Preschool Space Shuttle Field Trip

We finally got around to visiting the space shuttle at it's new Science Center home today and it did not disappoint. We were joined by 40 other folks from our preschool and it was quite the crew. With that many kids it was pretty hard to keep us all going in the same direction, on one agenda (think of that old "herding cats" analogy). Instead we just got to keep joining up with friends and then diverging as we all navigated the museum, snacks needs, bathroom trips and meltdowns. It turned out to be a nice balance of group fun and individual exploration.

Investigating a steamy vent while we waited for our shuttle entry time.

It seems like these boys never stop moving, but I managed to capture one moment of reflection in the exhibit.

Porter was really interested in the parts of the shuttle that fall off, the rocket boosters and the external tank. We spent quite a while studying this panel and then had to flag down a docent to further satisfy our questions.

Counting the engines.

This duo is an unstoppable good time.

A space potty. Tee hee. Bathroom humor goes a long way with the preschool crowd but the parents were equally interested in the mechanics of bathroom use at zero gravity.





With a gaggle of preschool gal pals.

The space shuttle was awesome, but this hurricane simulator was the clear favorite today. For two dollars, you could stand in this plastic phone booth-like tube and feel hurricane force winds blow around you. I would say our group easily spent $40 on this machine as one parent after another took turns swiping their credit card. The kids were hilarious swirling around inside and out, some participating and others cracking up just to witness the other kids inside.