York County Museum

On our way to Charlotte, we planned our trip to include the York County Museum. I had been to this museum way back when I was in the 3rd grade, I believe. On Sundays, they have a planetarium show at 2pm and 3pm. We made sure that we arrived before the 3pm show.

We arrived around 2:45 so we had a few minutes to explore before the planetarium show. First up was the Vernon Grant exhibit hall. He is most noted for creating the Rice Krispie characters, Snap!, Crackle! and Pop!

The boys loved exploring the world of Vernon Grant.

I LOVE this wall idea. the museum actually has several of these. It is a wall of CARPET, then each of these house pieces is more carpet with velcro on the back. similar to a super duper felt board. I am trying to think of a way to do one of these in our home.

Daddy & John-Michael enjoyed a tea party.

I LOVED this teddy bear. When Vernon Grant left Nebraska in the early 1900's on a family move to California, it was discovered his beloved Teddy Bear was gone. His teddy bear is often shown in a lot of his artwork. Thirty years later (1940's), Vernon visited his childhood home in Nebraska. While exploring a ravine near his home where he played as a child, he found his beloved bear. What an awesome reunion!

Next, we went to the planetarium show. The boys enjoyed the show, but the talk was a bit boring. Mostly because it was just a voice in the dark talking with a red lighter pen. I have seen better presentations, but not too bad.

Next up was the Stans African Halls, where the boys got to see lots of animals and artifacts from Africa.

The nature Gallery was one of our favorite rooms. It was one of the largest rooms and had so much to show. A definite plus for homeschoolers and public schoolers alike!

Displays and cases were set up all over the room. They had everything from insects, to rocks, to fossils, to skeletons of small animals.

Joe showing the boys a crystal formation.

Lots and lots to learn!!! Under each display is a box with trays to pull out and explore the various artifacts within.

The Catawba River Gallery was probably the boys favorite. Mostly due to the water table of the Catawba River.

The boys got to play with covered wagons and guys on horses to get them across the river. There were different areas to ford as well as a ferry to use. It was pretty neat, my only complaint is there was no real access for little kids. The boys had a very hard time reaching up and over b/c the table was so tall. I hope they install some step stools or something around the perimeter.

Even big boys like to play at the water table. Joe is experimenting with the dam. There were block to show hoe the river looks during a drought, during flooding and normal flow.

Flushed away, these were all items that the local sewage treatment center has filtered out of the sewage water. VERY interesting to see some of those items! I didn't point this exhibit out to our boys, they don't need any ideas in their head. ;)

Here is one of the other carpet walls. How cool is this???

Conservation Quest was a great exhibit and we saw it on it's last day.

The boys explored what the electrical usage was for various household objects.

They also learned of various ways to power electricity - wind, solar, gas powered, etc... Joshua is demonstrating wind powered. He had to turn a crank which powered a fan which blew air on a small windmill which produced electricity to power the green light.

After a busy day, they zonked out. :)

if you are ever in the Rock Hill, SC area, take a trip to see the York County Museum, it will be a great learning experience.