Exploring Trees Inside and Out
Opens October 3

Autumn is a wonderful time of year; the air is crisp, the foliage is exploding with color. This exhibit is designed to create a better understanding among children about the significant role trees play in the environment. A variety of inventive and interactive elements allow children to explore trees in a multi-sensory way including exploring the "heart" of a tree trunk, sitting inside a giant leaf and experiencing the light, sound, and sensation of photosynthesis and even becoming a forest creature in a "green screen" experience that allows children to fly like a bird and soar over the treetops.

Presented by Doubletree Hotels and developed by the Arbor Day Foundation, the spacious, 2,500-square-foot exhibit is designed to create a better understanding among children ages 2 to 10 about the significant role trees play in the environment. A variety of inventive and interactive elements allow children to explore trees in a multi-sensory way never before possible through its fun packed and educational components.

Special New Exhibit
Tales from the Land of Gullah
October – January 2009

Families are immersed in the world of the Gullah people who lived on isolated islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina from their days as slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries until today. Many common nursery rhymes, popular sayings and children’s songs like Michael Row Your Boat Ashore come from the Gullah people. Children will participate in the daily life and rituals of a Gullah family from the 1950s before bridges and high speed boat travel united the islands with the mainland. Children will play Gullah games, learn to tell Gullah time, go fish netting with a Gullah fisherman, cook a Gullah meal, and much more as they learn about this special culture.