”Pause/Play” — Rediscover the joy of play at the Fleet Science Center
These days when so much of our lives is digital, wouldn’t it be nice just to experience some good, old fashioned, hands-on play for a change? Now, indoors at the Fleet Science Center in San Diego’s Balboa Park, the “Pause/Play” exhibition invites you to do just that with your favorite childhood nostalgic pastimes — and more!
The Fleet tells us: “Science has shown that play offers numerous cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits at any age.” The “Pause/Play” exhibition encourages you to use play to achieve those benefits. “You will learn how playing is a fundamental part of scientific discovery. By engaging in playful exploration, everyone, regardless of age, can unlock new insights and foster a deeper understanding of the world around them. Pause, play, and experience firsthand how science is not only a field of study, but also a joyful adventure akin to the wonders of play.”
Sign boards with written explanations — in English and Spanish — accompany each activity. For example, the “Hopscotch” activity is a test of balance, in which kids may have quite an advantage over us older adults! First, Pause and “pay close attention as the squares light in a specific pattern. Focus on the position of the squares that light up. Mentally note the light-up pattern.” Then Play: “Starting at the front, jump on the squares that light up and only those squares. Continue hopping on the squares according to the memorized pattern until you reach the far end. What happens if you correctly jump on each square? If you make a mistake, that’s OK — you can start again.”
In the “Swinging Sand” activity, you will be asked these questions regarding your experimentation: “What do you notice about the patterns created when you allow the pendulum to swing? How does the starting point affect the pattern? What else can you do to change the pattern?”
“This pendulum is special because it has two chains: one chain is like a V-shape at the top, and then there’s a single chain that holds the weight at the bottom. When you swing the pendulum in the same direction as the top chain naturally swings, you’re using the full length of both the V-shaped chain and the single straight chain. But if you swing it in a different direction, the straight chain swings from where the V-shape starts, so it’s shorter. This difference will affect the pattern drawn by the sand. The ratio of the length of chain swinging forward and backward to the length of chain swinging left to right (or any direction except back and forth) will influence the sand pattern drawn. These patterns are often found and used in nature, art, sound, math, and even some company logos.”
Experiment with shadow colors in “Color Your Shadow…”
… and at “Dig In,” build and compare 3-D landscapes.
“Teeter Totter” is a lever and a fulcrum. “How can you make something balance? How many different ways can you balance the lever?”
“Light it Up” should remind you of a toy from your youth, where you press pegs into a gigantic board to create colorful patterns of light.
In “Move It, Move It!” you’ll see images transform before your very eyes…
… and play with perspective as you stand in front of fun house mirrors, in “Pause to Reflect.”
“Have you ever wondered why bicycles are easy to balance when they’re rolling, but tend to fall over when they’re not?” In “Go for a Spin” you’ll learn that “the bicycle wheels are gyroscopes that naturally resist tilting — at least while they’re turning.”
Kids love navigating through the ball pool in “Free Swim,” where they refill the giant ball release hopper as they eagerly anticipate its sudden release of the balls that they’ve added, all at once.
Challenge physics with the “Speed Slide…”
… and challenge yourself with a crazy game of catch on “Give it a Whirl.”
Test your sense of balance with the unique stability of the “Tippy Chairs.”
Discover your inner child with all this and more, at the Pause/Play” exhibition, at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. For more information, visit: https://www.fleetscience.org/experiences/pauseplay
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Copyright © 2024 by Jan Wagner – AutoMatters & More #843
Jan, I have a story that scares me today. In the 1940’s and 50’s kids played in the neighborhood without ANY supervision. On our street, garages weren’t attached to the house, they were at the back of the property.
Our garage and the neighbor’s garage were side by side, with a considerable gap in between. On the ground below was old construction debris like lumber, broken windows and doors, all sharp and dangerous.
Boys being boys, one day a buddy dared all of us to jump from garage roof to garage roof across this gap. At our age this gap looked to be 10 feet across, but needless to say, one by one we jumped across.
No one fell, so we did this again and again over a few years. To this day, I shudder to think what would have happened if any of us had fallen on the pile of junk below.
Less dramatic, our neighbor grew rhubarb 5 feet tall. We thought it was a weed and had no knowledge that it could be used for rhubarb pie and other exotic recipes. So being kids, we would snap it off at the bottom and have rhubarb fights, beating each other with damp, stringy rhubarb stalks.
You can imagine the condition of our clothes and hair when we returned home.
David, those stories are very entertaining. Keep them coming.
You can probably credit that experience for overcoming any fear of heights that you might otherwise have.
Jan
Jan, the Fleet Science Center look like lots of fun, children and adults alike.
In today’s world, children don’t have the opportunity to see or experience these types of interactions.
Your colorful header photo is spectacular, even surreal. Good work.
David.
Thank you David. I especially like that picture, too.
I still remember how I used to play with my little friends in the 1950s and ’60s. In particular I remember riding my bicycle motocross-style over dirt bumps in a large empty lot in the middle of our neighborhood; and playing with Duncan tops on the sidewalk. It did not take very much to entertain kids in those days.
I’ll bet you have play stories from decades ago, too. Care to share them?
Jan