Giving Back Magazine March 2019 | Page 22

Museum NO ADULTING ALLOWED New Playground Inspired Exhibition L ast year Steve Snyder, the Fleet Science Center’s CEO, visited his childhood elementary school for the first time in many years. “One look at the playground and I remembered everything, all the imaginative games we made up and things I learned playing on that slide and those monkey- bars” recalled Snyder. “I thought, wouldn’t it be great to use playground elements to inspire imagination and nostalgia?” Steve Snyder The Fleet’s creative team ran with the idea and developed Pause|Play featuring more than a dozen experiences, each designed to evoke childhood memories. The bilingual exhibit, which will be open through September 2, is no ordinary playground. There is a scientific twist to enhance every activity in this innovative and fascinating new exhibition that takes over two of the Fleet’s upstairs galleries. Augmented Reality Sandbox A slide invites visitors to climb up and plunge down but unlike other slides, this slide clocks your speed. Adults and kids alike can explore different scientific concepts through a whirling merry- go-round, a set of interconnected seesaws, augmented-reality sandboxes and a pool filled with balls. Visitors can test their perception and aim with the basketball hoops, ride a tricycle with square wheels and play a glowing game of hopscotch. 22 GBSAN.COM | MARCH 2019 Spun Chair