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As we’ve talked about on this blog before, the Minnesota Children’s museum in downtown St. Paul is one of our absolute favorite places. So when we heard there was a new exhibit coming that was WIzard of Oz-themed, we were psyched. We went to check it out on opening day.

The exhibit follows the format of all other Children’s Museum exhibits – hands on activities that help kids understand how something works. In the case of the Wizard of Oz, it was a mix of activities about the story itself and the making of the movie.

There are a few different sections in the room based on different parts of the story. On the left as you go in is the Emerald City, which has a couple really cool things – a “horse of different color” activities involving light-mixing and (Dominic’s favorite) a thing that makes your voice sound like the Wizard of Oz.

At the center of the room is the yellow brick road, and series of soft blocks that let you build a rainbow. Nearby is Dorothy’s house, which lets you control a spinning tornado in the window with a crank.

One of the coolest things I saw was a replica of Mrs. Gulch’s bicycle that drove a kind of zoetrope thing using mirrors. When you pedal the bike, a spinning set of mirrors makes a simple animation of Mrs. Gulch transforming into the Witch. I had Dominic take it for a spin so I could get it on video.

Dominic on the Zoetrope Bike. from 651 Family on Vimeo.

The Children’s Museum has always been good at the “exit through the gift shop” thing, so there is a huge amount of Oz-themed swag in the store. Like the exhibit itself, some of it is movie-themed, and some is book-theme. The exhibit is really fun and we spent about 30 mins in there, which is a lot when the rest of the museum is calling. I think it’s well worth checking out, with the usual Children’s Museum rules: bring hand sanitizer and don’t go on Free Sunday unless you *really* wanna save the money.