Dinosaur Discovery Day

continued

On the third floor, two girls and a boy enact a play with “Paleo Puppets.” A T. rex puppet sings his ABCs in tune while a two-year-old girl in a jumper spins in circles. Three glassy-eyed squirrels survey the puppet show from above. The puppeteers cry, “Here, Mommy—watch this show.” The children don’t notice a snarling wolf, body tense, teeth braced, and fur on end, that stands two feet away behind glass.

A disco ball welcomes dancers to the “Dino Dance” on the fourth floor. Music throbs as children whirl in the dark. Colored lights flash on the walls. In another gallery down the hall, silent children stir plaster with water at a fossil-casting table while their parents crash on puffy chairs.

Outside the tall windows, late afternoon shadows darken brick buildings. The moon gleams in a blue, cloudless sky. At five o’clock, children and parents make their way downstairs to greet the icy air. Spiky dinosaur crowns rattle in the wind.

Dinosaur Discovery Day returns to the Exhibit Museum on Saturday, December 6.   

[Originally published in December, 2008.]