If your family is ever in Denver, Colorado and you are looking for a fun and educational way to spend the day, then head over to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Our family recently made a trip to the museum to check out Expedition Health, the newest exhibit that opened last spring, plus return to some of our favorites such as Space Odyssey, Prehistoric Journey, Gems and Minerals and Egyptian Mummies. We also took in a showing of Sea Monsters, their newest IMAX movie. We had a great time and you can too!

Expedition Health was everything I would want in a museum experience for families. There are 20 interactive exhibits that are fun for all ages. Our boys, ages 3 and 6, were old enough to try most of the exhibits, plus they were inspired to ask some great questions too. We also had grandparents accompany us, and they had a great time participating in the fun.  So what’s so great about Expedition Health? The expedition is a climb to the top of Mount Evans, one of Colorado’s famous 14ers. At the start of the expedition, everyone is issued a “Peak Pass” card to track your progress through the exhibit. First, you use a simple touch screen display to enter some basic profile information about yourself and pick a virtual “buddy” who follows you through the exhibit and helps you learn about how your body functions. At each station in the exhibit you insert your “Peak Pass” and do fun activities that record information such as your heart rate, height, arm span, or stride length. At the end, you receive a cool printout with your profile information and the “performance data” collected from the activities you completed. The printout also includes a code which you use to login to a website when you get home to see all of your results and more. Comparing the results between our family members made it personal and easy for our kids to understand.

Because this exhibit is so popular, you must sign up for an entrance time (every 15 minutes), but there can still be a wait for some of the activities. So here’s a list of our favorites (don’t worry about the order you do them in – just find a short line and go for it):

BodyTrek Theater – Don’t miss this 12 minute show in the 35-seat theatre. It’s a fantastic experience that takes you and your body on a journey to the top of Mount Evans, a 14,264-foot mountain. Throughout the journey, in-seat sensors measure changes in your heart rate and oxygen saturation and infrared cameras measure your body temperature as you “climb” the mountain. The show is completely interactive and our kids loved that there was REAL SNOW and wind blowing through the theater as they approached the mountain’s summit. I liked that before the show they told our little one there would be a flash of lightning and a loud thunderclap at the summit of the mountain (other than the lights dimming to the sound of a heartbeat at the start of the show, this was the only “scary part“).

Biology Base Camp – If your kids like to do experiments, this is worth the wait. Biology Base Camp is a hands-on biology lab for conducting cool science experiments. And, you and your kids get to dress the part too! The exhibit includes lab coats, safety glasses,and surgical gloves for everyone. The kids loved dressing up as scientists. Each lab station is completely equipped with everything you need to do an experiment, including step-by-step video instructions that you advance at your own pace. We did two experiments at the Biology Base Camp: we looked at our own cells from the inside of our mouths and we compared the sugar contents between two different cereals. The instructions are easy to follow and the stations are fun to use. There were even parts of the experiment simple enough for our 3 year old to help with. You are usually limited to one experiment due to the popularity of this activity.

Vein Viewer - Scan your hand or arm to see your veins working and moving your own blood. Amazing! We played with this one for quite a while.

Full Body Viewer – Using a series of motion detectors and cameras, your kids can dance or move around while a large screen in front of them displays a skeleton that mirrors their movements. You can add muscles, veins, nerves and other features to the display and see how they work when you move.

Size Up Your Stride – More cool technology here. Using motion cameras, this exhibit records a video of how you walk. It takes a silhouette image of your stride and calculates your speed and energy score. After you take your measurements, you use the information gathered to see how long it would take you to complete a hike around a lake. Videos of the last 9 participants are displayed on a large video wall, much to the kids amusement.

Arm Span to Height Ratio – Cameras measure your arm span-to-height ratio and also take a still picture of you to put on your profile printout.

Tykes Peak – Interactive fun for preschoolers. Some of the fun activities include: pack their own backpack, scramble up a mini mountain, feel their heartbeat, use a giant pin screen to see their body outline, explore a touch box and more. Great fun at this one.

Other Permanent Exhibits that are our Family Favorites:

Prehistoric Journey As always, dinosaur fossils are a hit with the kids. There’s also a live, working Earth Sciences Lab in the exhibit where scientists clean and study their latest finds. We look forward to seeing what specimens are being worked on in the lab, and the volunteers and scientists are always engaging with the little ones.

Space Odyssey This was the museum’s first full hands-on, interactive exhibit and it has been a steady hit with our kids visit after visit. Here’s a quick list of some of the interactive exhibits that keep our boys entertained: fly mini Space Shuttles, make real craters in sand with meteor balls, build you own Mars landscape with sand and water. Plus there is the Astrotot Training area, a great kids play area where they can dress up like astronauts, collect moon rocks, and “fly” the space shuttle.

The Gates Planetarium Planetarium shows are located in the back of the Space Odyssey exhibit. The shows rotate and are always great. Previews are available online for “The Little Star that Could ” and “Cosmic Journey “.

Egyptian Mummies Two real Egyptian mummies are on display along with information and a video on how scientists used X rays and CT scans to learn about the bodies within the wrappings (our 6 year old liked this). There are other small artifacts on display as well as a scale model of an Egyptian Temple Complex.

The Phipps IMAX Theater Our entire family loved the Sea Monsters show (granted we do have a geologist and oceanographer in our family). As paleontologists excavate fossils around the world, you are taken on a trip back in time to explore life in the ancient seas. If you have little ones, check out the movie trailer below. It shows one of the “scary” parts, a large crocodile-looking beast jumping out of the water. The other part that made us jump was when a construction crew set off a dynamite blast. Other than that, this is a very family friendly IMAX movie. Here’s the trailer for the Sea Monster IMAX film:

Upcoming Exhibits and Future Plans

The museum’s next big interactive exhibit will be about Genghis Khan which will run from October 16, 2009 to February 10, 2010. Tickets go on sale to the general public October 1. It looks like it’s going to very interesting. The museum also has plans to revamp all of their permanent core areas to include more interactive exhibits that encourage visitor participation and interaction. You can find out more about the museum’s future plans right here.

Other Notes About the Museum

As a mom, I was very impressed with the healthy menu choices available at the T-Rex Cafe. It’s nice to see a menu that includes all natural meats, whole wheat pasta, low-fat cheese, veggies and brown rice. Plus, the healthy selections in the Cafe really help reinforce the healthy food lessons the kids learned in the Expedition Health Exhibit earlier in the day. The kids meal includes a choice of entree, two sides, cookie, juice/milk, and a toy for $3.95. At this price, a kids meal can be an affordable option for many. Our family also loves to eat in the beautiful atrium, where you can enjoy your own meal from home or purchase sandwiches, pizza, bagels and a variety of snacks from the Grab and Go Snack Bar.

The museum is open 7 days a week from 9 am – 5 pm and has a lot to see. If you want to get the most out of your day, I would recommend getting there when the doors open and saving your IMAX until the 5:00 showing (if your kids can handle a full day). If you need a break during the day, the atrium if a beautiful place to relax, plus there is seating within each of the major exhibits. They also have strollers ($1) and canes and wheelchairs (free) available for rent.

BONUS Giveaway: Enter to Win FREE admission tickets to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

In honor of Museum Day, today Five Hens is giving away four FREE tickets to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Click here to find out how to enter for a chance to win.

Our Photo Album from Our Trip to the Museum

Check out the lightbox slideshow below of photos from our recent visit to the museum. Simply click on a thumbnail to start the slideshow. Details and information for each screenshot are located at the bottom of the image in the slideshow.