, and learn a thing or two.  Plus, the center has something for kids of all ages--from babies to adults.

Right now, Discovery Science Center visitors can experience the center's Bug Invasion that features a variety of interactive bug stations.  Over two-thousand square feet of exhibit space features giant bug animatronics, a world-class insect collection, and interactive educational stations.  Here's just a few of the creepy, crawly exhibits:

• It's a Flea's Life: Learn how common fleas survive and adapt.
• First Flyers: A hands-on apparatus teaches the methods of insect flight.
• Rub-a-Bug: Young visitors make rubbings of insects they can take home.
• Bug's Eye View: View the world through multi-faceted insect-like eyes.
• Robo-Bugs: Visitor controlled robotic bugs
• Assemble-an-Ant: Visitors build stylized insects.

Halloween Weekend Activities
Discovery Science Center is the place to be for Halloween! Halloween weekend, October 30th and 31st, dress your best for costume parades each day, pumpkin painting and and trick-or-treating at your favorite exhibits!

Every guest will get a "FREE RIDE voucher" to redeem at The Pumpkin Factory located in the Main Place Mall Parking Lot. All Halloween weekend special events are included in the price of admission. Guests will receive their own Discovery Science Center trick-or-treat bag to take home.

Giveaway
I have a family4-pack to the Discovery Science Center and 4 VIP wrist bands to the pumpkin patch that will allow you unlimited games and rides at the Pumpkin Factory.  All you have to do is leave a comment why you would like to win and you will be entered. 

For additional entries, you may do the following for one extra entry each.  Leave a separate comment for each entry.

1.  Follow my blog publicly through Google Friend Connect

2.  Like Babes in Disneyland on Facebook. 
3.  Follow me on twitter. (dlandmom) and tweet about this giveaway.  

Rules
Contest ends at 11:59pm PST on October 20, 2010 and the winner will be chosen via random.org. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile--even if you have commented on my blog before and I responded to your comment. I will notify the winner via email and they will have 48 hours to respond! This was not a paid post and honest opinions were used. Thank you to the Discovery Science Center for supplying the prize pack.

Discovery Science Center - Trip Report

The Discovery Science Center is a 59,000-square-foot learning facility designed to spark children's natural curiosity and is Orange County's largest nonprofit educational resource. Since opening in December 1998, it has been dedicated to educating young minds, assisting teachers and increasing public understanding and appreciation of science, math and technology through interactive exhibits and programs. It is a community-wide resource where families come together to learn and have fun. The County's residents and school districts are served by this educational resource. Discovery Science Center, which has welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors, now receives an estimated 300,000 guests each year.

If you are planning a trip to the Disneyland Resort and you are looking for an extra non-Disney activity to round out your vacation, the Discovery Science Center is the place. Located about five to ten minutes from the resort, the Discovery Science Center offers children and their parents the opportunity to enjoy science with countless hands-on experiences in a clean and engaging atmosphere. My family and I escaped the Southern California heat on the fourth of July and visited the Discovery Center. It was a fun and unique way to enjoy the day. My boys had so much fun and thought it was well worth the drive from the San Fernando Valley. Because the museum is sponsored by Taco Bell the only food concession inside is Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. By far, it was the cleanest of either establishments I had ever been to and because of the restaurant's high visibility in the center, I swear that the food was better (perhaps fresher) than other Taco Bells.

As part of the museum's regular offerings, guests can experience a wind tunnel, earthquake simulation, and more. Below are just two of the museums many permanent offerings.


The Science of Hockey
The Anaheim Ducks, the National Hockey League, and USA Hockey have joined together to showcase this fun exhibit. Visitors get to experience the colder side of science and explore physics, physiology and flying pucks. Kids and adults alike will love the Zamboni Machine, Penalty Box and Broadcast Booth,and more!

Dino Quest

Located in the outdoor area of the Science Center, Dino Quest is a great interactive experience for kids of all ages. In fact, the exhibit boasts 62 interactives and for teachers like me, they will be excited to know that the exhibit has been developed to align with California Science Standards for grades K-6, thus reinforcing the types of science content kids are learning in school.

Visitors to the exhibit walk among prehistoric animals and learn about the body’s systems and how they relate to each other. They can also rent a uniquely-coded infrared transmitter to embark on missions and adventures throughout the exhibit. Guests become “research assistants” using the transmitter to communicate with a team of virtual paleontologists, scientists and technicians in field locations throughout the world as they search for clues about the prehistoric animals in the exhibit. The great thing about Dino Quest is that the fun doesn't end at the museum, research assistants can continue their adventure online once they get home.

Throughout the year, the museum changes its touring exhibits in order to keep the science and fun fresh.

Now through October 4
Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl: Home Sweet Home
This exhibit encourages families to spend time together outdoors and inspires children to discover and care for the natural resources that sustain our world. Geared toward children ages 2 – 8, the exhibit provides visitors with open-ended play opportunities that help build fundamental academic and social skills. Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl guide visitors through urban, woodland and stream settings featuring a variety of educational activities presented in English and Spanish. Props, costumes and puppets underscore the importance of protecting ecosystems and highlight ways to reduce, reuse and recycle resources. I was a big fan of the composting information that shows how easy it is and it inspired me to start composting at our home!

Now through September 13

Robots and Us

The Robots and Us exhibition encourages Science Center visitors of all ages to compare sci-fi fantasies of robots with today’s technical realities and to explore why it’s so hard to build robots to be like humans. They’ll enjoy directing light-sensitive robots through mazes that they create in the Robot Arena; experimenting with walking machines in the Leg Lab to learn how simple changes in anatomy can affect how they walk and handle obstacles; interacting with Jeremiah, a giant-sized computer-generated character, and discovering the factors that influence his “mood;” and even using their newfound robot smarts and some simple household materials to build jitterbug robots of their own.

Tip for teachers: Bring your school ID or proof that you are a teacher to receive a 10% discount in the center's great gift shop.