The Mind Museum brings extinct dinos to life
By Camille Anne M. Arcilla
Exhibit
Dino Play:
Explore the Mind-blowing World of Dinosaurs!
Ongoing until Sept. 30
The Mind Museum, J. Y. Campos Park,
3rd Ave., Taguig, Metro Manila
DINOSAURS — even if they have been extinct for about 65 million years ago — have always fascinated children. To feed their curiosity, The Mind Museum launched its latest traveling exhibition, Dino Play: Explore the Mind-blowing World of Dinosaurs! which opened on June 29.
Adding a touch of local color to the show, a vintage Sarao Motors jeepney welcomes visitors at the entrance of the exhibit, along with a Tyrannosaurus Rex sculpture with giant dinosaur eggs for a good photo op.
At the start of the Dino Play tour, guests are introduced to the dinosaurs — what they really are and how they are related to modern animals — through questions such as “Did you know that chickens are descendants of the T. Rex?” or “Why weren’t there dinosaurs in the Philippines back in the day?”
Huge dino footprints greet visitors at the exhibit’s doorstep. A child can compare their foot size to those of the T. Rex and velociraptor.
Dino Play is divided into four interactive segments or “nests.” In the first one — the Dino Dig — children can pretend to be paleontologists and dig through the excavation site in search of fossils.
Next is the Dino Den where children can pretend to be dinosaurs themselves — complete with dino onesies and wooden slippers with dinosaur footprints as soles of their feet — and play around with dinosaur eggs and nests.
Dino Lab, the third segment, is where, under adult supervision, the kids can learning by examining actual fossil remains, dinosaur bones, petrified wood, ancient shelled creatures called ammonites, and even preserved dinosaur poop.
Lastly, guests can enjoy the Dino Fun area offering hands-on activities such as making their own fossils with soft sand, climbing on the Dino Family Tree and Dino Lookout Tower, and create their own dinosaurs through magnetic wooden shapes.
The exhibit not only provides fun activities for children, but also provides ample information about dinosaurs through large bulletin boards, and manuals that can be brought home after the tour. There are also adult guides who can help parents and teachers out with information and highlight the activities for the kids.
Dino Play runs until Sept. 30 at The Mind Museum. The museum aims to bring the exhibit to different parts of the country, then across the globe as part of its mission to educate the general public.
For ticket inquiries, e-mail inquiry@themindmusuem.org, or visit www.mindmuseum.org. Follow The Mind Museum on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @themindmuseum.
