UPDATE: This exhibit has now closed.
Faithful readers know that my kids and I love dinosaurs. (Remember “Dinosaur Stampede” at the San Antonio Botanical Garden last year?)
Well, now the Witte Museum has “Dinosaurs Unearthed: Bigger. Better. Feathered . . .” through September 2 at the Kathleen and Curtis Gunn Gallery. My daughter and I toured the exhibit last week. Our verdict: Don’t miss it! And I am giving away two free passes—see the directions at the bottom of this post.
Besides being big, spectacular, and fun, the exhibit is also educational. It was designed to work for lots of different types of learners:
- For visual learners (like me), there are beautiful, well-lit fossil skulls so you can imagine that you’re Roy Chapman Andrews chopping them out of the Gobi desert while dodging bullets from Mongolian warlords. The large skeletons are powerful and elegant. Other models are covered in realistic scales or even—gasp—feathers!
- For listeners, there are dinosaur models that growl and roar as they chomp their jaws, swipe their claws, and swing their tails.
- Hands-on learners can brush away the dirt (actually rubber mulch) to uncover dinosaur tracks.
- My daughter, an iPad aficionado, loved the tablets at each station that are loaded with 3D models that let you see a dinosaur from all angles, or see a skeletal dinosaur with all its plates and scales.
This special exhibit carries a $5 per person surcharge on top of regular Witte Museum admission. Museum admission is free on Free Tuesdays, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., and museum members only pay a $4 surcharge. Our family membership (prices start at $75 per year) is a great value because we visit so often. (Make a note: Sunday Jazz at the Witte is coming back starting again April 14; it’s kid friendly as long as the weather is good and the concerts are outside.) For transportation, you can park in the Brackenridge garage, ride the zoo train, or drop off a B-cycle.
Would you like a chance to win two free passes to “Dinosaurs Unearthed” at the Witte? Just leave a comment below: What is your kid’s (or your) favorite dinosaur species or fictional dinosaur character? On Friday, March 8, I will pick a random number and select a winner. I’ll contact the winner by email and ask for a snail mail address; if all goes well, you should be able to use the passes during Spring Break.
Disclosure: My daughter and I received free refreshments at a blogger event and free admission to the “Dinosaurs” exhibit, as well as two free passes to give away to my readers.
