Storming MSI Chicago

On Saturday afternoon, the big birthday activity was the enjoyment of the Museum of Science and Industry. I always love going to MSI because it’s the museum I visited most as a child. It’s really cool that my boys love it, too.

The newest exhibit at MSI is “Science Storms”. It was phenomenal, and I’m not even crazy about science OR weather systems. Here’s what it looks like from the Grand Hall in the middle of the museum:

They have a tornado (yes, INSIDE! and SAFE!) that you can control:

You can create your own rainbows by manipulating prisms in combination with sunlight:

You can see what happens when you mix colors and light:

You can create your own tabletop tornado!

Of course, “Science Storms” was only one of the exhibits we saw. We checked out “You! The Experience”, too, which is the one I visited a while back (when it opened) with Weaselmomma. My boys played “Mind Ball” just like Weaselmomma and I did. The younger boy lost. He is clearly (by far) more stressed than the older boy.

I’m not sure why, but one of my favorite things to do is to sit inside this old United Airlines plane and watch the little video about all of the people who have various jobs on a plane. I probably enjoy it mostly because, after walking around for a couple of hours, it’s nice to rest and be entertained at the same time! As we sat there, we excitedly talked about our upcoming trip to Germany. We sat there far longer than other people, who seemed to rush through the plane. Their loss.

In the “Fast Forward” exhibit, I was thrilled to finally see the Galaxy Dress, which I first posted about in November when I saw it on the news. It was way cool.

The inventors, Cute Circuit, also had a “Hug Shirt” on display, which I forgot to photograph. The concept is awesome, though: it gives new meaning to “sending hugs”. Check it out here.

Checked out this cool concept car from Aptera:

One of my all-time favorite exhibits is the Colleen Moore Fairy Castle. It’s a miniature (duh) castle which is completely and elaborately furnished. Colleen Moore was a silent film star, by the way. This exhibit is one I used to visit with my Grandma, and it’s what made me want to have a dollhouse of my own. The boys didn’t care much about going in, so I did a quick tour on my own before we left for the day. I think it’s one of the oldest exhibits still on display at MSI, but it’s also one of my most-loved. The castle is located in a small viewing room which is darkened so you can see all of the miniature lighting on the castle, and it’s not photo-friendly, but if you click here you can see a nice slideshow that someone put together on Youtube.

We were at MSI for about four hours and saw about half of it. There are tons of exhibits and several shows and special events going on, so it’s definitely a great place to spend a day!

Well, that’s our MSI visit in a nutshell! If you live in (or will be visiting) Chicago, MSI is a must-see. And this was not a review, by the way…just a birthday recap of one of our favorite places!

©2010 Suburban Scrawl