Very Young Astronauts

   If your child has rocket dreams, and NASA’s Space Camp is way too pricey, there’s a new, closer alternative! Countdown with your child as he or she becomes an astronaut for a day at the New York Hall of Science’s newly opened Preschool Place Launch Pad. The permanent new outdoor addition to the Hall’s popular Preschool Place allows children ages 6 and younger to take an interactive “journey” though the solar system. The playful outdoor exhibit provides a fun learning experience of light, color, numbers and reading.

   During the journey, visitors can:
    •      Circle the Earth with its moon to learn about the phases of the moon;
    •     Peek through a red-colored window (Mars) to see the Hall’s meadow and real NASA rockets awash in red;
    •     Spin Uranus to see how it has a different axis compared to the rest of the planets;
    •     Watch a solar-powered Neptune spin constantly;
    •     Rotate a wheel to view all the different stars and galaxies that lie beyond our solar system.