The Michigan Science Center will host Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion beginning Oct. 11 with the exhibit running through January 2026.
The limited-time experience is included with general admission, giving families access without additional cost.
What the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit features
The exhibit features 40 full-scale, working machines based on Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks. Built by scientists and artisans in Florence, Italy, each piece uses materials and techniques from the Renaissance era.
Families will find creations ranging from flying machines and water pumps to cranes, presses and an armored tank.
Hands-on learning opportunities for kids
Unlike a traditional art or history display, this exhibit encourages visitors to crank gears, pull levers and operate machines themselves.
Children and adults alike can interact with designs that show how da Vinci imagined future technology more than 500 years ago.
Exhibit highlights organized by nature’s elements
The exhibition is divided into sections inspired by da Vinci’s study of the natural world. In Earth, visitors can operate cranes, presses and a humanoid robot. Water features an Archimedes’ screw and float experiments. Air highlights gliders and parachutes, while Fire allows families to step inside a full-sized armored tank that can hold eight people.
Connecting with other Michigan Science Center exhibits
The science center encourages families to link da Vinci’s ideas to other interactive galleries. After exploring his flying machines, children can build paper airplanes in the PlayLab.
Visitors can compare the Archimedes’ screw to the version at the Kids Town water table, or try lifting with da Vinci’s revolving crane before testing their strength with the giant lever in the Motion Gallery. Families can also explore da Vinci’s bicycle designs and connect them to engineering concepts in the STEM Playground.
