Ride a Unicycle on a High Wire at COSI

Alas, our quest to visit 7 science centers over a 4 day weekend has come to an end. We ended up visiting 8 museums – 7 science centers that are a part of the ASTC Passport Program, and a bonus museum – The National Museum of the United States Air Force. We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend and would love to do it again in another state in the future. This post is the final post in a series – go here to read the first post.

Sunday was our last day and our final stop was at COSI – Center for Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio. Admission to COSI for our family of 6 would’ve cost us $130, but with our Kentucky Science Center membership, which comes with a reciprocal membership through the ASTC Passport Program, we paid $0. Our Kentucky Science Center membership cost us $97, so definitely money well spent.

The total cost of admission for a family of 6 to visit the 7 museums that we visited would be $510.70. Instead, we paid $97 for our Kentucky Science Center membership that we can use for a full year, and $0 out of pocket for admission on this trip. (Side note: Technically we should’ve paid for 1 admission at SPI, because their reciprocal conditions only allow for 5 people to get in for free, but since we only had an hour there, they let us all in for free.). We did have to pay for parking at 2 of the museums as well, one of which was COSI.

Now let’s talk about COSI – Center of Science and Industry and what a fabulous museum it is! First of all, let me start out by saying that COSI is HUGE! It was by far the largest museum that we visited. The exhibits are spread out over three floors, and when we first arrived it felt a little overwhelming to decide where we wanted to start.

Since COSI has so many amazing exhibits to choose from, and it was day 4 of visiting science centers, and I think we were all feeling a little burnt out, we chose to spend our time on the areas that were unique to COSI and seemed most interesting to us.

The first thing the kids spotted was an area with musical instruments that had a science twist. There was a really cool heartbeat drum that would beat to the rhythm of your heartbeat. Another favorite in this area was the laser harp. There was a young child who was completely mesmerized by the laser harp. He couldn’t figure out how it was making music without any strings.

For our first stop, we decided to let Hadassah enjoy the Little KidSpace, which is designed for kids from birth to first grade. What I love about this area is that they have a check-in desk where you and your children have to sign in before entering and exiting, to ensure that children do not leave without their parents. As a mom who has 3 kids very close in age, this would’ve been perfect for when Silas, Cullan, and Micah were 3, 2, and 1, and I took them to places like this by myself.

If you have older children with you, they are not allowed to play in the Little KidSpace, but on the other side of the check-in desk is the Big KidLab, where kids can engage in activities that are designed for their developmental level while being monitored. Rob hung out in the Big KidLab making paper airplanes with the older three, while I took Hadassah around the Little KidSpace.

LittleKid Space includes a tree house, fire engine, ambulance, helicopter, farm, farmer’s market, house, rock wall, and so much more. In this area there’s a private nursing room, and family-friendly restrooms, so it’s really all inclusive and perfect for moms with littles, or with multiple kids.

Right next to the ambulance is the KidFlight helicopter. This is the first helicopter that we’ve seen in a kids play area, so Hadassah was excited to see that.

Throughout the museum you will find a lot of neat exhibits lining the hallways between the major exhibit rooms, so be on the lookout so that you don’t miss them. Silas enjoyed this area that included a lot of neat optical illusions.

One of our favorite permanent exhibits at COSI was the town of Progress where you get to explore an American street at two different times in history. First, you walk through a street that is designed to look like the year 1898. There is a telegraph office, a stick and hoop game for the kids to play with, an apothecary, hitching posts, and a livery stable.

You can look through the windows of the storefronts and see what products were used, what technology was around, and what activities were popular. Kids can enjoy playing with the hoop and stick, sending a telegram, or sit in the carriage and pretend to drive it.

When you come to the end of the street, you turn the corner and are transported through time to the same street, but in 1962. Just a little over 60 years of history have passed, but you can see the drastic changes.

Television has replaced the telegraph, the hula hoop has replaced the stick and hoop, parking meters have replaced the hitching posts, and cars and gas stations have replaced the livery stable.

My kids were mesmerized by all of the neon lights, and their favorite part was going in the recording studio and recording a news broadcast that you could watch on the television in the storefront of Currents Appliances. You can watch our YouTube video HERE to see their news broadcasts.

COSI’s outdoor exhibit, Big Science Park, is definitely worth a look. The kids thought it was so cool that they could lift a 2,437-lb car! There are two different ropes on the lever that you can pull, one on the end and one toward the middle. They spent some time problem solving to see which one was easier, and which combination of people at each rope worked best. There is also a large checkers set made of safety cones, and an air blower that blows balls into the air. You could easily spend a bit of time in the Big Science Park exhibit if the weather is nice.

Did you know that at COSI you can ride a unicycle on a high wire? This exhibit is on the Mezzanine level and Silas was so excited to try it out. COSI’s High Wire Unicycle is the only one in the world. There is a 250-pound counterweight that prevents you from tipping over as you ride the unicycle across an 84-foot cable that is 17 feet above the ground.

It’s really neat to look out and see people in the museum below you as you ride along the high wire. Cullan got in line to ride, but then decided not to, and unfortunately, since you need to have at least a 25-inch inseam in order to reach the pedals, Micah was too short.

On the lower level, there is an exhibit called Oceans where there are several water exhibits to explore. But be prepared – you can come out of this area completely soaked! There is also a mini-submarine that you can climb into, which we all thought was really neat, and something that we hadn’t seen in any other museums. Other fun areas in the Ocean exhibit include a water cannon and a wave tank.

Upstairs in the Gadgets exhibit there are hands-on areas for kids of all ages to engage with. Some of the unique aspects of this area are the Gadgets Cafe and the Gadgets Stage. You can reserve a table at the Gadgets Cafe and take apart electronics. At scheduled times throughout the day, you can catch a free show on the Gadgets Stage where you can see some pretty amazing science experiments.

For another look at our visit to COSI – Center of Science and Industry, watch our YouTube video below.

You can also read about the other museums we visited in Ohio on this trip:
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
National Museum of the United States Air Force
Great Lakes Science Center
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
SPI – Where Science and Play Intersect
McKinley Presidential Library and Museum
The Works – Ohio Center for History, Art, and Technology

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