Park-Wide Science, Art, and Technology (STEAM) Family Day Celebrates Balboa Park Centennial

Article by Kristen Schweizer

 

As the first major event for families on the 2015 Centennial Celebration calendar, the next Balboa Park Family Day, presented by the Balboa Park Conservancy, is reminding us how “hot” science is right now. With America’s Oscar winning role being Stephen Hawking, and pre-teen captioning Instagrams with “Neil deGrasee Tyson is my #spiritanimal!” I think it is safe to say that science is cooler than it was when I was in school.

 

Knowing this, it is a no brainer to bring your family this Sunday Sunday, March 15. Over two dozen cultural organizations will put the fun into STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math—through hands-on activities, crafts, demonstrations, special exhibitions, and more.

 

Back by popular demand from last year’s STEAM Family Day:

 

• Russell, the 11-foot electric giraffe in the plaza in front of the Fleet where that gorgeous Fountain is. IE: Christmas card photo GOLD!
• other specially designed Maker exhibits, will be on view throughout the Park. Maker culture is an emerging technology-based extension of the modern DIY movement. That’s right Mom, Pinterest in real life!
• Family-friendly nature creative contraptions, which educate and entertain the public with exciting technology applications! Dad has some new tech to appreciate too!

 

Families looking for an inexpensive transportation option must know they have been considered; you can take advantage of MTS Family Weekends, when two children 12 and under ride free with any paying passenger 18 and over on Saturdays and Sundays. MTS’s new Rapid 215 route provides limited-stop express service to the San Diego Zoo and the museums on Balboa Park’s east side.

 

As in years past, this Science and Arts-themed Balboa Park Family Day will serve as an anchor event of the annual San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering which is fast approaching from March 14 to 21, which culminates in the FREE (did you see that parents?!) Science & Engineering EXPO DAY at PETCO Park on March 21, featuring dozens of hands-on exhibits and various stage performances.

 

For a complete schedule, visit www.lovestemsd.org. All Balboa Park Family Day activities take place on March 15 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted in the schedule below. For updates, visit www.balboapark.org/

 

Other than that, here is a quick rundown of what events would have made me and my siblings scream with joy between ages 2 to, I don’t know, age 25:

 

STEAMday.

 

• Friends of Balboa Park and San Diego Floral Association — Butterfly Celebration in the Zoro Garden includes butterfly crafts, butterfly face painting, butterfly displays, storytelling, ladybugs, and live butterfly releases at 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m.

 

• Free admission for everyone all day. Other park organizations sponsoring activities include Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, the NAT, and World Beat Center.

 

• House of Pacific Relations International Cottages — Open Houses: All the cottages are open. including the popular Ethnic Food Fair.

 

• Lawn Program: Free live music and dance performances 2 p.m.–4 p.m. for all ages courtesy of the House of Ireland, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

 

• Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater — Free puppet-making from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

 

• Enjoy a full-stage marionette production of The Magic Well by Weaverstales at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.. General admission $5, senior/military $4, kids under 2 free.

 

• Mingei International Museum — Use creative math and engineering skills to create handmade beads inspired by the Mingei’s Bead Gallery. Furniture maker Christy Oates demonstrates her process of digital making combined with traditional woodworking techniques. Kids 12 and under are free with a paid adult admission of only $5. All activities included!

 

• Museum of Photographic Arts — Learn about aerial photography using quadcopters. I don’t know what a quadcopter is, but our kids probably know how to build one with a 3D printer already.

 

• Experience Maker exhibits Nerdy Derby to make and decorate your own pinewood car and race down the track; a Girl Scout soldering demonstration

 

• San Diego Automotive Museum — Explore three car-related Maker exhibits in front of the museum, including Electric Car Conversions, in which internal combustion engines have been converted to electric. Coloring sheets of automobiles spanning the 1910s to 1970s accompany cars on exhibit in the museum galleries.

 

• San Diego History Center — Interactive Maker exhibit of a custom FabLab-designed working scale model of the Panama Canal that lets visitors navigate a “boat” from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Kids 12 and under free with a paid adult admission of only $5. All activities and the film Balboa Park: The Jewel of San Diego (at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.) included. Also, free activities on the Prado walkway (see below).

 

• San Diego Model Railroad Museum — Create and customize your very own electricity-matching game and put it to the test using our equipment. Also, free activities on the Prado walkway where there will be buzzing free activity from many museums and organizations I have not mentioned merely for space reasons.

 

I cannot possibly explain all the fun available this Sunday for your family, significant other, little nephews you’ve been meaning to volunteer to babysit, and grown friends. Check it out, activate your mind…find out what all this science-fuss is about.