Family Travel,  Midwest,  Ohio

Explore the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio

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The Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio is located in a beautiful spot. It sits right on Lake Erie and has some amazing views. It’s also right next to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This area would be a great place to spend a whole day, but we were on a mission to try to visit as many science centers as we could.

We decided to put our Kentucky Science Center reciprocal membership to the test and see if we could visit 7 science centers in Ohio over a 4 day period. On day 1 we started out in Dayton, Ohio, and visited our first museum – the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. We also visited a bonus museum – the National Museum of the United States Air Force, both of which are in Dayton, Ohio.

On Day 2 we ventured out with the hope of being able to visit 3 science centers before closing time. Our first stop was the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

We parked in the garage and made our way to the ticket counter where we showed our Kentucky Science Center member card and received 6 FREE tickets to enter the museum. Without our reciprocal membership, admission for our family of 6 would’ve cost us $89.70. That’s almost the cost of our Kentucky Science Center membership, which was $97. So far we’ve saved $164.70 in admission fees from just the first two museums.

Make sure you pick up a map at the ticket counter. You can see what exhibits they have and decide which ones your family is interested in visiting. The map also has a list of what the Dome theater schedule is for the day as well as the live demonstration schedule.

We decided to start in the NASA Glenn Visitor’s Center. The Living in Space gallery features exhibits where you can learn what life is like on the International Space Station. Learn how astronauts sleep and go to the bathroom, and see what types of food they eat. My kids liked seeing some of the food on display, and seeing how it looks a little different than what we typically eat.

There’s also a REAL Apollo command module on display that was used in the Skylab 3 space mission. You can see the module, which traveled 26.5 million miles in space. There is also a smaller mockup where you can see what it would’ve looked like with the astronauts sitting inside.

In the Cleveland Creates Zone there are a lot of hands on exhibits for you to explore. You can make your own light sculptures using rods connected to a light table, or you can create a parachute and watch what happens when you drop it. Cullan’s favorite part of the Cleveland Creates Zone was the Shoe Cobbler and Hat Maker Pod. In this area you can make your own shoes or hat using various materials such as duct tape, socks, paper and fabric. Cullan made a pair of shoes that resemble Dutch wooden shoes.

The Science Phenomena exhibit is on the second floor and has a lot of great interactive exhibits for kids (and adults) of all ages. There were lots of exhibits where you could explore with sound. There was a pipe organ where you could hit the pipes to make different sounds.

Silas, Micah and Hadassah all took turns on the Bridge of Fire. A Van De Graff generator creates a field of static electricity, and kids are allowed to come up 4 at a time and stand on the Bridge of Fire. A staff member gives you a pom pom to hold and as they turn on the machine the strands of your pom pom will start to rise. We were hoping Hadassah’s hair would rise too, but it didn’t work like we thought it would. There’s a mirror so that you can see what is (or isn’t) happening to your pom pom and hair, and everyone else’s. You have to keep one hand on the silver cylinder, and try not to touch anyone else. If you remove your hand and touch someone else you’ll get a shock.

The Plasma ball is always a favorite. There’s just something mesmerizing about touching the ball and watching the light be drawn to your hand.

There was a staff member letting kids experiment with bubbles. He had some really big bubble wands and made some pretty impressive bubbles.

The Polymer Funhouse is an area on the second floor that is designated for children 7 and under. It’s actually a pretty large area. There’s a place for the kids to run around and climb, and lots of things to interact with. Micah and Hadassah enjoyed the ball pit. You put the balls into a bucket and turn a lever and watch them go up and fall into a large bucket where they will be released back into the ball pit below.

A section of the Polymer Funhouse is set up as an Infant Area with age appropriate toys and exhibits for young learners to explore and enjoy.

Cullan enjoyed making designs in the pin impression area.

When we were there the temporary exhibit on the bottom floor was the Curiosity Carnival. There were some really neat exhibits that we’d never seen before. Micah enjoyed trying some carnival games, and the boys enjoyed the optical illusions. Rob and Silas also enjoyed the air drum.

We spent about 3 hours at the Great Lakes Science Center and felt like this was a good amount of time to be able to see most everything. Plan on spending half a day here and the other half exploring the attractions that are within walking distance of the museum.

For another look at our visit to the Great Lakes Science Center (and to see the shoes Cullan made) check out our YouTube video below.

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