foreman, design, experiment and build
anything imaginable, including a bridge,
a house and a city, learning about archi-
tecture past and present.
There will be an enormous table
top map of Buffalo to let children learn
about our city in an immersive setting,
helping to cultivate the next great gen-
eration of architects, builders, and urban
planners.
From Farm to Fork
Playing Together
Families can run, move, play, and
see what it feels like to be a part of the
professional sports teams that make Buf-
falo great by trying on the helmets, jer-
seys, and gear of each team and posing
for a team card. Visitors can race against
the clock to find their best time. There’s
a sock skating rink and Jumbotron that
lets the whole family get in on the ac-
tion, a fishing boat, a Mini Aud for the
crawling members of the family, and
Rigging and Ramble, a nautically in-
spired climbing structure that reaches to
the top of the gallery and overlooks the
Moving Water exhibit below.
Lighting Buffalo’s
Imagination
Visitors will explore the materials,
ideas, and innovations that have fu-
eled Buffalo’s prosperity and continue
to power new ideas through curiosity,
imagination, and collaboration.
There is an interactive Innovation
Wall where visitors can investigate 40
major innovators and innovations from
Western New York. There are multiple
bicycles all connected to a central fea-
ture that when children pedal together
they illuminate a tower that harkens
back to the thousands of bright lights
that illuminated the 1901 Pan-American
Exposition, encouraging teamwork and
illuminating imaginations.
The zone features the Tinkering
Tank maker’s space where visitors will
have the opportunity to build a gizmo,
tinker, test, and try again with work-
benches and real tools and materials.
This zone will also feature a Working
on Wellness exhibit which will celebrate
our medical campus and give children an
opportunity to dress-up in lab coats and
take their stuffed patients to examination
beds, a small-scale replica X-ray ma-
chine and MRI station, introducing new
words and concepts. This child-friendly
zone is intended to have children learn
more about their health, the role of doc-
tors and researchers, and that hospitals
are places for healing.
This zone uses Buffalo’s rich agri-
cultural history to show children where
our food comes from
in a sustainable way.
They’ll learn how to
plant, grow, harvest,
load a small-scale
truck to take pro-
duce to market, sell,
shop for and prepare
healthy meals in this
play area that merges
a farm, farmer’s mar-
ket, and authentic
kitchen. Guests from the current East
Aurora museum will be happy to learn
there will be a cow for milking — a new
and improved Millie!
Rooftop Garden
The fourth floor terrace offers un-
precedented views of Canalside while
providing exhilarating artistic and play
opportunities for visitors of all ages.
This space will also employ “green” de-
sign techniques for the sustainability of
continued on page 67
Building
Buffalo
Buffalo’s sto-
ried
architectural
history will inspire
children and fami-
lies to construct their
own great structures
as museum visitors
solve architectural
challenges together.
Children can step
into a construction
zone and be the
December 2018 WNY Family 17