Friday night at the Hands On Museum was the best sleepover I ever had. When my son Josh brought home the permission slip, I immediately signed up to chaperone. Even at 35, it's a child's dream to spend a night at the museum. Oh, the kids had some fun too, I suppose. At least that's what they said!

Thurston fourth graders from Dr. Murphy's class and Mrs. Hettrick's class arrived at the Hands on Museum around 7 p.m. We dropped off our sleeping gear, were separated into groups and went through a quick round of simple rules (all of which were promptly broken). Then off we went to the workshops. When the staff member in charge, Sheila, said that we were about to learn "some of the coolest science ever," she wasn't kidding.

First we cut open an eye. Did you know that cow's eyes are very similar in structure to human eyes? Well, they are. The children were given a chance to jump right into discovery. Armed with a pair of scissors and an actual cow's eye, they got to trim the access bits hanging off of it, cut the eye in half, remove the iris, inspect the retracting tissue. The eyes are preserved in formaldehyde. As the young scientist cut and explored, the smell intensified, sending some of the adults running from the room, covering their mouths. But the kids did really well! Most of them were fascinated, some slightly grossed out. But, they all had a great time with it! Then we threw eggs. My husband, who went with, whispered to me with a hint of distaste, "I bet they are pre-boiled." Yeah, no, they weren't! We got to drop raw eggs from the balcony of the second floor of the museum. The kids split into groups of five and were given 200 credits for materials. One egg cost 50 credits and with the remaining credits they were to inspect and chose the various available supplies which would prevent that egg from breaking on impact with the first floor. Praised be the ingenuity of the young mind! They wrapped the eggs in foam, they built reinforcements from cups and straws. One team came up with a parachute made out of foam and tape. They were able to slow down the descent and minimize the impact enough to prevent the eggs from breaking. A small victory for human kind, a giant win for the egg! In our final workshop we built bridges and launched rockets. The children were given two wooden blocks, several rectangular pieces of cardstock paper and pennies. The idea was to reinforce the bridge enough so that it could support more than one penny without breaking. The trick was to fold the paper like a fan, creating a triangular base, which would then support the weight of the pennies. Then we filled mini tubes, like the ones you used to keep your film in before digital cameras, with water. We added a fizzy pill and closed the lid. Within a few moments the lids flew off of the containers with a great loud pop. The delight of discovery was immeasurable. You know that feeling when the kids forget to talk and only one letter sounds come out of their mouth? It was like that. We finished with a grand finally of setting off all of our "water rockets" at once. In the words of Mr. Tickle, "There was a great pandemonium." After a lovely snack, with, blessedly, some caffeinated beverages for the adults and hot chocolate for the kids we ran off to explore the four floors of the museum. We were up until midnight, and, exhausted, but happy, finally settled down in sleeping bags to enjoy the actual sleep over in the old fire house right in the heart of Ann Arbor.

View my photos of the event by clicking here.

Margarita Shelley lives in the Thurston neighborhood and has a fourth grader named Josh. On Friday night she was up until 2:30 am reading Percy Jackson to the tree restless kids who finally fell asleep. And the harmony of that experience made her inner child giddy with joy. Have photos of this event? Link them here or email me at margarita.shelley@gmail.com.