Look at the colourful exterior of the Malaysian National Science Center.
Mesmerised by the fishes swimming on top of us.
This was a very nice Freshwater tunnel to walk.
The lights wall that will be lit up by touch. The boys had fun here.
The air pressure maze!
Structure of a cell.
I saw a really big periodic table!
The firstborn "drove" a helicopter.
I know he loved this the most. He was collecting DNA samples for investigation.
We all had a blast here, especially the boys!
During the school holidays, I wanted to minimise the usage of screens and reduce the amount of screen time for my sons as much as I could. So one of the ways I could think of was to bring them out to explore some of our local galleries.
I specifically chose those that do not need a lot of entrance fee as I did not plan to go bankrupt by just visiting these places haha!
National Science Gallery
Location: 50662, Persiaran Bukit Kiara, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 9 am to 5 pm, closed on Fridays
From my place to the destination, it took about 30 minutes so it isn't too far away. We went with @josephinengpy7's husband who so happened was free and interested in some of these stuff.
Entrance fee is RM6 per adult (less than USD2) and RM3 per child (less than USD1) and my youngest entered for free. Altogether we spent RM21 for 3 adults (myself, my mum-in-law and our friend) and a child (my eldest). Not bad right? We went when it first opened so it was not with that many people, thankfully. Otherwise, the queue to just purchase tickets could be really long. Because we were early enough, there was a parking for us to park near the premise. Otherwise we have to park opposite the road and walk all the way by crossing some pedestrian bridge.
The outer look of this building is actually very interesting. My youngest who is very very interested in colours of the rainbow was of course intrigued to see it. My friend's husband who is his favorite uncle was also his best friend to be with in this trip.
After purchasing the tickets, we needed to keep our water bottles in the lockers designated as we are not allowed to bring water bottles into the gallery. The lockers were a bit faulty so it took us a while to be able to lock it. Later it took us a long while to open it when we wanted to retrieve our bottles.
About the National Science Gallery
This building is 4-storeys high and it has different galleries to venture into. It has some extra sections like the Dinosaur World and the XR Obscura( digital world with virtual reality) which requires extra entrance fee on top of the usual fee I paid. I did not opt for that because I thought we did not have time for that as we had some other activities in the the noon.
It first was opened in 1996 and serves as a science center for this country. It has been revamped and updated so the facilities now are newer.
The Freshwater Marine Life Tunnel
We were greeted by this overhead water tunnel with lots of marine creatures swimming above us. My sons were amazed and it was really the first thing that mesmerised us. We could not help but to take photos with it to remember it. Although it is not our first time seeing fishes over our head in a water tunnel, this was still quite an attraction. My friend even carries my youngest son high enough for him to take a closer look.
Wonderspark Gallery
Here we walked into a room full of interactive facilities that teach about science principles such as pressure, how electricity is generated to power a building, how vortex is created etc.
My sons enjoyed playing with the facility where there is a ping pong ball that is moved by the difference of atmospheric pressure.
My eldest son also saw how lightning is formed in the sky through a simulator.
Science Valley
Walking into this place, there was a lot of education purposes with a wide screen showing videos of natural disasters and how they happened. I remembered we all stood in awe watching for quite a while before we moved on to the next section.
The next section was a place with more Biology and Chemistry knowledges and display. It had a cell structure but in an interesting way where we could fit in puzzle pieces for different parts of the cell.
There is also a display on genes and chromosome besides the formation of a fetus next to it. I could explain some of these to my boys.
After that there is a machine to check on our pulse rate too, which my eldest dis try. He also tried the organic chemistry structure matching.
Then I saw the periodic table when my friend exclaimed it has got to be the thing he hates the most hahah. I took a photo with it though I am also not a great fan of it, but I still teach it to my students so I wanted to show them.
Matter Matters
Soon, we arrived at the Physics section where we see how electromagnet works to generate electricity. We played with some magnets and also the pulley.
We flew some helicopters, the part I think my friend who has great interest in aviation was most happy with. My eldest son also tried flying the helicopter and I must say they did a great job.
Then there was a section where solar panels were used to fly a plane by us projecting light towards the panels.
The Technology Section
I don't know what is the real name for this section because I might have missed the name at the entrance. This section is generally introducing things like stem cells and DNA samples. They incorporated it into like a crime scene investigation which was very very interesting and captivating for my son. He tried using a projector to "pick up" some samples to be analysed.
Kids World
Walking out of that section brings us into the Kids World. This is like a huge playground for the children. There was a literal indoor playground for the older children and a smaller one for the younger children. My sons went to the one catered for their respective ages.
There was also an area for blocks to build, another area for them to join magnetic pipes to roll the balls. I like that they even have a mini crane for the children to carry up some cones.
There were also music corners where there is a harp with invisible strings and drum. Next to it is a piano where the children could step on the "keys" to make music.
Above all that, there is a train with square wheels where my eldest went to try first. The next round, he took his younger brother as his passenger. They needed to queue to wait for their turn which I love to observe their patience and them playing by the rules.
Science Show
At 12pm, there was an announcement of a Science show. One of their staffs came to the stage and had the children sat before her to explain some Science tricks. Unfortunately, my son who isn't too well versed with the Malay language could not really understand. They still put in a lot of effort to conduct the show as they did things like "magic" tricks and incorporated humour as well.
More fishes at the exit/ entrance
When we were about to leave the gallery, we saw huge crowds coming in. Inside me, I was grateful we came earlier because now there is a long queue to purchase tickets to enter!
Lunch
We had lunch at their cafe which served a variety of dishes ready to be picked up by customers. We adults were amazed at their beef rendang which is a type of local cuisine that is spiced beef. It was surprisingly so delicious. My sons ate their favorite white rice with fried chicken and I guess everyone were satisfied with lunch!!!
I really really love this National Science Gallery because we needed not spend a bomb to have a good educational experience. On top of that, the lunch was such a great bonus! We went home with our tummies full and our mind full with knowledges too! What a nice place to visit with children! Next time maybe I will decide to pay for the other parts of this Science center!
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