If you live anywhere in the United States, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve seen the slogan “Reading is FUNdamental” somewhere. In fact, this slogan, which was created by a literacy group called Reading is Fundamental, Inc., has been in wide-spread use since 1966. As a result, anyone under the age of 48 has quite literally had their entire lifetime to hear the organization’s motto and, hopefully, recognize its meaning. However, even though reading is essential to our understanding of the world around us, it is not the only way that people can have fun learning new things. You may, therefore, be interested in some of the ways that you can learn new things and have fun at the same time this weekend.
First, have you and/or your children ever wanted to design your own car or another similar type of vehicle? Well, if you have, the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Space will give you the chance at its monthly Family Design Day this Saturday, January 11th from 10:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. This month’s BSA Space’s Family Design Day, which is entitled Rights of Way: Mobility and the City, will allow children ages 5 to 13 and their parents to see how people move through the city, how the city itself has changed as a result of the way people move, and how future changes to the city and the transportation system may improve the way everyone moves from place to place. Best of all, each family will be able to use the information that they learn from the exhibits to design their own vehicles out of recycled materials. For more information on the program and/or to register for the event, please visit the Family Design Day Eventbrite website or the Learning by Design in Massachusetts website.
Secondly, if you and/or your kids aren’t really into cars or architectural design, but you’re always up for some science, there’s no better place to go than the Museum of the Science. The Museum of Science, which is open every day from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (with some special nighttime shows on weekends) will give your entire family the opportunity to learn about animals, color, computers, dinosaurs, energy conservation, engineering, light, lightning, mapmaking, math, nanotechnology, optical illusions, the tools and methods that scientists use, the universe, weather forecasting, wind power and other types of renewable energy, x-rays, and a whole lot more. For more information on the Museum of Science, the events that are currently taking place at the Museum, and/or to order tickets, please visit the Official Museum of Science website.
Finally, it is important to remember that there is one thing that you may want to avoid if you are planning to head into Boston with your kids this Sunday, and that thing is the “T.” Why avoid the “T” you might ask? Well, you see, this Sunday is BostonSOS’s and Improv Everywhere’s Annual No Pants Subway Ride. This event, which is exactly what it sounds like, will have a number of people riding the subway throughout the day in their underwear. As a result, unless you want your children to learn that people are really weird (and potentially scar your children for life), you may want to find another way into the city. For more information on how to avoid the Annual No Pants Subway Ride or, if you’re crazy enough, participate in it, please visit the Boston No Pants Subway Ride Facebook page.
Photo credit: Jean Marc Cote (if 1901) or Villemard (if 1910) / Foter.com / Public Domain Mark 1.0