Holiday Blogger Event at Discovery Science Center | @DiscoveryCube #IndyDSC #GingerbreadDSC

Discovery Science Center is one of our go-to places for fun and education. There’s always something new to explore. Last week, my family was invited to attend a holiday party that highlighted its newest exhibits, “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology”, and “The Science of Gingerbread”. We were very excited to get an opportunity to experience these.


The gingerbread exhibit is one of the first things you see when you come in- you are greeted by a massive suburban village filled with every type of gingerbread creation imaginable. The “houses” ranged from standard cottages to dioramas of dinosaurs, and even gingerbread re-creations of notable movie scenes from the Indiana Jones films. I was extremely impressed by the creativity. My personal favorite was a gingerbread UPS truck.


The “villages” of baked goods are in several locations around the center, bringing holiday cheer to the whole building. Upstairs, we participated in more gingerbread-related science activities. After getting the gingerbread cookie recipe, then seeing a demonstration on the spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, my little guy got to decorate a cookie (an oatmeal-raisin one) with holiday icing and candies. We also made a “gingerbread” race car (graham-crackers, candy, and frosting to hold it all together) and were able to compete against another edible vehicle on a race track. My son gained some building skills and an understanding of basic physics in the process. Our car lost- but it certainly was delicious!

As lifelong Indy fans, seeing movie props and “artifacts” (as well as real archaeological treasures) was something we could not pass up. At the entrance to the Indiana Jones experience, we each received an interactive audio tour device with headphones, and our introductory guide (voice of Harrison Ford) started off the adventure.


We followed Indy’s footprints around catacombs full of real artifacts, photos of archaeological sites, movie clips, and props from all four films, pressing in numbers to hear descriptions and movie trivia. A scavenger hunt is also programmed into the guide- it was a little confusing at first, but once we got the hang of it, we challenged each other to see who could complete it quickly. Afterwards, my son searched for treasure in a kid-friendly “archaeological” dig, then used a pulley system to learn about weight.

Arc of the Covenant

There is so much to do at DSC. We stopped by the Science of Hockey, played around in the new grocery store, strummed the laser harp, ate of lot of rice krispy squares, flew an airplane, and generally tried to stuff as much into two hours as possible. We ended our night by sitting in the earthquake simulator, which led to a discussion about plate tectonics and what would happen to a house of cookies if the earth shook. On the way out, we waved at Santa (my son decided against pictures- he said he was already on Santa’s good list), and received some gingerbread cookie mix to take and make at home. It smelled so delicious I was tempted to eat it in the car. If you are looking for something fun and educational for the whole family, Discovery Science Center is the place to be. There is something for everyone, and really, aren’t we all kids at heart anyway?

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Holy Grail

Justine is a biological anthropologist, deal seeker, and stay-at-home parent to a rambunctious 4-year-old boy. She digs bones. And donuts. You can follow Justine for more frugal fun and other anthropology tidbits on Twitter: @JustineBurgess1.

This is not a sponsored post. We were invited to attend the holiday event as guests of Discovery Science Center. All thoughts and opinions remain our own.