A day at the coolest science museum in Jozi
by Jeanette Verster, mom, photographer, blogger, Digital strategist in financial services, and shopaholic. The photos below are all my own. Visit my website to find out more.
We spent the day in Newtown, Johannesburg, today… at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre. It’s like a science museum only cooler… way cooler. It’s 3 floors of stuff… packed with coolness and loads to keep the kids occupied.
It was easily the most fun we’ve ever had for R30!! Seriously, that’s all it cost to get in, because Connor was “free” ‘cos he’s under 6. We got there at 11:30am… and I managed to drag them out of there at 3:30pm!! And they were complaining that they didn’t want to go home yet.
I was in two minds about going to Sci-Bono. The only people I knew that have been there, have got little kids. I was worried that Bradley would get bored. Well, I’m not actually sure who was more engaged by the centre actually. They definitely got different things out of the day. Connor was just interested in getting things to work. Bradley would intently read instructions to get them to work right… but he’s not yet interested in why it works like it does… and I’m sure older kids/teens would be… so it caters for all ages. And it’s under cover!! Perfect for a rainy day! And for those worried about going to “scary” Joburg the parking lot is right outside with a guard
The highlight of the place was definitely the Murray and Roberts construction site. The boys kept coming back here. There was a “site office” where they had to get kitted out with hard hats and bibs. There were piles of foam bricks and cement to build walls between steel structures…
I managed to tear them away to get them to a science show at 12:30pm. And on the way we got sidetracked by this machine that showed pressure in a chamber when you used a lever to spin a soccer ball
The science show was fabulous. They used chemicals to produce fires and all sorts of cool things for the kids to see… in this experiment she blew cake flour out of a funnel and lit it… I did not know that flour could burn like that! Then she made bubbles with liquid nitrogen and I can’t remember what else .
Then it was time to see the dinosaurs. They were awesome, and roared and moved when you pressed a button. Really cool for the kids!
Both boys loved the Eskom section where they played with circuits and currents… this one used batteries to get a train to move around a track.
This was them running to get back to the construction area after being through all 3 floors of magnetic, electric and musical fun….
We’ll definitely be back. Connor wants to go there again tomorrow… LOL! And I’ve definitely decided that this is a definite party venue for one of them this year!
Outing for budding young scientists
by Sine Thieme, a writer and mother of four who is new to South Africa and busy chronicling her experiences on her blog, Joburg Expat.
Do you have a budding scientist in your family? Or perhaps you want to groom one? In that case, I can’t think of a better Saturday family outing than the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory. HartRAO is a national research facility in the Magaliesberg, approximately 50 km from Johannesburg. It is open for public visits one Saturday each month from 16:00 to 20:00, and at R45 per adult and R35 per learner (or a maximum R120 per family) it makes for a very inexpensive activity.
The Observatory was built by NASA in the 1960s for the purpose of tracking unmanned US space probes. At 26 metres in diameter, the radio telescope looks very impressive. It is not the largest of its kind, but the only one on the African continent. It is used to measure objects and distances in space by capturing radio waves. It is also linked to other radio telescopes around the world to form a virtual telescope the size of the Earth.
Our recent visit with our family and a group of friends was a complete success. The tours are actually run by an on-site scientist, and there is no limit to the questions you can ask (and have answered!). There are also enough hands-on activities to keep the most fidgety kids interested. We got to shoot water rockets into the air (our kids’ favorite by far), experience how you can spin faster and slower depending on how the weight is distributed, observe sun spots, tell time using a sun dial, power a light bulb by capturing radio waves from the atmosphere, see the moon at close range, carry around moon and planet replicas to get an idea for the various distances from the sun, see a slide show of amazing pictures of our galaxy and beyond, and visit the control room from which the radio telescope is programmed and steered, all the while learning all sorts of very interesting facts. I can’t think of a better way for kids to experience and develop a love for science!
Check out their HartRAO listing on Jozikids for contact and other details
Museums and music
Catch Merle from Jozikids.co.za on Amor Vittone’s show, every Sunday morning on Jacaranda FM to find out what to do with your kids and families.
We have some music concerts and child friendly museums to tell you about this week.
Internationally acclaimed female vocalist, Lira is performing at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort on Sunday from 12-6pm. kids under 13 are free and tickets are R100pp.
Some museums that are open on Sundays and worth remembering if you don’t get there today. 
The James Hall Museum of Transport in Rosettenville Johannesburg is a great family outing where children can look inside a fire engine, tram, trolley or bus. Once you’ve had enough inside the museum the kids can play on the jungle gym outside. Entrance is free.
Then there’s Sci-Bono Discovery Centre is the most amazing interactive science and technology museum with a miniature Murray and Roberts construction site for the kids with builders hats, wheelbarrows and foam bricks. A conveyor built, crane.Once they get going its very hard to leave. There are also loads of fabulous experiments throughout this museum. Its situated in Newtown and entry is R20 for adults and R10 for kids
The Transvaal museum is a natural history museum in Pretoria open 7 days a week from 9- 4pm, for kids from about 7 years. They currently have the bones of 2.5 million year old Mrs Ples on show. There’s quite a bit of interaction in some of the exhibits. According to our reviewer The kids get to 
press buttons and lights shine up or noises are made. For her family, the winner was the spitting cobra that spits out water – like a huge snake shaped water gun. Entrance fee also very reasonable at R20 adults and R10 for kids.
Then there’s the South African Ballet Theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet on at the Johannesburg Civic’s Mandela Theatre. It started this week and will be on until June 19th. From Tuesday to Sunday . There’s a show today at 3pm today if you can still make it.
And finally for music enthusiasts who want their children to hear and see other kids playing classical music, the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestras Junior Festival with girls between the ages of 10 and 14yrs old will take place at the Linder Auditorium on Wits Campus. The program includes a trumpet concerto, a recorder concerto, two violin concertos, four Piano concertos and a 12-year old Soprano! 3pm next Sunday and tickets cost R30 and R60. I hope to be there with my kids.
Remember you can find more ideas of what to do with your family in the Gauteng region on Jozikids.co.za
Feeding the giraffes!
by Heather Dodd, architect, eco-worrier and mother of 4yr old Kate, an enthusiastic tree pruner and possible vet.
A few weekends ago we went to the Johannesburg Zoo and fed White Stinkwood Tree cuttings to the Giraffes – they love it – 
they actually start salivating as they see the trailer coming towards them (makes you feel quite important – driving your own car through the Zoo !) This time they let us climb over the fence and get right up close.
This is a very special thing that we’ve been doing with our 4 yr old daughter, Kate over the past year. We saw an appeal from the Zoo for tree cuttings. The giraffes and elephants ( Ellies) at the Zoo require fresh cuttings from indigenous trees (Acacia /Rus / White Stinkwood) and we have some of these trees in our garden.
We have been about 4 times. 3 to the giraffes and once to the elephants. We take our trailer to the Zoo with the cuttings and go with the man in charge of feeding – Patrick to give the cuttings to the animals.
Now Kate is a very enthusiastic tree pruner.
So for all you afro optimists – where else can you do this ?
The Transvaal Museum – great for rainy days
by Laura-kim, single mom, recently divorced with 2 kids and the author of the blog Harrassed Mom
We were 3 adults and 6 children ranging in age from 2 to 7 years old, both boys and girls. (yes me and my friends have many many children).
It really is a cheap way to spend the morning and the kids seem to enjoy it. It was R80 for 2 adults and 5 children (including the 2 year old). Which really is very reasonable.
It isn’t a huge museum and is probably a little outdated but really not much changes about the history of dinosaurs or the food chain so I suppose there is no real need to update the way it all looks.
There is a fair amount of interaction in some of the exhibits. The children get to press buttons and lights shine up or noises are made. The winner was the spitting cobra that spits out water – like a huge snake shaped water gun.
Even though a lot did pass the smaller two by they didn’t get bored and almost seemed to enjoy it more than the older bunch.
They have 4 halls of exhibits – two upstairs – The Hall of Life and The Mammal Hall that house the dinosaurs and other animals. They have a lovely exhibit of the ape men. It is very life like and probably the part I enjoyed the most. Then there is one in the middle floor which is the Geoscience Museum and the one Cameron enjoys the most. It has a large collection of semi precious stones and other rocks. There is even some Moon Rock there that was presented to us by Richard Nixon.
The hall downstairs is the Austin Roberts Bird Hall – which obviously consists of birds – many many birds. ( Transvaal Museum overview)
It was a lovely morning. The kids had fun and they do actually get something educational out of it and never seem to tire of it. My kids have been twice now and we saw stuff this time we didn’t notice the last time!
Remember it next time it’s a rainy day!
For more information about the Transvaal Museum click here
Visit Maropeng, its a blast!
by Angel Swemmer creator of Angels Mind:
I’m a coffee-addicted, junk-food-junkie; social-smoking’; single-mom to a teenager. My darling Damien (AKA Knucklehead) has ADHD and it makes our rollercoaster slash bumpercar ride very interesting! More about me below but here’s our visit.
Monday being a public holiday, we decided to make the most of the gawjiss weather we’ve been having and took ourselves off to Maropeng, in the cradle of humankind
It’s easy enough to find on any GPS, and the directions aren’t difficult, as I am extremely directionally challenged and need a really good map to get anywhere… thankfully today my Glugster was doing the driving.
Arriving at Maropeng was easy enough, and strolling out of the parking lot into a practically invisible circular group of buildings called “The Market Place”, with a little snack shop and typical touristy curio shop was nice surprise! My son immediately shot into a shop with a HUGE sabre toothed cat skull on display!
You can buy tickets for the tour in the market place, but you can also walk straight up the path and get tickets inside the main building too. I was a little surprised by the ticket price to be honest- R95 an adult or R55 for kids between 4 and 14! You can also get a combined ticket which includes a visit to the Sterkfontein Caves for R150/ adult and R90/ child. Sterkfontein is a short drive away mind you- it’s not all in the same place. And I was a little miffed when we arrived at Sterkfontein this afternoon, waited for the 4PM cave tour, and went through the fascinating exhibition centre only to find a sign saying that if you’re asthmatic or claustrophobic, or battle with your back and such, you should rather not do the cave tour!
But back to Maropeng. I didn’t look at the website or anything before we went, so I had no idea what I was in for, and it made it rather interesting! On entering the building, we got our combined tickets, and then headed down a circular staircase into a long circular passage that made up a timeline going backwards! At the bottom of the passage, you go through a door and wait your turn to get into a little round boat thingy made for 4 people… and its launching and bouncing around a little had me squealing- which had my two men giggling at me! It takes you on a ride through a glacier and then erupting volcanoes replete with noise and smoke- and they even make provision for prams and wheelchairs! You go on the boat and they meet you at the end with your wheels! And trust me- you will need the wheels… it’s a lot of walking!
After the boat ride, there’s a bridge through a tunnel that rotates. This had my two men in hysterics AGAIN because as soon as I took a couple of steps I was sure the bridge was tilting up and to the right and I clung to the rails for dear life! It got me squealing again, and I couldn’t let go! Eventually on my Glugster’s advice I closed my eyes and I could walk through the thing okay… but no worries- you can go around it, though I’m sure the kidlets would love it!
The hall with the displays in it is huge, and all the exhibits are numbered so if you want to you can follow them in order. Me… being big kid I am… I practically ran from one display to the other in excitement!
It’s completely interactive! Buttons and lights and levers and things to look at and look into and feel and things moving and big bubbles with skulls in hanging from the ceiling! The many kids in the place had an absolute blast, and it’s just as interesting for grownups! They even have actual fossils in another hall- under glass with magnifying glasses- so you can have a good look at them!
When we eventually got outside we were ravenous! The fast food place immediately outside the exit was exceptionally reasonably priced- but the service was dreadful! There’s no real signage pointing out other eateries so EVERY body stops right there! By the time we got there they were out of coke and milkshakes! If you keep walking there is another restaurant, back in what they call The Market Place, and there’s the Tumulus restaurant inside the visitor’s centre as well. Walking back to the market place and the parking lot is quite a ways- and if you’re willing to climb some serious stairs there’s quite a nice view from the top of the visitor’s centre. We did the climb, albeit slowly!
Myself and my Glugster, and the knucklehead and his girlfriend- at 18 and 17 years old respectively- all had a wonderful day! Take a day, and take your camera!
Angel Swemmer on Angel Swemmer : I love my cellphone, my camera and my notebook. I’ve never been married, and despite my plans to the contrary- I am now living with a delicious, wonderful man who spoils me rotten! We’re about to get engaged, we’re trying to get pregnant, and I am planning our wedding!
I have seven tattoos and three cats, and when I grow up I want to be one of those strange ladies that people are a little afraid of ‘coz she walks around in public in huge, purple, flower bedecked hats and feather-boas.
Come play on my rollercoaster.
