Education Programs at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum

Explore four of the five senses. Can you see a sound? Smell a color? Come play with us and explore sight, sound, smell and touch. Register today!

Investigate the states of matter by measuring and mixing ingredients for two types of slime. Is it a solid, a liquid or something in between? Use your senses to find out and get ready to get messy! Register today!

Push and pull your way through an exploration of force and simple machines. We’ll learn the golden rule of simple machines and explore how levers and inclined planes can make your work easier! Register today!

Look beyond the four stages of the water cycle and get a first-hand look at the many paths of a water molecule. Where does the rain come from and where does it go after it hits the ground? With activities and movement, students begin to answer these and other questions about water. Register today!

Students will be “wired” after this electrifying introduction to circuits. Explore the two types of circuits and the parts that make them work. Build a burglar alarm and more with our safe, interlocking electronic components. Register today!

Someone has broken into the Museum van and stolen a laptop! Become Museum detectives and use forensic science and real lab techniques to analyze evidence to crack the case. Register today!

Invite the whole school to an evening of fantastic, science-based fun! We mix Natural and Physical Sciences to give you a unique look into how the world works. You provide 20 volunteers and we’ll fill 20 of your tables with creative hands-on activities. Educators and families love this casual, self-directed evening of fun science activities. All activities are linked to the Michigan Science Standards. Discount coupons for a visit to the Museum for all participants! Register today!

Invite the whole school to an evening of interactive, math and engineering fun! Family members can work together or compete with each other to be the math and engineering champion! You provide 20 volunteers and we’ll fill 20 of your tables with creative hands-on activities. Educators and families love this casual, self-directed evening of fun science activities. All activities are linked to the Michigan Science Standards. Discount coupons for a visit to the Museum for all participants! Register today!

Invite the whole school to an evening of fantastic, STEM-based fun and see why this is such a popular program. Make a mini wind mill and test out its power! Want to know how windy it is in your neighborhood? Make your own anemometer and take it home to test! Register today!

Use magnets to perform tasks and learn basic magnet vocabulary. Explore how magnets work and how we use them in our daily lives.  Register today!

Study the lives of seeds, frogs and insects in this dynamic workshop. We’ll identify the stages of the life cycle using live beetles, start seeds and discover the order of different kinds of life cycles. Register today!

The program begins with an astronomy "orientation" that features lively demonstrations to illustrate the concepts that are important to understanding the study of the stars and ends inside our portable, inflatable planetarium known as StarLab.  Register today!

Explore the different properties of sound. Experiment with waves and vibration. How does sound travel through different substances? Test out your hypotheses!  Register today!

Discover how wind can be harnessed to make electricity and build a working wind turbine! Experiment with blade design and other variables to find the most efficient design for a wind power generator. Register today!

Push and pull your way through this interactive workshop about Force and Motion. We'll talk about a force's strength, direction, and how things act when they collide. Your students can also discover how a simple machine makes work easier by experimenting with our giant fulcrum. Register today!

Is it a solid? A liquid? A gas? Your students will discover the properties of each state of matter by making our ooey, gooey slime. We’ll also discuss how molecules look and act when changing between states of matter. Students will get to take home their slime as well as a recipe to make it again at home. Register today!

This new workshop is designed just for your youngest learners. Using the story Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh, students will discover the joys of balance. We’ll use levers and fulcrums to see if we can find the perfect balance. Each 30-minute workshop will include an interactive story-time, an explorative hands-on activity, and group reflection time. Register today!

The classic egg drop experiment! Students are given credits to purchase materials to protect their egg from damage in freefall. Concepts in this workshop range from gravity to economics.  Register today!

You provide the floor space and we’ll provide the excitement and learning. What better way to learn about the physics of energy, force and motion than through hands-on science?  Register today!

Introduces information on the principles of electricity and circuits. Test these principles by using interlocking components to build your own circuits.  Register today!

What’s the smallest thing you can think of?  We’ll learn about the science of the teeny tiny with activities that discuss scale, nano in nature and nanotechnology. Register today!

Now your littlest students can explore the wonders of the universe. You choose two activities from our selection to explore as a class. Register today!

Includes activities from biology, ecology, physics, chemistry, math. We can customize this to fit your needs.  Register today!

We’ll showcase interactive, try-this-at-home activities in an auditorium setting. We’ll also bring along a few demonstrations involving dry ice and liquid nitrogen!  Register today!

Ever wonder why you can smell, hear, taste, see, and feel? Come find out how your senses help you to discover the world around you. Students will explore their senses with 5 hands-on activities. Register today!

We will explore our smoky cauldron and mysterious concoctions as we make two types of slime with students. Younger students use their slime to investigate three states of matter. Older students investigate the properties of polymers. Gooey concoctions are perfect for Halloween fun!    Award-winning program! Register today!

Students will learn about animal adaptations to extreme weather with hands-on experiments and even take a virtual trip to Antarctica. Join us as we learn how animals such as penguins live and have babies during extreme weather.    Award-winning program! Register today!

Together we’ll take a look at actual fossils and discuss how you can find the clues that they hide and how to interpret their stories that unfolded millions of years ago. Invent your own prehistoric animals, follow along in the story of fossilization, and discuss fossil finds like real paleontologists.    Award-winning program! Register today!

Get up close to owls as an avian expert from Leslie Science & Nature Center (Ann Arbor, MI) uses live birds to compare and contrast the characteristics of different owl species. Learn how owls have adapted to a predatory way of life. Dissect real owl pellets to investigate the diet of a barn owl. Learn about food chains and the role of avian predators in an ecosystem. Gain an introduction to skeletal anatomy and prey identification.    Award-winning program! Register today!

Create an invention uniquely suited a need that you see, and then take your creation home with you. Brownies will complete their Inventor badge during this workshop.

Examine fingerprints, learn about chromatography, analyze evidence and immerse yourself in the intriguing world of forensic science. Scouts will complete their Forensics badge during this workshop.

Art and science have more in common than you would think! Scouts will complete their Stories in Shapes badge during this workshop.