School break Feb or March 2014 Break: School Break: Are We There Yet? Hitting the road with the kids in the back seat is no longer the chore it used to be, with all the electronic gadgets to keep them occupied. However, restlessness is inevitable, and for that we have suggestions to break up the days with activities. You would be surprised at what we have found in children's and science museums right on the side of the road to entertain youngsters (and their parents) - guts, snot, scorpions and a human hurricane. FL - What is the "golden hour" in a hospital emergency room? CT - Ride a Skeleton Bike VA - Watch Rats Play Basketball DE - Learn How to Earn Money NC - How Do Boogers Form in Your Nose? FL - Stroll Down a Digestive Tract FL - What is the "golden hour" in a hospital emergency room? FL Exit 27: Museum of Discovery & Science - The massive gravity clock in front will stop you in your tracks. When you enter, the whole family can have fun with more than 200 interactive exhibits, plus an IMAX theater showing both creature features and movies. Little kids can play with water, sound and gravity, and can encounter scorpions, a big green iguana, bunnies and the otter pad. There's a viewer to see inside a body, a 65' life size walk-thru shark and an air boat ride. Older ones (that means you, too) can fly like an astronaut on the Mars Rover, become a human hurricane, try the brain teasers, find out about the "golden hour" in a hospital emergency room and use ultraviolet light to test fluorescent properties of minerals. We learned here to appreciate bats, which can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes a night! Of course, there's a gift shop. 401 SW Second St., Fort Lauderdale. www.mods.org Tel: 954-467-6637. CT - Ride a Skeleton Bike CT Exit 14N or 15S: Stepping Stones Museum - For children ages 1-10 or children at heart, in the Energy Lab you can explore the waterfalls, funnels and water wheels, wind tunnel, or cranks, levers, air tubes and blowers which set balls and objects into motion. Try to hit the bulls eye with an air pump. In Build It, put on construction clothes and finish walls, apply carpeting, wallpaper or shingles or make an arch with blocks. Become part of a video game when you appear on the screen. Healthyville has 50 hands-on activities, computer games and a real TV studio. See how the brain controls the body, hop on a skeleton-bike to see how your bones work and learn through the interactive model of the digestive tract - gulp! Entrance in Matthews Park, 303 West Ave., Norwalk. www.steppingstonesmuseum.org Tel: 203-899-0606. VA - Watch Rats Play Basketball VA Exit 78: Science Museum of Virginia - Who would ever think you could watch rats play basketball right on I-95? We did, and you can. Though this building was a grand old rail station, the exhibit area is not overwhelming, and it can be an educational break. You can check how the drive is affecting your blood pressure, find out how much you weigh on Mars, or calm down watching fish in aquariums or snakes and lizards slither. Wanna see a tarantula up close or try a segway? At the Science Unplugged, little ones can build an arch and actually walk on it. Outside there's an aluminaut, an aluminum submarine, while inside you can watch an ImaxDome movie or the planetarium. It doesn't cost anything to see the foucault pendulum in the lobby or the kugel rotating ball outstide. Besides a fabulous gift shop, there's Starbucks in the Cafe Portico. 2500 W. Broad St., Richmond. www.smv.org Tel: 800-659-1727 or 804-864-1400. DE - Learn How to Earn Money Exit 5C: Delaware Children's Museum - You cannot miss this giant yellow clad building, and you shouldn't miss the fun inside. First you get to climb the giant Stratosphere, then you go on to the interactive exhibits where you can try virtual rowing, a dance studio, an operating table, climb a rock wall and see yourself on TV. The Power of Me lets you test your body and mind. In ECOnnect you can go into an Eco green House and then play with water and wind power. An original concept is the Bank On It exhibit, where you learn about how to earn money, use it wisely and save it. Training Wheels is for the toddlers and pre-schoolers, where they can try out all kinds of transportation. Structures is about the building industry and how to build. Studio D is an art workshop, and there's an educational gift shop. 550 Justison St., Wilmington. www.delawarechildrensmuseum.org Tel: 302-654-2340. NC - How Do Boogers Form in Your Nose? Exit 138: Imperial Centre: The Children's Museum & Science Center and the Maria V. Howard Arts Center - What you have in this re-purposed tobacco factory are options for everyone in the car. Young ones 6 months to 6 years will have fun at the 35 interactive learning stations (music, doors revealing hidden surprises) or at the animal touch pool, live Burmese python and alligator. Older kids will learn about space sciences and "Elements of Life", water, air and solar energy. The museum has rotating exhibitions, and now it's Grossology, based on the best-selling book. Explore why your body produces mushy, oozy, crusty, scaly and stinky gunk. Learn the good, the bad and the downright icky about snot, warts, boogers, vomit and "tooting". For everyone, the Centre is home to an intimate full dome digital planetarium. The artsy crowd can go across the hall to the The Arts Center's 9 galleries: NC artists, crafts, printing, re-cycled work, painting, jewelry, textiles and sculpture. You can grab a bite at the cafe, and don't forget the gift shop. 270 Gay St., Rocky Mount. www.imperialcentre.org Tel: 252-972-1167 (children), 252-972-1163 (art). FL - Stroll Down a Digestive Tract FL Exit 350A: Museum of Science and History - Here Tonca, the 46-year-old, 112 lb. alligator snapping turtle greets you. Can you imagine having to feed a whale up to 5,500 lbs. of food daily? You learn this, see their bones and learn about dolphins, manatees, birds, turtles, lizards and snakes. There are planetarium shows, and kids will love the stroll down a digestive tract and the climbing tree. Adults will be fascinated by the appendectomy and bypass surgery lesson. You'll find out about water, and there's some history of the area. 1025 Museum Circle, Jacksonville. www.themosh.org Tel: 904-396-MOSH.