We could go on and on naming the circles that form in the natural world (whirlpools, tree rings, planets…), those that are essential in industry (wheels, gears…) and those that are cultural symbols (the yin and yang, the Olympic rings…), but we don’t have to because the Children’s Museum of Houston has an exhibit featuring a number of interactive activities based on the round shapes. The exhibit “The Secrets of Circles,” which was imported from the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, has 16 stations, including an international marketplace serving all kinds of round fruit; a child-size wood lathe that lets visitors carve wood into decorative slices; and a build-an-arch setup allowing for some experimentation with circles in model-size architecture. There are also exhibits on drawing, culture and engineering and how they relate to the shape that makes the world go round. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays, noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. Through September 19. 1500 Binz Street. For information, call 713-522-1138 or visit www.cmhouston.org. Free to $8.
Mondays-Sundays. Starts: May 29. Continues through Sept. 19, 2010
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2010.