Limited Engagement - Invention at Play


This exhibit is closed. Please check back for updates.
 

The Invention Playhouse | Playful Approaches to Invention | Issues in Play | Prices, Hours & Tickets


Discover, explore, invent and much more! Created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of  American History, Invention at Play is a fun, exciting and hands-on exhibit that celebrates the imagination and creativity of children. Guests of all ages can explore the playful side of invention and the inventive side of play.


This exhibition brings a fresh perspective to the topic of invention, exploring the marked similarities between the ways children play and the creative processes used by innovators in science and technology.


Included with this national limited-engagement exhibition is The Idea Factory ─ an interactive construction zone, where children of all ages can design and build various structures of all types and sizes.

 

Invention at Play

Featuring three main areas

  • The Invention Playhouse, where visitors of all ages can engage in four types of play that foster inventive thinking: exploration /tinkering; make-believe/visual thinking; social play/collaboration; and puzzle play/problem solving.
  • Playful Approaches to Invention, offering stories, interactive devices, and objects that support explorations of the many ways inventors have used playful activities and skills in their work.
  • Issues in Play – Past, Present, and Future: What kinds of toys did inventors play with as children? Is the quality and quantity of children's play changing? How do new technologies affect children at play? This area encourages visitors to think about the history and future of play.


The Invention Playhouse

In the Invention Playhouse visitors can try a variety of activities that encourage inventive skills, including:

  • The Magnet Ramp offers an invention challenge using magnetized kitchen utensils to build trackways for rolling a ball down a ramp.
  • Rocky Blocks put a new spin on an age-old challenge of building a tower of blocks. Guests can collaborate on solving a complex problem involving balance, center of gravity, weight, structure, and height.
  • Tesselation Puzzles promote spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills through pattern-making activities that offer mathematical and artistic entry points into play.
  • Whirligigs invite exploratory play in a multimedia activity where visitors invent and experiment with wind-powered devices and more.
     


Playful Approaches to Invention

This area uses "creativity messages" as headlines to signal the playful processes that characterize the work of featured inventors, including:

  • RECOGNIZE THE UNUSUAL
    Stephanie Kwolek, the DuPont chemist who invented Kevlar, exemplifies an inventor's ability to see patterns and possibilities that others may not notice.

  • Touchable objects with tags—including a canoe young visitors can climb into—encourage visitors to find out how Kevlar improves these products. Nearby flip panels explore stories of other inventors including, Art Fry, an engineer who found a use for a failed adhesive and invented Post-It notes; and Percy Spencer, whose radar research led to the development of the microwave oven.

  • BORROW FROM NATURE
    This area features Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, exemplifies the innovator's ability to observe and borrow from nature and explores engineer James McLurkin applying biological principles to innovations in robotic technology.

  • Reading Boards provide guests the opportunity to learn about a variety of historic and contemporary inventors from Garrett Morgan (gas mask and traffic signal) and George de Mestral (Velcro) to Ann Moore (Snugli baby carrier) and Newman Darby (sailboard/windsurfer).
     


Issues in Play. Past, Present, and Future.

With its banner message, “Shape your thinking through play,” visitors are encouraged to reflect upon questions and debates in the history and future of play, including:

  • A collage of historic and current toys andgames that resonates with visitors' recollections about play.
  • A feedback station, where visitors can respond to the question: “Do you see a link between how you played as a child and what you do now?”
  • A video inviting visitors to listen to educators, child development specialists, historians, inventors, and children themselves reflect on some of the current questions and debates about the present and future of play.


Educational Materials and Programs
Educators manual
Take-home guide for families.

 
Prices for Harsco Science Center
Invention at Play is included with standard Harsco Science Center admission

Through 09.30.09


Adults - $10
Child (ages 3 to 12) - $10
Seniors (age 55+) - $10
Students (with ID) - $10
Members - Free

 
*$10 combo ticket includes admission to an IMAX film. Click here for details. (Offer excludes Hollywood Blockbuster films such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince : An IMAX 3D experience. Valid August 1 - September 30, 2009.


Hours

Monday* - Saturday  9:30am - 5pm
Sunday  11:30am - 5pm               


*Harsco Science Center will be closed on Monday's starting June 15, 2009. Click here for additional details.
 


Developed by the Lemelson Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota, Invention at Play has been made possible by the generous support of The Lemelson Foundation and the National Science Foundation.


Visit the official web site at http://www.inventionatplay.org/