Winter Workshops: Cool Creatures

Join us for new activities December 22, 23, and 26 to celebrate the season! The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day with Winter Workshop activities starting at 10:30 a.m. All activities included with general admission pricing; planetarium shows include an additional fee. Military discounts available. Planetarium show tickets can be purchased at our front desk during your visit. Learn more about our planetarium dome, seating, and more here. Space at each activity is available on a first come, first served basis. Your RSVP helps us determine the number of guests to expect so we have ample materials. Thank you!

December 26, 2025

10:30-12:30: Cool Creatures Workshop

Discover amazing winter adaptations through hands-on experiments and frosty fun. Figure out how different animals get through the colder temperatures by crafting 3D animal tracks, building a bear den, and finding the hidden animals all around the museum. Please note, these are not drop off workshops, but activities for the whole family to enjoy together.

11:30-12:00: Planetarium Show: Drifting North: Into the Polar Night

 Step out onto an ice floe in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, and watch and listen as scientists race the fading light to set up one of the most ambitious international climate collaborations ever, MOSAiC. The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate launched in September 2019. Led by the German Alfred Wegener Institute, the mission froze an icebreaker into the Central Arctic Ocean, to better understand the remote region and the role it plays in global climate and weather patterns.

1:00-1:30: Creature Feature

It wouldn't be a proper winter break without an appearance by some of our Animal Ambassadors. Stop by, but please note, space for the Creature Feature is available on a first come, first served basis.

1:30-3:00: sciPad

Come one, come all! sciPad will be open for all to drop in an enjoy.

2:00-2:30: Planetarium Show: Drifting North: Into the Arctic Pulse 

Follow an international team of scientists from over twenty countries who embark on an epic year-long expedition to the Central Arctic, MOSAiC. The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) team froze the German Icebreaker R/V Polarstern into the sea ice for a year. For a year, the team drifts with an ice floe and strives to understand the Arctic climate system and its future. The 360-degree planetarium dome show is the first planetarium feature film that captures the entire year of the central Arctic climate, transcending the Arctic’s Polar Night and Day, and the experiences of the MOSAiC team as they face one of the most extreme and unique regions on our planet. 

Our planetarium is powered by FPL.