Techno-phobia
The Halloween bug has bitten the
museum world, as well. The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa, Florida,
uses the haunted holiday as a theme for one of its camp-ins, a program of science
lessons that includes family sleep-overs in the museum's galleries.
The challenge for the institution is to come up with a program that incorporates
Halloween fun with science education. Creepy-Crawly Camp-In, which begins at
6:30 p.m. (18,30) October 27 and concludes at 10 a.m. (10,00) the next day,
will focus on caves and bats, obvious horror fare. The evening will include
bat experts bringing samples of species to the museum, the IMAX film Journey
Into The Amazing Caves and a craft session in which participants can make
their own bats.
The evening will also include a hike through MOSI's Back Woods which, for this
occasion, will turn into a Haunted Woods Hike. "Nothing too scary, because we
have 6- and 7- year-olds; nothing like the chain saw coming out of the woods,"
said Sonya Rose, MOSI's extended programs manager and the woman who creates
these camp-in programs. Rather, as the hike leader talks about some of the animals
living in the woods, such as frogs, a soundtrack begins playing "ribbets" and
a staff member wearing a frog costume will hop out of the darkness past the
group. Later the campers will participate in the Scars and Bruises workshop
to learn how to apply latex makeup and mix fake blood and slime. "It's a lesson
in the chemistry behind Halloween," Rose said.
Rose is constantly coming up with new themes and activities every Halloween
because many families return for the camp-ins. "It seems like we have the same
families come year after year," she said. But she's also getting more families
each year for her Halloween events. "When we started in 1999, we had maybe 20
people," she said. "Now we're averaging 50 or 60 total family members."