October Free First Saturday was a day of transformative tinkering, rocket launching and small illuminations.   Staff members from The Bakken Museum were in the Cargill Lounge showing kids how to construct rockets out of construction paper, illuminate small light bulbs with AA batteries and a few wires, and build the slowest ramp possible using a slab of peg board, wooden dowels and rubber bands.  Kids crowded each station making wide-eyed discoveries and turning to look each time a newly constructed rocket was put to the test, the launching machine emmitting a loud “HONK” with every try.

Nearby in the U.S. Bank Orientation Lounge The Lost Thing was playing, a short film directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann.  A beautifully animated film, it illustrates the interaction between a young man and a creature he encounters while out walking and the adventure the two of them take when the man sets out to find where the unusual creature belongs. 

In the Art Lab Ilene Krug Mojsilov led an art activity encouraging participants to begin with one object and change it into something completely new.  Kids and parents were hard at work hot-gluing,  cutting and constructing new object upon new object.  The room was teeming with imaginative inventions of all kinds.

Families Design Their Rockets for Launch

Using AA Batteries to Illuminate Light Bulbs

Launching the Rocket

 

Building Something New