Our team of educators can visit your school, library, or special events such as STEAM Night, delivering customizable, hands-on learning experiences that will leave a lasting impression on your students.
At Great Explorations, we take pride in extending quality informal learning opportunities to low-income and at-risk families in the Tampa Bay Area through our dedicated Interactive Education Outreach Programs. Designed to empower children, this initiative offers hands-on learning experiences and explores various STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) topics through engaging and educational programs.
For further details on how our Interactive Education Outreach Programs can benefit your community, please reach out to us at outreach@greatex.org. We are committed to making learning accessible and enjoyable for all children in the Tampa Bay Area.
Come to Your Senses:
Oh, no! Mr. and Mrs. PotatoHead have lost their 5 senses! How will they perceive the world? Join us as we work together to complete 5 sense-ational challenges that will unlock the PotatoHead’s toy pieces, helping them experience the world once more. Along the way, you’ll discover how humans perceive and explore their surroundings!
Galaxy Explorers:
Join us on an exciting journey through the Solar System! Learn about what children can spot in the sky, including the Sun, Moon, and stars. We’ll also delve into how gravity keeps this cosmic neighborhood rotating and revolving together. With each new discovery, kids will ignite their curiosity about the universe and its wonders!
Silly Science:
This sensational sampling of scientific experiments is crafted to engage curious minds and foster a lifelong love for learning. From bubbly reactions to interactive demonstrations, your little ones will be introduced to multiple fields of science, sparking their imagination and creativity. Each activity encourages exploration, allowing them to ask questions and discover answers through hands-on experiences. Bring on the giggles, while developing a deeper appreciation for the scientific world around them!
Under Pressure:
With all the pressures in life, this program takes a lighter approach to teaching about air pressure! Packed with fun, hands-on, and downright silly experiments, kids get to explore big ideas like Newton’s Third Law and Bernoulli’s Principle in action. All while discovering that not all forces can be seen. Sometimes the most powerful ones are hiding in the invisible air all around us!
Playful Particles:
Do your kids think they know all there is to understand about the three states of matter? We’re here to challenge those preconceived notions with a series of explosive and thought-provoking chemistry experiments. Through bubbly and explosive reactions, students will uncover surprising insights about matter that they never even considered. This hands-on experience will not only ignite their curiosity but also encourage them to question and explore the scientific principles behind each activity. By the end, students will walk away with a deeper understanding of matter and a newfound excitement for the wonders of chemistry!
The Day the Crayons Quit:
The crayons have decided to go on strike! Blue is feeling overwhelmed, while Yellow and Orange are locked in a rivalry over who should be the color of the sun. In this engaging community-building workshop, your kids will delve into each crayon’s concerns and brainstorm creative solutions. Through this imaginative exploration, they’ll learn about teamwork, empathy, and the importance of compromise. At the end of the workshop, they will come together to create a colorful mural that incorporates all their ideas and resolves the crayons’ grievances, celebrating their collaboration and creativity!
Under Pressure:
With all the pressures in life, this program takes a lighter approach to teaching about air pressure! Packed with fun, hands-on, and downright silly experiments, kids get to explore big ideas like Newton’s Third Law and Bernoulli’s Principle in action. All while discovering that not all forces can be seen. Sometimes the most powerful ones are hiding in the invisible air all around us!
Code and Conquer: (Max 30 kids)
Discover how these tiny robots navigate their surroundings and learn to communicate in their language. Use your newly acquired color-coding skills to help our bots out of jam and get them where they need to be safely. With a range of challenges across various difficulty levels, this flexible and easily customizable adventure will fit any group of students 7 years old and up.
When Sparks Fly:
The museum is beyond excited to share our high-voltage collection of electric demo machines with your kids and put the power in their hands! With jumping electrical arcs and hair-raising experiments, we explore concepts like voltage, open and closed circuits, attraction and repulsion, and conductivity. Though these machines no longer serve their original purposes, they now spark curiosity in new ways, like how electrons move to power our world!
Acting Out:
In this highly customizable program, our improv actors will bring to life a variety of scenarios that reflect today’s culture and the unique dynamics of your school or community group. At pivotal moments in the scenes, we’ll pause the action and allow the children to interact directly with the characters. This immersive experience empowers kids to explore their own emotions as well as those of others, fostering empathy and understanding. Together, they will discover effective ways to resolve conflicts and navigate challenges as a cohesive group, all while having fun and engaging in meaningful dialogue.
Tales of the Scales:
Join us for an exciting adventure into the captivating world of reptiles! Discover the remarkable adaptations that make these creatures truly unique and debunk common myths that often give them a bad reputation.
Our educational programs are tailored to fit your group’s needs, offering a hands-on experience with 2-3 reptiles (selected by us), an engaging activity, and the opportunity to interact with and touch these amazing animals. Topics include amazing adaptations, bad reputations, and misconceptions.
Please note the following disclaimers for our Reptile Outreach Program. Our outreach programs are available within a maximum travel radius of 30 miles. Each session lasts 45 minutes to an hour, with a maximum of two sessions back-to-back. Sessions can be scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings only.
Percussion Junction:
Students will have the opportunity to engage directly with our diverse collection of percussion instruments from around the world. They will explore the rich history and cultures behind each instrument. As they experiment with different rhythms and melodies, they’ll also learn how various sounds can influence their mood and emotions. This immersive experience not only fosters an appreciation for global music but also encourages creativity and self-expression, allowing students to connect with their feelings through the power of rhythm!
Destruction101:
So, your kids are experts at destruction (champions of chaos)—they’ve managed to wreak havoc on their desks, the classroom, and your sanity! Well, we have an exciting challenge for them. Can they actually destroy matter itself? We’ll lead them through a series of experiments that explore the fundamental principles of physics and chemistry in a fun and engaging way. As they dive into this scientific adventure, they’ll not only unleash their creativity but also learn about the conservation of mass and the science behind transformations. Get ready for an unforgettable experience that combines destruction with discovery!
Balancing Nature:
Discover the stunning beauty and symmetry found in nature, from the tiniest atoms to intricate spider webs. Kids will enjoy a hands-on experience as they build model molecules and investigate various crystal formations. This engaging program not only enhances their understanding of natural patterns but also helps them earn the Shapes in Nature badges for both Girl and Boy Scouts. As they explore these concepts, they’ll develop a greater appreciation for the science behind the world around them and foster their creativity in the process!
Investigating Robots:
Writing programs goes beyond simply mastering a coding language. Through critical thinking and logical problem-solving skills, your kids will learn how to craft clear and effective instructions for our robot friend, Cubetto, to follow. They’ll work in small groups to design their very own maze game, providing a fun challenge for their friends to navigate! This program offers a fantastic introduction to the world of coding in a way that’s engaging and age appropriate. Additionally, it supports Girl Scouts in earning their Coding Basics and Game Design Badges, as well as Boy Scouts working towards Badge X.
Watching Space:
In this visually stunning program, kids will embark on an exciting journey through our solar system and beyond! We’ll delve into how gravity keeps this cosmic neighborhood rotating and revolving together, while learning about the vast scale of our planets and distant stars. Curious about the distance of a lightyear? Your kids will gain a clear frame of reference and even create their own unique unit of measurement. This engaging experience will not only spark their curiosity about the universe but also supports Girl Scouts in earning their Space Science badge and Boy Scouts in achieving their X badge. By the end, students will walk away with a deeper appreciation for the cosmos and their place within it!
Gifts of any size may be made to the museum. Donors can choose a specific program to fund, or the gift can be made without restrictions.
Become a volunteer at Great Explorations Children’s Museum! A unique organization with a mission to stimulate learning through creativity, play and exploration.
The museum holds a handful of major fundraising events each year, with the support of sponsors and volunteers. Whether committing to a monetary sponsorship level, or donating an auction item or service, there are countless ways you can become involved in making our event a success!
