Kid*Vention
Strap on your goggles and slip into your lab coat for Kid*Vention, the Virginia Discovery Museum’s annual celebration of everything science! Located just a short walk from the Museum at the Key Recreation Center, this community event welcomes 1,000 visitors each year, and families are invited to explore a wide variety of scientific fields through hands-on demonstrations, experiments, games, and more. Meet dozens of local exhibitors as children are introduced to biology, chemistry, earth science, engineering, physics, and zoology and inspired to explore the world around them.
Event Details | Questions? | Featured Exhibitors | Thank You to Our Sponsors
Questions? Give us a call at (434) 977-1025 x104 or email education@vadm.org.
Featured Exhibitors
Meet our featured exhibitors for Kid*Vention 2018! Plus, be sure to check out our Countdown to Kid*Vention on Facebook starting Jan. 29 as we take a sneak peek at some of the things you’ll see at this year’s event.
Babylon Micro-Farms
Activity: Automated Hydroponic Farm
How does your garden grow? It might sound quite contrary, but did you know it’s possible to grow plants without soil? Forget silver bells and cockle shells; Mary had nothing on “hydroponics,” a process through which plants can be cultivated in a watery solution of mineral nutrients rather than in the ground. Explore an automated hydroponic farm as you learn about how innovative technology is transforming sustainable agriculture.
Charlottesville Gas
Activity: The Stinky Game
Phew! What’s that smell? Use your nose to sniff out the source of the stinky odor as you discover an important energy source used in many people’s houses and learn ways you can practice natural gas safety at home and in the community.
Charlottesville Pediatric Dentistry
Activity: Drill & Fill
Going to the dentist can be scary, but a visit to their table at Kid*Vention is sure to leave you smiling! Become a dentist for the day as you fill a “cavity” with playdough and discover dental tips to keep your own pearly whites healthy and happy.
Child Development Labs at UVA
Activity: Face Detectives
Calling all super sleuths! Follow short-story clues to help match which emotional expressions belong on a doll’s face as you learn how expressions become easier to interpret through contextual information.
CodeVA
Activity: Robot Rodeo
Giddy up! Drive a Finch Robot through a rodeo of obstacles – then program it to run the course on its own – as you learn how computers and programming can be used as tools to help solve everyday problems. Yee haw!
Rivanna Conservation Alliance
Activity: Critters in the Creek
The outdoors are coming inside! Meet some of the critters that live in the Rivanna River and discover why they are important to the health of the stream, monitor water for pH, temperature, and clarity, and examine bacteria under a microscope.
Tech-Girls
Activity: Tech-xplorations
What makes a computer tick? Create a circuit, design a video game controller, and more as you take a journey inside a computer and discover the building blocks of computing – hardware and software – and combine them in new and creative ways.
TrueTyme Research
Activity: Store-and-Score
Have a cool idea? Discover how much fun it can be to invent something new as you meet a local inventor and learn how he turned his own creative idea into reality! Check out his Store-and-Score laundry hamper, an invention that refines motor skill development and hand-eye coordination and turns neatness into a game. Do you have any ideas you could turn into an invention?
UVa Engineering Student Council
Activity: Ocean in a Jar
Take a deep breath as you dive beneath the surface of the water! Discover the layers of the ocean – called “zones” – as you create your own cross-section of sea by filling a jar with different liquids, learn about density, and compare the unique colors and characteristics of each level as you progress deeper.
Click the icon in the upper left corner for map legend and details.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
