Light Them Up

Summer is looming, and the savviest moms have plenty of fresh new activities on hand to keep away those infamous whines of boredom. Two museums have got your back with new interactive, fascinating exhibits that will keep them so busy, they’ll hardly realize they’re learning.

Over at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, head to the Learning Centre to check out their new exhibit, Food Preservation: The Science We Eat. You’ll be unable to look away from the video screens at the entrance that show timelapse footage of food decaying—challenge your kids to pinpoint the day when the food becomes inedible. Inside, bigger kids will love going head-to-head on the giant video game that sorts digital food into its proper storage location, while smaller ones will enjoy the play kitchen, featuring special plastic food that can be scanned to find out whether it belongs in the adorable miniature fridge, freezer or cupboard. Meanwhile, keep yourself busy by listening to all sorts of stories about food preservation processes, inventions and (gulp) some good-to-know facts about spoilage.

At the Museum of Nature, their latest special exhibit literally glows—it’s all about Creatures of Light. Kids will love how their clothes shine in the black light (be sure to wear white, light colours or fun stripes) and will delight in burrowing right into a glow worm cave, ‘wading’ through a river of glowing algae, and visiting the live flashlight fish—small black fish with amazing light-up eyes. Don’t miss the ‘glow moments’ scattered throughout the other museum galleries, too—big black boxes featuring more live specimens, glow-in-the-dark costumes and a glowing graffiti wall. Add in the museum’s new summertime Sunday brunch and you’ve got the makings of the perfect outing.

Keep them busy and keep them thinking with 6 more amazing Cultural Activities in Ottawa.