Snowflake Break - WKTV Journal

The LEGOs display was created by the West Michigan LEGO Train Club. It is a popular attraction during the Snowflake Break at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. (Photo supplied)

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) just announced Snowflake Break activities and additional displays at the Museum for the holiday season. Snowflake Break includes a variety of family-friendly programs and activities themed around special exhibits Design Zone and TOYS!

During Snowflake Break at the GRPM, visitors will be able to create themed paper snowflakes, decorate wooden ornaments, play a variety of giant-sized games, interact with artifacts from Discovery Carts, explore special exhibits Design Zone and TOYS! and more.

Snowflake Break runs from Dec. 21 — Jan. 5. General admission includes hands–on activities for Snowflake Break, special holiday displays and admission to Design Zone and TOYS! The Bodies Revealed exhibit will be an additional fee. More information can one be found at grpm.org.

Kent County residents receive reduced admission. Kent County adults are only $5 for general admission and Kent County children 17 and under are FREE general admission daily.

Holiday Displays

Historic LEGO® Display – See historic Grand Rapids like never before, built from LEGO®s. The 1925-era display, complete with operating trams, will be on display in the Streets of Old Grand Rapids exhibition now through January 11, 2020 and is included with general admission. The display was built by the Western Michigan LEGO® Train Club.

Flashback: The popular Herpolsheimer’s Child Passenger Train will be on display and available for family pictures. (Photo supplied.)

Herpolsheimer’s Child Passenger Train – Visitors to the Museum can enjoy a community favorite on display – the Herpolsheimer’s Child Passenger Train. The Train is included with general admission to the Museum and will be on display through Jan. 13.

The monorail train debuted as “Santa’s Rocket Express” when the new Herpolsheimer’s Department Store opened in in 1949. Recognizable to any baby-boomer resident of Grand Rapids, the train chugged along the ceiling of the toy department at the Herpolsheimer’s Department Store, which sat at the corner of Fulton and Division streets in downtown Grand Rapids.

Santa and Elf Hunt – Find 15 historic Santas from around the World in the Streets of Old Grand Rapids, and 12 whimsical elves hidden throughout the three floors of the Museum. The Santa & Elf Hunt is included with general admission.

Let it Snow Planetarium Show – Let it Snow features a new variety of festive classics from Frank Sinatra and Chuck Berry to Burl Ives and Brenda Lee, and includes a stunning multimedia finale by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The soundtrack is visually enhanced with thematic animation, laser imagery and special effects. Tickets are $4 each with general admission to the Museum, free to Museum members and $5 each for planetarium only tickets. Let it Snow will run through Jan. 5.

Exhibitions

Design Zone

In Design Zone, visitors of all ages can explore a variety of concepts to learn the processes and tools needed to create a successful design. Organized into three thematic zones, the activities featured in Design Zone highlight the importance of science and mathematical thinking in areas critical to building creativity and innovation in art, music and engineering. More specifically, visitors will discover the secrets behind how video game developers, music producers, roller coaster designers and other creative problem solvers do what they do in this new exhibition.

TOYS!

TOYS! is an interactive, multi-generation exhibition of toys and games to rekindle childhood memories and spark the creation of new ones. Baby Boomers loved Paper Dolls, Erector Sets, and Mr. Potato Head, Gen Xers preferred Holly Hobbie and Hot Wheels, and Millennials have never known a world without Super Mario or My Little Pony. Some toys, like Barbie and G.I. Joe, have adapted to appeal to different generations and remain popular today. Toys and games have changed over time, but the desire to imagine, compete, and create has not. The exhibit, designed and curated by the GRPM staff, features toys and games from the Museum’s Collections and on loan from community members. Visitors will imagine, compete and create, while going on a journey of toys through generations.

Bodies Revealed

Bodies Revealed features real, whole and partial body specimens that have been preserved through an innovative process, giving visitors the opportunity to view the complexity of their own organs and systems in a way that’s normally reserved for medical professionals. The exhibit will have 10 full body specimens on display as well as over 100 organs and partial specimens. Bodies Revealed allows visitors to learn about their own bodies and ultimately, teaches the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Advance ticket purchases are recommended as some time slots will sell out.

Grand Rapids Public Museum

The Grand Rapids Public Museum is an invaluable, publicly-owned institution that is home to more than 250,000 unique artifacts that tell the history of Kent County and beyond, houses the only planetarium in the region, and is responsible for protecting The Mounds, a national historic landmark. The Grand Rapids Public Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, with its main location in downtown Grand Rapids, MI at 272 Pearl Street, NW. For additional information including hours of operation, admission fees and exhibit/event listings, please visit www.grpm.org.

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The Grand Rapids Public Museum is once again hosting family-friendly fun over this year’s holiday break! From Dec. 23 through Jan. 7, the GRPM will celebrate Snowflake Break with additional hands on activities, all included with admission.

Offerings will include a variety of family friendly programs and activities themed around history, science and culture, and the exhibits “Dragon, Unicorns & Mermaids and Brain: The World Inside Your Head.” Visitors can make their own take home crafts including: unique paper snowflakes, punched tin crafts and ornaments. Snowflake Break crafts will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.

New for 2017, a feature during the holidays at the GRPM is LEGOs! See historic Grand Rapids like never before, all built from LEGOs. The 1925-era display, complete with operating trams showcases what Grand Rapids looked like during the early 20th century, including a section of the Grand River, the Morton Hotel, and the Grand Rapids Community Foundation building – the former ice house for Anheuser Busch.

Visitors to the Museum will be able to view this special holiday LEGO recreation now through January 26, 2018. It is on display in the Streets of Old Grand Rapids and included with general admission. “Built by the West Michigan Lego Train Club.”

In addition to the free with admission activities, the GRPM is hosting a holiday themed planetarium show “Let it Snow,” with additional shows daily during Snowflake Break. Visitors are also invited to go on a Santa & Elf Hunt, to find 15 historic Santas from around the World in the “Streets of Old Grand Rapids” exhibit, and 12 elves hidden throughout the 3 floors of the Museum. The Santa & Elf Hunt is included with general admission.

Join the Museum for late nights to see “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” until 8 p.m. on Dec. 26, 28, 29, and Jan. 2. The GRPM will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Santa finds a new ride at the Grand Rapids Public Museum

Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids

Explore the various mythical creatures of the world. Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids features models and replicas of preserved specimens as well as cast fossils of prehistoric animals to investigate how they could have, through misidentification, speculation, fear, or imagination, inspired the development of some legendary creatures.

“Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” offers many interactive stations throughout the exhibition, including building your dragon in a virtual environment. Touch casts of a narwhal tusk to discover how they lent credence to the centuries-old belief in the unicorn. Hands-on stations include the lower jaw of Gigantopithecus (extinct group of apes) and a life-size reproduction of the talon of a Haast’s eagle.

The exhibition includes imaginative models, paintings, and textiles, along with other cultural objects from around the world. The exhibit will bring to light surprising similarities and differences in the ways people around the world have been inspired by nature to envision and depict these strange and wonderful creatures.

Admission to “Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” is $12 for adults, $7 for children, $9 for Kent County resident adults, $4 for Kent County resident children, and $2 for all Museum members! Tickets include general admission to the Museum, and can be purchased online at grpm.org.

“Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids” is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org), in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney; Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau-Quebec; Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta; and The Field Museum, Chicago.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Streets of Old Grand Rapids are decked out for the holidays.

Brain: The World Inside Your Head

“Brain” literally takes you inside the head to probe the geography of a giant brain and stand in the midst of the brain’s constant electrical brainstorm as thoughts and sensations are generated.

Upon entry into the exhibit, walk through a shimmering tunnel of flashing fiber-optics that illuminates networks of neurons firing and communicating. From this dynamic beginning, “Brain” invites guests deeper into the brain to discover its basic workings. Trace this brain’s development from infancy through old age, learn the evolution of scientists’ understanding of the brain’s physiology and study the re-created skull of Phineas Gage — a man who survived after his brain was pierced by a metal rod.

Admission to “Brain: The World Inside Your Head” will be free with general admission. “Brain”is open now through Jan. 7, 2018.