Traveling within Canada is one of my favourite things to do. As I’ve been reflecting on this past year, I’ve had lots of adventures both nationally and internationally. Now more than ever, there are many reasons to travel within Canada. One common complaint I hear from some of my friends who are parents is that the museums in the states are better and more fun than ours. I humbly disagree. We have tons of fun museums for kids right here in Canada, and you can plan entire vacations around them. One such museum is the Discovery Centre, a science museum in Halifax. One of my biggest travel regrets this year is that we were only able to spend a short time in this museum. If I could do it all over again, I would spend the entire day there!
The Discovery Centre got its start as a traveling science show in the back of a van, traveling around Nova Scotia. They garnered a following and gained enough support from the government to become a brick and motor science centre in 1990. Since then, they’ve expanded and become an important part of Halifax for many years. In fact, when their new location opened on the Halifax waterfront in 207, they became the newest science centre in Canada.
Curiosity is a key theme of the 40,000 square feet space, where sharing the wonders of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) is their mission.
We started out in the Ocean Gallery, where we learned all about the ocean. Visitors can explore samples of waste from Nova Scotia shorelines, learn how to ocean impacts us and our planet and make it “rain”! They even have an area where you can get up close and personal with sea stars and other invertebrates you can find in Nova Scotia. We got to see a cute sea star!
This sea star one of the most widespread species in the North Atlantic, usually found along rocky shorelines and in tide pools from shallow coastal waters to deeper seabeds in Canada and the U.S. They have five arms and a rough, spiny surface. Sea stars move using hundreds of small tube feet! Their claim to fame is if they lose an arm, they can grow it back! (It might take up to a year, though.)
Finn enjoyed getting hands on with all of the exhibits, especially Someday Street: a vibrant kids’ zone where young minds can explore themed areas like farming, a hospital, a bubble room, and more. On Someday street, kids can visit the:
- Construction Zone: Build. Destroy. Repeat.
- Family Farm: Milk a cow, plant a garden, and ride a tractor.
- The Market: Have fun as a shopper, cashier or restocking clerk!
- Theatre: Become an actor, director, stage manager or conductor and put on a show!
- Health Centre: Play a doctor or nurse and give a stuffy check-up and medical care.
- Bubble Park: A classic favourite brought back for even more bubble fun!
We spent most of our time enjoying the construction vehicles, turning on and off the ambulance lights, and trying to make a giant bubble. It was lots of fun.
Next, we headed to the Innovation lab.
This kid-sized crane was hands-down Finn’s favourite thing to do in the whole museum. Kids can control the crane to pick up and build big foam blocks. It was very popular, and we could see why there was a wait.
When you’re ready to sit down and catch your breath, a visit to the Dome Theatre is a great spot to take in a film. I wish we had more time to see the entire museum. There are 4 distinct galleries to check out. The next time we go to Halifax, we’re going to carve out a day just for the Discovery Centre.
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