REVIEW: Sid the Science Kid: The Super-Duper Exhibit!

Last weekend, I took my 10-year-old science and my 18 month-old baby boy (hopefully a future science lover), and my little cousin to see the new Sid the Science Kid exhibit currently on tour at the Children's Museum of Atlanta. At first, I was reluctant because I thought maybe the exhibit might be too babyish for my oldest son since he hasn’t watched the PBS show in a few years. To the contrary, he was quite enthusiastic about all the amazing activities associated with the exhibit. He usually enjoys anything having to do with science activities and experiments, and this was no exception. On the way to the car, he thanked me and said, “Mom, I had the best time ever!”

The interactive exhibit allows kids of all ages to explore Sid’s world and fill the “science kid” role themselves with interactive exhibits exploring everything from the five senses to the laws of motion. Saying that the designers of the traveling exhibit didn’t leave anything out is no exaggeration, and I urge anyone with children, ten and under to check it out for yourselves because they did a great job of bringing the award-winning series to life. Even I found myself getting caught up in some of the activities before realizing that I had a little one to watch. In fact, he got away from me while painting at the art studio and to put it mildly, I almost lost my mind. Thankfully, the friendly and helpful young lady who ran this station took it upon herself to go one way as I ran frantically in the other direction. Kudos to her, but neither one of us found him. My oldest caught him in Sid’s car jamming to “I Love My Mom.” *heart melts*

While we were there, we visited the kitchen where my LO enjoyed loading up a basket full of healthy foods and pushing the cart, unfortunately at a very high speed, throughout the museum. My oldest liked weighing the food.

In Sid’s room, my big boy enjoyed designing his own “Super-Duper-Ooper-Schmooper big ideas” with other kids. The baby liked playing with Sid’s toys. Both boys got a kick out of the toy catapulting machine, of course!

The backyard was a great place for playing with simple machines like sending things up and down with a pulley and experimenting with sound using the phone to send sounds back and forth. My baby enjoyed going up and down himself, on the slide.

In the classroom, my oldest liked using the science tools and creating journals to record his observations.

The baby and I were able to catch Hilarity Academy, a comedic presentation on the main stage which occurs at every hour. He loved ROTF (rolling on the floor) with the other kids.  

We also visited the Science Wondershop where we did a cool hands-on project involving color. Each week, there will be a new project that you can also find on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sciencewondershop.

As a family, we also indulged in other activities in the museum, as well. I cannot say enough about the Science Bar, located on the mezzanine level. A STEM educator is there waiting for you with a whole menu full of fun activities. Step up to Science is amazing! There you can learn the inner workings of the human body, the wonder of light, and the technology of robots, among other things. In the art studio, my boys had fun painting their own designs on the wall. They also loved casting their rods to catch colorful fish in the magical forest.

Children’s Museum of Atlanta is a magical place. I regret that this was my first visit and I’ve lived in Atlanta for two years now. If you haven’t been there, get there and start making memories and exposing your kids to lessons that will last a lifetime!