What a Weekend!

It's a busy weekend downtown!

 First of all, right here at the museum, we're going Wild About Reading! This annual program is a part of the Virginia Festival of the Book's StoryFest.  Learn about Virginia's wildlife through an enlightening program which includes up-close experiences with live animals and story reading. The first 100 children will receive a wildlife-themed book. This program is especially suitable for families with children from preschool to 2nd grade and is free with admission to the museum.  Hosted by WHTJ PBS Charlottesville, Virginia Discovery Museum, and the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

For more information about Virginia Festival of the Book children's programs and all the StoryFest! events, see the VFB website. 


Also on the mall, the Downtown Business Association and the City of Charlottesville are hosting an historic carousel  at Central Place. That's right! There's a big carousel coming to play with our little one! The visiting carousel will be here today, Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24. Rides will run from 12 to 6 each day and are free to the public.

If you are downtown for any of these events today or tomorrow, don't forget to stop into the museum! 

Discovery DASH!

23rd Annual Discovery Dash
Saturday, May 18, 2013

at Monticello High School

Virginia’s oldest kids’ track race!
Races for kids ages 3-12

Register online here!

It’s time to start thinking about the Virginia Discovery Museum’s Annual Discovery Dash. This will be our 23rd  year hosting this event and we hope to have our largest turn-out ever. Taking place at Monticello High School on May 18, this event will feature over a dozen fun-filled races including a scramble for the little ones and exciting parent-child relays. Schools throughout the area are welcome to enter teams of runners for the school relay. There will be trophies, raffle prizes, yummy food, and great exercise.

The Discovery Dash has long been one of the most fun events hosted by VDM. It is always a joy to see the kids run their hearts out as they are supported by their friends and family. What a great way to bond through healthy exercise and competition! VDM is also pleased to be a part of the Let’s Move! campaign, a comprehensive initiative started by Michelle Obama to promote a healthier, more physical lifestyle for kids. We hope that this event encourages kids to engage in more physical activities that challenge their bodies and enrich their lives.

The Discovery Dash is also part of the Kids’ Triple Crown Series, a series of four Charlottesville area not-for-profit races sponsored by Ragged Mountain Running. To qualify for the Triple Crown medal, runners need to finish at least three of the four races: the Charlottesville Ten Miler – Kid’s Track Races, the Run for Autism, the Family Fitness Fair, and the Discovery Dash. We are excited to continue participating in this fun, community-wide opportunity. 

If you’ve participated in previous Dashes, we are looking forward to seeing you again. If you have never participated, make this the year to start. So mark your calendars for May 18 and check out vadm.org/eventsDash.html for more information and to register. We hope to see you there!

Journey to Camelot

It will be spring break before we know it, so we're getting ready for our Spring Break Camp! This is your chance to get a taste of our summer camps the first week in April. Our camps are for ages 4-7 and run from 9:00 to 12:00, Monday to Friday.


This year, the theme will be Journey to Camelot! Come and create your very own kingdom. What was it like to live in the times of knights and princesses? What did they eat? What did they wear? What games did kids play? Journey with us to explore the medieval world of Camelot and castles and dragons. From jousting tournaments to running the gauntlet, help us rediscover this long lost world.

Camps require pre-registration and cost $150 for members and $190 for non-members. Call us today at 977-1025 to sign up!

Meet Spike the Porcupine

This Saturday, March 9th, is the next installment of our popular program, Meet Me On Main Street. This program brings guests from our community into Little C'ville, where kids and families can learn more about what they do.
 
This week, we will get the chance to meet Kristin from the Blue Ridge Poison Center and her poison safety puppet, Spike! Spike is a porcupine and the main character in a short poison safety video that will be shown at 10:30 in the Back Gallery. Kristin and Spike will then share a game, a craft, and lots of important information about staying safe around potential poisons. Young children are at greatest risk for unintentional poisonings, so join us for this fun and important program. This program is free with admission.

Kid*Vention

 Kid*Vention was so much fun! We had about 1200 visitors learning from 32 community and university organizations about all different types of science. Thank you to all of our exhibitors and visitors, as well as Panera, who provided lunch for our exhibitors, the City of Charlottesville for their help with using the Key Recreation Center, Les Sinclair from Lite Rock Z95.1 for publicity and music at the event, Barnes & Noble, who donated our raffle prizes, and all of our wonderful volunteers from the Junior League of Charlottesville, Alpha Phi Omega and VDM's own Bob and Cynthia. We also want to thank our sponsors, Blue Ridge Internet Works and Kiddie Academy. Last but not least, thank you to Susan Parmar, the photographer who captured these wonderful images. These are just a few of my favorites- check out our Facebook album for a larger selection!

Picking her brain at the Neuroscience table.

Checking Roxy's heartbeat with Monticello Animal Hospital.

We love the bees!

Everyone's learning about science.

Everyone got to take home a magnifying glass from WHTJ.

Can you outrun a robot built by AHS's MESA program?

Balloon rockets!

The American Society for Engineering Education introduced us to electromagnets. These ones play music!

He has just finished extracting the DNA from a strawberry with LEAD!

Check out that skull that ICF brought to share.