Who doesn’t wish learning was more fun? Come Oct. 17, 2015-March 31, 2016, visitors of the Michigan Science Center can learn through play with Toytopia 2.0, a new temporary exhibit that exposes the young at heart to the most iconic toys of the last century.
Unleash the kids on this 9,700-square-foot play area. Make your way past life-sized toys, including characters from Transformers, the “World’s Largest Etch-A-Sketch” that stands more than 8-feet tall, the giant silver shoe from Monopoly, and an 8-foot-by-8-foot Lego Wall with an impressive minifigs collection. Check out the 20-foot-tall, two-story interactive “Larger Than Life” Dollhouse, too – and much more.
Building stations feature Lincoln Logs, K’nex, Keva Planks and the Potato Heads. Admire towering skyscrapers made from Popsicle sticks and tongue depressors, an 8-foot-tall K’nex Ferris wheel and a Giant Captain Rex bobble head. Tackle what Stage Nine Exhibitions call “extreme” dot-to-dot games. Get your hands moving with Slinkies, a magnetic wall and Play-Doh. Move your feet on a floor piano with keys that play and illuminate at the touch of your toes.
Watch trains whizz around tracks that climb higher than the tallest members of the family. Parents may especially appreciate the Retro Arcade, featuring ’80s and ’90s gaming classics such as Star Wars, Donkey Kong and Missile Command. Zoltar, featured in the movie Big, is even ready to tell your fortune.
The exhibit’s walls act as a canvas of the histories of legendary toy makers, and how our appetites for play have evolved in the last 100 years.
The experience’s sure to prove more inclusive than any toy store you’ll ever step foot in.
General admission into the Michigan Science Center is $24/adults and $21/youth ages 2-12. The center is open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday, until Nov. 26, 2015; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and noon-6 p.m. Sunday starting Nov. 29, 2015 and continuing until April 24, 2016. Note: Closed on holidays.
For even more details on the 2015 Toytopia 2.0 exhibit at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit – and even more cool things happening around town – visit the Metro Parent calendar.