OH WOW! children's center installs new exhibit
Medelyn Huffman, 3, of Hubbard runs through connective tubing, part of a new exhibit in OH WOW! The Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology’s “Who Knows” exhibit. The Home Depot stores of Austintown and Boardman partnered with OH WOW! to contribute and install the new exhibit.
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Tim Thomas wanted to find a place where his grandson, Daniel Zlenka, 4, could be creative and burn some energy.
“He’s just got more energy than he knows what to do with,” Thomas told a reporter Wednesday at the OH WOW! Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology downtown.
He settled on taking Daniel to OH WOW! where Home Depot stores of Austintown and Boardman partnered with the center to install a new exhibit in OH WOW!’s “Who Knows” Exhibit Gallery. The new gallery allows children to build different structures out of PVC pipe — and kept Daniel out of trouble at home.
“I think its a great fit to bring him someplace where he can spend some time with some other kids, be able to touch something and not get yelled at for it. It’s great,” said Thomas, adding, “I might have to cut some pipe up and put it out in the yard for him.”
The PVC pipe exhibit is the newest at OH WOW!, and it’s teaching kids a little bit about problem-solving.
“It gives them a chance to explore and build,” said Caitlin Driscoll, the OH WOW! education manager. “Sometimes it’s weird, sometimes it’s beautiful, and sometimes it’s both.”
OH WOW! has 26 exhibits children can play with and learn from, with the newest PVC pipe exhibit teaching children about scientific inquiry.
“We want kids to explore and experiment,” said Suzanne Barbati, OH WOW! executive director.
Like all the other exhibits at OH WOW!, the PVC pipe exhibit allows youngsters to learn about science and engineering without being told how to build something. Though they aren’t being instructed, all the exhibits at OH! WOW are designed to teach children educational concepts that are taught and tested for in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Home Depot supplied 40 pieces of PVC pipe after being asked by OH WOW! to help construct a new exhibit. It’s the first time the two have teamed up to bring education and enjoyment to children. The exhibit designers want kids to get the most out of the experience.
Steve Colley, Austintown & Boardman Home Depot store manager, hopes children can learn while playing with the new exhibit.
“Kids got to have fun,” said Colley, “They’re hands-on; they’re actually touching and feeling and being able to look back and say, ‘Wow, I did that.’”
The PVC pipe exhibit is the first of several new exhibits being installed in preparation for the center’s first anniversary, which will be celebrated May 12.