Dinosaurs Rule! A post by guest blogger Kelly Fulford

Our staff might love the Science Center, but so do their kids! Our very own Kelly Fulford, VP of Sales & Marketing, took her son Hayden to the Detroit Children's Museum open house this past Saturday. She shares that experience with you here, along with some great pictures of her dino-lovin' son:

In the land of the five-year-old boy, the dinosaur is king. And so my son Hayden and I set off to the Detroit Children’s Museum community open house last Saturday in search of the prehistoric creatures that never fail to captivate and delight.

Upon entering, the first exhibit we encountered was an Andrewsarchus skull. Cool, but not a dinosaur. Next we stopped to look at the model houses (“Look mom, they’re eating pizza!”), ancient masks and Civil War relics. Also cool…but still not a dinosaur.

Finally we turned the corner and found the one object that was a “must see” on this trip – a model of Triceratops, or a “three horn” for all you parents who have suffered through that series of dinosaur movies that must not be named. We also found some nice displays with dinosaur pictures, and the leg bones of a dinosaur and a mammoth.

Amazingly all dinos were forgotten once Hayden caught sight of Champ the Tiger. While Champ is a “no touch” exhibit, there was a nearby display of animal pelts that the kids could feel, including skunk fur (“yuck!”), and an educational board that showed us which animals have fur, feathers, skin or scales. The animal theme continued as Hayden joined a group of other kids building a zoo using blocks and toy animals. And in the puppet theater, Hayden got to be an elephant, one of his favorites.

All animals aside, we also got to look at crystals and rocks under a magnifying glass. Hayden insisted that the red rock must be from a volcano, of which there was a model nearby. We also looked at books together and checked out the computer stations. After an hour-and-a-half, we never did make it to the art area, but we have to save something for next time, right?

And there definitely will be a next time, because in the next few weeks leading up to its June 26 grand re-opening, the Detroit Children’s Museum will be bringing out more artifacts, creating more hands-on activities and guess what? Adding more dinosaurs! And every few months, they’ll bring out more new things for us to see from their collection of over 100,000 artifacts.

So while we started out in search of dinosaurs, we found so much more…and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

-- Kelly Fulford

Hayden’s Mom and VP of Sales & Marketing for the Detroit Science Center