Imaginarium Science Center, Fort Myers, Florida

Today we went to look at RV's for my mom and while we were out I realised we were fairly close to
Imaginarium Science Center.So we took a break from RV hunting for a little fun for the girls. Imaginarium is part of the reciprocal ASTC program so we were able to spend the afternoon here for Free... well actually we got in for free but we did have to pay $1 each for the 3D movie. Regular prices were Adults $12, Seniors $10 and children $8...so almost free and we saved $34.

The first stop for us was the touch tank. This tank had both sting rays and horseshoe crabs.

Imaginarium isn't the largest Science Center we have been to but my girls enjoyed quite a few stations here. Of course as soon as they saw the Minecraft area they were all over it!

Another area they really liked was the mock weather station. They spent a fair amount of time laughing and making up weather skits and watching themselves on the News screens.

Some other fun areas in the Science Center...

We then headed to see the 3D movie. It was short but really cute and I definitely recommend you watch it.

Afterwards we took a walk around the outside area of the science center and fed the Koi.

We really enjoyed Imaginarium. It was a great place to spend an afternoon.

On our way back to the RV park we spotted a little park just up the road and stopped in for a bit.

Of course finding locusts was more fun then playing on the playground

South Florida Museum, Bishop Planetarium and Parker Manatee Aquarium, Bradenton Florida

We spent the morning at the South Florida Museum. This museum included the Parker Manatee Aquarium and also housed the Bishop Planetarium. With our ASTC Travellers passport we received FREE ($66 savings) admission! Regular admission would have been $19 for adults and $14 each for my girls. Kids under 3 are free. The Planetarium is extra...$4 each. All prices current as of March 2016.

This museum is a small little museum but it was the perfect size for my girls and had a couple fun components.

Learning about prehistoric animals

The museum was full of interesting facts about early local area inhabitants culture.

I love how Sierra is having a zen moment
in front of this portrait of hard working women.

A fun and educational game about tools

Learning about first tools made of shells

I finally learned the actual difference between alligators and crocodiles. Something I've often wondered about but had never actually tried to solve the mystery. Crocodiles have longer snouts and toothy grins where as alligators have shorter/stubbier snouts and their teeth are in their mouths. I'm sure there are other differences but this is the main characteristic difference that we learned here.

Aayla compared her snout to the crocodiles. Talking about the differences of her snout and theirs.

There was a fun little educational hands on room that the girls played in while we waited for the planetarium. Sierra enjoyed acting out how she thought each culture would act in their daily lives.

By far their favourite thing was exploring the ancient older technology.

"Mom is this a phone?"  

"How does the wire come off?" 

"Is this the first computer?"
"How does the internet work?"

Oh yeah they had fun with these... and boy do I feel old now! You should have seen their faces as I tried to explain what a "party line" was! 

Aayla and daddy loved the Planetarium.

After the planetarium we had a quick tour of the court yard and sample house. This area was a bit lacking and held their attention for maybe a minute. They were hoping to walk through the whole house so were disappointed with the little mock show rooms in the entrance.

Then we headed up to the Parker Manatee Aquarium. Currently they had two manatee being rehabilitated.

As well as "Snooty" their resident Manatee who is 67 years old and has been at this aquarium since he was 11 months old. He has been in captivity so long that he can not be released. He gets well taken care of here as you can see by his size! He has even taught himself some tricks like pulling himself up on deck for snack.

Snooty gets fed by hand while the other two manatee are not hand fed. The hope is that when rehabilitated, they will not become dependant of people for their food and then in the future can be released back into the wild. These two are here due to suffering from cold stress which is much like frost bite for humans.

A manatee skeleton

Aayla found Nemo...but couldn't find Dory :)

Then it was time for lunch! This was an interesting spot for about 1 1/2 hours. It's small but was fun and informative. The little hands on room was by far their favourite spot. 

Great Explorations Children's Museum, St Petersburg, Florida

While on our daytrip to St Petersburg and Clearwater area we visited Great Explorations Children's Museum and I must say I was very impressed!

Admission was $10 each for ages 1-54 (under one is free and 55 and older is $9) so this would have cost us $40 to visit except it is part of the ASTC travel passport program so we got in for FREE! See where we bought our membership that allowed us to visit this Children's Museum for FREE HERE.

We arrived shortly before closing so we didn't have much time to explore but it was almost empty so we had the place to ourselves basically and there was no waiting for anything.

Trying their hand at milking a cow and they were very surprised when milk actually came out!

The Build It Creation table where there is lots of Lego provided for you to build what ever your little heart desires.

The pizza station and grocery store once again wins over my girls. They could literally stay and shop and cook all day long!

Practising hula hooping at the Great Explorations Theater stage.

 

Next up was visiting the veterinary clinic to help some sick animals.

The animals needed baths.

Each had their own safe kennel to rest in while waiting to see the vet.

Some animals had broken bones which needed xrays to be sure.

Upstairs they had a healthy bodies/healthy food and exercise areas. 

Back downstairs they visited the fire hall. 

 Then they headed out into the main play area where there were lots of stations to build with different types of blocks. Sierras favourite was the natural tree blocks...takes after her mamas own heart!

In the middle there was a really cool treehouse/playhouse/slide area.

 Large blocks for building those large muscles.

 A great creation station with lots of building materials.

 I love this clay sculpture someone built.

A whirlwind visit for us for sure but it was lots of fun. We were really impressed with this children's museum. Although it was small it was jam packed with many fun activities.We definitely recommend a visit here if you are in the area. The Sunken Gardens are also next door. We didn't have time to visit them today but another trip we will for sure.