Our friends at the National Children's Museum invited me and the fam to preview a spectacular award winning exhibit called ICE a day before it opened to the public and to check out the cool ICE related demo the National Children's Museum's Launch Zone was planning to share with families this holiday season.
ICE is a winter wonderland created entirely from two million pounds of ice, hand-sculpted by 40 international artisans. This frozen world of larger-than-life ice sculptures includes ten different holiday scenes and ice slides that stand more than two stories tall!The exhibit runs in winter months at the Gaylord's other properties and this was the first time debuting in the DC area fun!
I remember visiting the National Children's Museum on field trips as a kid growing up in DC. when it was located on Capitol Hill. At some point, the building the museum was housed in got too dilapidated and plans were made to move it to a 150,00 square foot building at the National Harbor near DC in 2013. I can't wait! In the meantime, while being built, NCM opened a Launch Zone at the Harbor this past spring, which is a 2,700 square foot store front center where children can preview and provide input on the type of exhibits that will be featured in the new museum once reopened. Check out the Launch Zone Schedule Events HERE! Also, to supplement the Launch Zone activities and events, NCM hosts a series of events, workshops and traveling exhibits in its Museum Without Walls program.
We got to the preview a bit late and missed a chance to tour the Launch Zone, but we did catch up with other mommy bloggers inside the ICE tent which houses the exhibit. The tent is kept at 9 degrees to keep the ice from melting from the heat visitors' bodies emanate when passing through the exhibit. Any lower and it may become too brittle and break and any warmer,the Ice would melt. Well, we should've been better prepared for that bit of trivia but we weren't and we didn't layer GG enough nor outfit her in mittens to keep warm. Needless to say, she didn't have much of a shelf life through the ICE cold tent...
...so she had to make a quicker exit, but not before she made every single man and woman (teachers, bloggers, employees, journalists and others there previewing) who passed her waddling by from ooohing and ahhing at the cute mini parka and how cute she looked . We got a big old smile out of everyone who got a peek of my little blue parka'd PENGUIN!! As usual, GG was a hit!
And she didn't go quietly into the big oversized coat either. You should've seen the look she gave to the dozen or so greeters who were there to help patrons into their coats. I think I captured a bit of her hesitance in this photo below...she's like "whoa, Dude, what's going on here?" Hilarious! (Click photos for a larger crisper view)
Okay, we're ready now...
Even though the parkas kept us pretty warm, to get your money's worth, (prices start at $19.99 for adults and $13.00 for kids) I recommend you come dress ed warmly and plan to stay in the exhibit for at least 30 minutes. Imagine that's a long time to be in a 9-degrees tent so do come prepared and dress in warm layers and definitely gloves and hats and/or scarves.
The boys enjoyed the 4 slides that flanked the Grand ice sculpted entrance to Santa's workshop. I think my middle boy, the 4 year old, slid down at least 20 times down all the slides. We almost had to drag him out kicking and screaming and everyday he begs to go back!
The stairwell leading up to the slides....
In the portion of the exhibit that is Santa's Toy Shop, the inspiration for each ice sculpture was situated next to each other so you could marvel at the similarity.
One of my favorite pieces was the angel sculpture with a phenomenal Nativity scene coming in a close second...
The details were spectacular and apparently, Chinese artisans and other international craftsmen and women who create extravagant Ice villages and exhibits in their respective nations traveled here to re-create their masterpieces for this exhibit.
To add an educational element to the exhibit and for those who maybe can't afford the exhibit, NCM had about 6 different stations that are part of its Cryogenics Science Show (when we visited, it was outside the "cold room" past the ICE Store). The boys got to actually get hands on as they learned about the properties of dry ice and liquid nitrogen. They had a ball and it was educational. This is great because I do plan to steer all my kids to careers in science. Yup, I am that pushy mom! Ha!Learn more about the shows which will be presented December 5, 12, 19 at 1:15 and 3:30pm in the Gaylord National Resort Atrium HERE.
If you live in the area or plan to visit the DC area between November 19 and January 10, hit up Gaylord National's ICE exhibit because it's definitely worth seeing up close and in person.
Though, I must admit, in this recessionary economy, the price may be a bit too steep for some families. For those who live in the DC area, NCM hosts FREE Science Saturdays and a series of Gingerbread making workshops (at cost with a portion of proceeds going to the Museum Fund). There are other free or cheaper options too to check out.
Some are in The Gaylord Resort itself which has a lot going on too including a new Ice Skating rink that's set to open soon and will cost $8.00 per person, a nightly Tree lighting show, a Train Village, indoor snow falls, local musical performances, dancing water (ooh like the fabulous one at The Bellagio in Vegas, I wonder), brunch and lunch with Santa and more. Find out more at its Christmas On The Potomac website.
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