A Morning with Sci-Tech Discovery Center at Hawaiian Falls in The Colony

Wondering what this Maui Moms Club at Hawaiian Falls is all about?  Here’s your chance to peek under the hut for a quick glimpse.

I had the pleasure of spending time with Sci-Tech Discovery Center Volunteers and one of the Hawaiian Falls‘ “Ambassadors of Fun” on Monday at Maui Moms.

For those of you who haven’t read the MOL newsletter for the past bijillion weeks (no fingers being pointed or anything!) and don’t know about Maui Moms, MomsOutLoud.com and North Texas Kids are partnering with Hawaiian Falls to bring you Maui Moms Club on Mondays throughout the summer.  “Club” is actually a bit of a misnomer…there are no memberships, no papers to sign, no dues.  It’s not even exclusive to anyone (although they only let nice people can get in – just kidding).  

Maui Moms is simply Hawaiian Falls’s way to help Moms who have smaller kids (like me) be able to bring their children out to the park for the morning and get their “money’s worth” of fun before heading home for nap.  So, Moms get in free with the purchase of a Little Kahuna ticket ($13.99).  That’s you and kid into Hawaiian Falls for $13.99.  Even if your kids no longer nap – or your kids are not so little anymore – and you stay until the janitors kick you out that night, it’s $13.99 for both of you.  The ONLY requirements are that you (1) Tell them you are here for Maui Moms as you purchase your ticket to enter, and (2) That you get there between 10 am – 12 noon.

For those of you who have never been inside a Hawaiian Falls (like me, before Monday), it is amazing.  Keiki Cove (pictured here) is a fun climbing, sliding, splashing (even crawling) fun place where even the youngest kids can have a blast.  There is also a wave pool, lazy river, and of course, HUGE water slides that get the older kids screaming with laughter.

And that’s not all!  At Maui Moms, not only do you both get in for $13.99, Hawaiian Falls lso provides fun activities for the kids in addition to the wet, splashy fun they always have.  Some days it’s a craft, others it may be storytelling.  On this particular day, Sci-Tech Discovery Center was on hand with science experiments for the kids. 

Sci-Tech Discovery Center is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide a dynamic, interactive experience that inspires people of all ages and backgrounds to embrace discovery and innovation through the exploration of math, science and technology.  They have been bringing the experiences TO people within Collin County and surrounding areas over the past seven years, first as a task force of the Junior League of Plano and then as a stand alone non-profit.  Soon they will be announcing details on a physical facility that will house this unique and fun center full-time.

On Monday, a great group of volunteers from Sci-Tech were on hand to lead kids through hands-on science experiment.  They had several on hand, which I promise I understood as they were explaining to me, but of course cannot relay again with any sort of coherent explanation.  With one exception – the sunscreen test.

If any of your kids ever give you grief about having to wear sunscreen, just replicate this experiment for them.  Check out this picture.  Sunscreen was absent, applied in SPF 30 and applied in SPF 50 on the three different strings of beads. Can you guess which?

Look at the contrast between the strings that have no sunscreen (darker beads due to no protection against the sun’s rays) versus the lighter beads (due to the sunscreen screening out the harmful rays).  This strong visual of the power of the sun’s rays made me pause (and think that possibly the SPF 15 moisturizer I use every day is not strong enough).  I’ve heard it said recently that SPF 50 is the new SPF 30, and after seeing this, I’m a believer.

The best part about the morning was that I got to meet a few Moms who had not heard of MomsOutLoud.com, share with them the vision for what we’re all about, and watch as their kids experimented with the wonders of science.  Older kids certainly enjoyed the hands-on fun, but even littler children had a great time trying out the different “tests” they could perform with every day objects.  Here’s a couple of bathing beauties testing out how water droplets make colors bleed together (I think their favorite part of the experiment was drawing on the coffee filters!).

Thankfully, I have spared you all from any photos of myself, as I have not had a chance to exercise or get out in the sun very much this summerr (something about getting a website business launched and growing?!?).  But we’ll be back at Maui Moms on the Mondays to come.  When you’re there, be sure to stop by and say hi…and do a fun activity with your kids!!

Thank you especially to Erica, the Ambassador of Fun who made us all so welcome, and Laura Curran, Director of Sci-Tech Discovery Center who organized the volunteers and experiments for all the kids!

Rebekah Cooksey is the Founder and Chief Executive Mom of MomsOutLoud.com.  Photo courtesy of Rachel Logan Photography.