The Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources announces Spring Break activities at the museum next week.
There will be three days of special programs offered at 10 a.m. and repeated at 1 p.m Monday through Friday.
On Tuesday, the museum will feature light painting. Working together or individually, participants will learn about simple circuits and then plan the composition of their light painting before implementing those plans.
Partakers will use a darkened room, a light source and a camera programmed with a long-exposure setting to experiment with different types and colors of light, as they compose their art. They can use these light sources to make definitive shapes and letters, or even more abstract paintings with a kaleidoscope of color.
This activity underscores a basic tinkering idea by using common objects in unexpected ways that combine both art and science. This type of art is a low-tech activity that can be the basis for further exploration at home, as the participants add new elements to their creations.
Join the museum staff on Wednesday to reconstruct the 1920s. Using Legos, participants will learn a bit of south Arkansas history and construct buildings and other architectural pieces from the boom days.
After oil was discovered in south Arkansas, the population grew dramatically, thus causing the need for housing, a new courthouse, larger churches and improved schools.
Many of these buildings are still standing in El Dorado, Smackover and Camden. In addition to permanent buildings like these, temporary structures like wooden derricks sprang up and decorated the landscape for as far as the eye could see. These structures will be examined and the scenery that was booming almost 100 years ago will be recreated.
On Friday, the museum will feature a program taking a look at the animals of south Arkansas and creating a critter plus animating them with conductive dough.
The other exhibits in the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources will also be open. Don’t miss the two traveling exhibits “Magnificent Me” and “Eat Well, Play Well.” Both exhibits focus on the human body and how bodies function and how we should care for ourselves.
“Magnificent Me” uses interactive exhibits to explore the blood, guts, bones, brains, senses and mechanics that make people, people. The exhibit explores muscles and bones, heart and lungs, digestive system, brain and nerves and body basics. Come pump a heart, stretch intestines, fool senses, make a skeleton dance and more.
What is the food we eat? Are fruits and vegetables important? Can everyday activities burn calories? Find the answers to these questions by exploring nutrition and fitness in “Eat Well, Play Well.”
This highly interactive exhibit encourages healthy living by teaching the science of making healthy food choices and helping children and adults discover there are many fun and interesting ways to stay active. Visitors will discover what an appropriate serving size looks like, see firsthand what it takes to burn off calories, test their balance and flexibility and realize that they can reduce their risk of disease with healthy choices that are within their reach!
The museum will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday to explore and learn. Registrations can be made by calling the museum at 870-725-2877.