Travel to Egypt for a Day at COSI ~ New Lost Egypt Exhibit

This morning I was privileged to be able to attend the preview for the new Lost Egypt exhibit at COSI in Columbus, Ohio. This is an exhibit that has been three years in the making and is a combination of efforts from COSI and the Science Museum of Minnesota. Artifacts have been brought in from the Brooklyn Museum and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

Highlights of the exhibit are a real human mummy and a life-size rapid prototype which displays the mummy in a stage of "unwrapping", plus scans and forensic facial reconstructions of mummies. Other neat items on display are animal mummies and art and artifacts from the daily life and funeral culture of ancient Egypt.

COSI lives up to its standards by not only displaying neat artifacts but creating interactive exhibits which help children (and parents) learn about the life, culture, environment and daily habits of Egyptians during the time of the building of the pyramids.

Some of my favorite hands on activities were the Pyramid Block Challenge which recreates the scale of the stones and the amount of effort it took to create the pyramids, the Build a Pyramid Challenge which uses specifically shaped geometric wooden blocks to build a tabletop pyramid to understand the architectural and engineering challenges and the Sands of Time which displays how the windy Sahara Desert environment causes archaeological sites to be lost and found by manipulating a fan to bury and uncover a model of the Giza Plateau.

I guarantee that you will not be disappointed and that not only your kids will learn something but parents will to. Be prepared to be entertained, educated and amazed at how incredible ancient Egypt is and how much it has to teach us. Stay tuned for a follow up blog in a return adventure to the exhibit with Taylor, my 12 year old son. Included will be his thoughts and comments about the exhibit.

Lost Egypt will be on display at COSI from May 30th to September 7th. Entry into the exhibit is included in price of admission. For more information on the Lost Egypt exhibit please go to http://www.cosi.org/.