Florida: Daytona Beach, Family Vacations - Museum of Arts and Sciences - Barbie Visits, and Children’s Science Center.
MOAS has always provided exceptional ways to share museum time with children from teddy bear collections and giant sloth bones to train talk and nature walks. Now a new addition - a remarkable new building dedicated to hands-on science – adds to the fun. The new family space is spunky, inspiring, interactive, and super cool.
The Charles and Linda William’s Children’s Museum is the first hands-on science center in Volusia County. Created for young visitors ages 1- 12 the contemporary space provides oodles of ways to stimulate curiosity, creativity, and learning through fun, interactive exhibits. I took a sneak peek when I was in Daytona and the 9,300 sq. ft. space looks and feels like fun. The museum uses plenty of natural light to showcase more than fifteen professionally designed interactive exhibits demonstrating various principles of science, engineering, and physics.
The Children’s Museum facilitates hands-on, inquiry-oriented experiences in order to develop scientific reasoning in young students and a wonderful way to have some hands-on fun with their parents. The exhibits have been designed by Hands On, Inc., an award-winning exhibition design firm with clients from major cities around the world including Cairo, Belfast, and Boston.
Young visitors are invited to play a laser harp or cast a shadow; launch a tennis ball or make waves; defy gravity or serve pizza. Within the gallery docents provide useful hints to parents and demonstrate basics of science creating on the spot excitement.
In addition to the new space MOAS will be hosting a unique exhibition guaranteed to make moms of any age smile - BARBIE ® DOLL: Celebrating 50 Years of an American Icon. In celebration of Barbie® doll’s 50th birthday, March 9, 2009, a retrospective story of this most enduring toy icon will be told through the spectacular display of over 400 dolls from the private collection of Jo Anne Winspur. The exhibition will feature Barbie® dolls modeling everything from casual sportswear to Parisian haute couture dating from the original 1959 Barbie® Dolls into today. Highlights of the exhibition include 9 Barbie® Dolls adorned is stunning custom couture designed by famed Hollywood designer Bob Mackie. Also, large scale vintage play sets including the 1960’s ‘Barbie® Goes to College’ Campus featuring a drive in movie theater, football stadium, graduation ceremony, dorm rooms and a sweet shop. Barbie® Doll’s many friends and family will also be featured including Steffie, Cara, Julia, Midge, Skipper and of course Ken – just to name a few.
Barbie ® Doll is a phenomenon and can be found worldwide in 140 countries. Created in 1959, Barbie ® Doll began life reflecting the “All-American Girl.” But as time has firmly moved us beyond the seas and onto the moon, Barbie ® Doll has emerged as a detective, an archeologist, a pilot, and of course an astronaut. MOAS will be hosting many spring events in celebration of Barbie® Doll’s 50th birthday in Spring of 2009.
About the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences. Diverse collections unite at the Museum of Arts and Sciences (MOAS). Located in a beautiful 90-acre natural setting in Daytona Beach, MOAS is the primary art, history and science museum of Central Florida. Planetarium and laser shows daily. Museum Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Monday - Saturday) and 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Sunday). Museum admission is $12.95 for adults, $6.95 for children 6-17, $10.95 for seniors and students, members and children 5 and under are free. Admission includes planetarium shows. MOAS is fully accessible to the disabled. MOAS is located at 352 S. Nova Road, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. For more information call (386) 255-0285 or visit
www.MOAS.org
