Reuben H. Fleet Science Center – La Jolla Girl Loved It!

I can’t believe that it’s taken us this long to go to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center since it’s not that far from our house. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was contacted by the Fleet who then graciously sent us passes to check it out. They have a new Kid City that they thought La Jolla Girl would like. They are also having an end of summer promotion where you can see a free IMAX movie with purchase of a full price gallery ticket ($10 adults, $8.75 for kids 3-12).  That’s a deal since with one IMAX movie, adults are $14.50 and kids are $13.75. You must see an IMAX if you go!

The bottom level of the Fleet, right where you walk in, has the hands on science experiments.  We spent most of our time here which surprised me, actually.  I thought she’d be too young for this part but I was totally wrong. She loved the exhibit where you press on the sides of a giant circle and a cloud puff shoots up into the air.  She also loved one that has air propelling a little beach ball.  The photo shows her two hands on one of those globes where the light beams follow your hands.  There were other kids her age that clearly were having a good time here.

Then came time for the IMAX movie.  We saw Under the Sea, which was perfect because she loves fish.  I enjoyed it too actually.  The lower left area of the theater is where families with kids under 3 years old sit probably because it’s closest to the exit in case of emergency.  It’s not the absolute ideal viewing area for an IMAX but it doesn’t matter because the kids don’t care and it’s still amazing.  I sat on the edge nearest the aisle because I was nervous that we’d have to get up and leave.  We’ve never taken La Jolla Girl to a movie.  This movie was only about 40 minutes which I learned is the perfect viewing time for her.  The movie started and she was full of “WOW” and “WHOA” while screaming “FISH” whenever there was a fish, which was practically the entire movie.  This didn’t bother anyone because most people sat in the upper levels and the other kids in our section were doing the same thing.  She was very disappointed when it was over.  They raffled off a gift certificate to their science store after the movie as well.  All the kids in our section that I saw managed to stay put for the full 40 minutes, which is a credit to the movie.

After the movie, we headed up to Kid City.  I’m always a tiny bit nervous visiting places like this because of germs.  We recently visited a place that had so many toys and stuffed animals that I just knew there was no way they were sterilizing things as they should be.  I should have left that place right away because low and behold, La Jolla Girl got sick and then the entire family got sick.  That was the only place she could have caught it since we were home bodies that week.  Anyway, the toys in Kid City were wooden or plastic and they all looked exceptionally clean.  For that, I’m always grateful.  It was almost noon by the time we got up to Kid City and the place was booming.  Even though these toys are brightly colored and targeted to younger kids, they are mostly learning toys.  La Jolla Girl learned that if she turned the steering wheel on the grocery store conveyor belt (in photo on left)  the same direction as the kid on the other side of the belt, that they could move the food along the belt and into the shopping cart. Or she learned that if she pointed this air blower hose a certain way, the pinwheels would spin.  Pretty cool, eh? And of course, there are just generally fun toys everywhere.  I had to bribe her with snack food to get her to leave the Fleet because we needed to get home for a late lunch.

The Fleet is also nice because at La Jolla Girl’s age (2 years, 5 months), you really don’t need a stroller unless you’re parked far away.  It’s not terribly big. They have a stroller parking section on the first floor where we left it the entire time.  We’ll definitely go back.  I would suggest that you go when it opens because it got crowded (not intolerably crowded, however) around 11am.  It’s perfect for a morning where you just want to get out of the house and go somewhere that’s low stress.

The end of summer promotion with free IMAX runs until September 7 so you don’t have much time left!  Go buy your tickets!

The website is: www.rhfleet.org.
The free IMAX coupon can be found here.

Tagged as: Balboa Park, Kid City, Kids, Reuben H. Fleet, San Diego, Science