Sensory-Friendly Saturdays at the Bell Museum of Natural History
*The event has already taken place on this date: Sat, 12/19/2015
Please help us keep this calendar up to date! If this activity is sold out, canceled, or otherwise needs alteration, email mindy@kidsoutandabout.com so we can update it immediately. If you have a question about the activity itself, please contact the organization administrator listed below.
Experience our dioramas, Touch & See Room, and a mini planetarium show—all with lowered lighting, quieter sounds, and fewer visitors. Children should be accompanied by an adult. Siblings without sensory sensitivities are also welcome.
Fall 2015 Events
Saturdays, 8 – 10 am
Advanced registration required
Free with museum admission/membership
September 12 | October 10 | November 14 | December 19
What's unique about Sensory-Friendly Saturdays?
We welcome all children to participate in our programs and to visit us at any time (and to come back again and again). Some resources like the Quiet Space in the Touch & See Room and the availability of visual timers, weighted lap pads, and hearing protection are always available for check out.
But there are a few things we do on Sensory-Friendly Saturdays we cannot do during regular operating hours:
Light
The lighting in the museum is turned down for Sensory Saturdays in four places:
- 30% of the lights in Touch and See Room are turned off
- 30% of the West Gallery lighting is turned off
- Floor lamps are added in place of the overhead fluorescents in front of the raccoon and eagle dioramas. The diorama halls are never brightly lit, but these lights are turned off to reduce fluorescent flickering.
Sound
Sounds are turned off or reduced in select locations:
- A video in the West Gallery is turned off
- A video on the first floor of Dioramas (mammals) is turned off
- Audio level on the sound board by the Bear diorama is turned down
- Bird/outdoor sounds in the fig atrium area (outside Touch & See and the West Gallery) is turned off
ExploraDome Shows
We offer a free mini-ExploraDome show as a way for to try out a show without having to pay for a ticket.
*Times, dates, and prices of any activity posted to our calendars are subject to change. Please be sure to click through directly to the organization’s website to verify.