Experience All Four Seasons at Family Night at the Museum

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The weather outside won’t matter when the campus and local communities get a taste of all four seasons at the 10^th annual Family Night at the Museum Feb. 8.

The seasons-themed event will feature interactive activities developed by numerous University of Alabama graduate departments, including biology, geology and engineering, among others. Activities will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Smith and Lloyd halls on the UA campus.

Admission is free to the public.

“Family Night at the Museum is a great opportunity to connect children in the community to career options and areas of study they might be interested in later in life,” said Jillian Sincoski, graduate parent support coordinator with UA’s Graduate School Programs. “It’s also a great way to showcase our researchers and the work they do on a daily basis.”

UA graduate departments have spent countless hours developing interactive activities that relate to each department’s area of research, as well as this year’s theme.

The clothing, textiles and design department will have precut clothing items worn during each season that children can match and glue on a figure within a seasonal background. The geography department will teach children how forest ecosystems change throughout the year through an interactive magnetic board and craft table where they can create a tree corresponding with their favorite season.

Aside from interactive learning experiences, families can enjoy free food and have the opportunity to win several door prizes. Children will be given a passport booklet for each graduate department booth to stamp when they visit. At the end of the night, a grand prize will be given to a child who collects stamps from all interactive activities.

Family Night at the Museum started in 2011 in an effort to connect UA graduate students who have children with other graduate student parents in a family-friendly environment. A few years later, the event was opened to the West Alabama community. More than 1,400 attended last year’s event.

The event is hosted by UA’s Graduate Parent Support program. Created in 2009, the goal of GPS is to provide an innovative and accessible academic, social and economic support system for graduate and undergraduate students who have children. Additional hosts include UA’s Graduate School, the Graduate Student Association and UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History.