Titanic Exhibit at COSI

Yesterday we went to see the Titanic Exhibit at COSI. It's only there until the end of the summer, and so we needed to fit it in during these last weeks of vacation. COSI had the same exhibit 5 years ago, in 2005, and we went then too. I remember that Maria was in kindergarten and became very interested in all things Titanic afterward - we read lots of books about the topic. Sam was almost 2 years old at the time, and had to be carried through the entire exhibit - at that time it was so crowded he didn't feel comfortable on his feet - in some cases it was almost wall to wall people. So needless to say, Sam didn't remember any of it and Maria's memories were limited.

This time they got much more out of it. Although Sam still was not interested in reading anything, when we got to the part about the sinking I started reading stuff to him because I knew he would have so many questions about how it sank. We each received a boarding pass when we entered the exhibit, and everyone but me ended up in First Class (I was in 2nd class). But at the end, when they list those who survived and those who perished, Sam was the only one who did not survive. They really play up the differences in the three classes on the ship, and I do think that might have made it more interesting for the kids. Another big hit was the huge chunk of ice representing the iceberg, that we could touch, and the video demonstration of how the ship went down. I let Ben watch that with the kids numerous times - he gets a turn at Sam's never-ending questions since he didn't see him all last week!

I really enjoyed the exhibit, and I think the kids did too. So far Sam's not interested in reading the same books we read with Maria 5 years ago, but when school starts, and he has to read something, he might decide they are worth a try.

Note - no pictures in the Titanic exhibit so I posted a boarding pass - this one is Ben's and he was quite wealthy. Also a picture of Ben and the kids trying to lift a car on a pulley system - we had over an hour to play at the regular exhibits at COSI too.