Celebrate New Years Eve at Discovery Cube Los Angeles #GIVEAWAY

How is it even possible that we are at the end of 2015? I don't know about you, but this year has flown by. I am busy making plans for what to do on New Year's Eve with my family. We will be starting a new tradition for the first time this year by celebrating early at Discovery Cube Los Angeles. It can be hard for younger children to stay up late on New Year's so Discovery Cube will be hosting a party to ring in 2016 at a family-friendly time!

(Photo courtesy of Discovery Cube)

WHO:

You are invited to the kid-friendly Noon Year's Eve Party at Discovery Cube! They have turned this end of the year bash typically for adults into the ultimate celebration just perfect for families and children. No staying up til Midnight required! Make sure to check out the Science of Gingerbread, and Curious George Exhibits while you're there and take a ride on the Helicopter Tour!

WHAT:

Celebrate the new year early at Discovery Cube Los Angeles with Noon Year's Eve Party! Set your clocks to 12pm NOT 12am and bring the kid's to either Discovery Cube (LA or OC) for a celebration they won't forget! 

Special activities include:

• Horns to blow
• Hats to Wear
• Big Countdown and Balloon Drop (12pm and 2pm)
• Ginger Ale Toast
• Green Screen Photo Booth
• Superhero Dance Party

*This year's party theme is Superhero, so make sure your kid's come dressed as their favorite superhero!*

WHEN:

December 30th and Dec 31st

(12pm and 2pm are when they do the countdown w/ balloon drop)

WHERE:

Discovery Cube Los Angeles
and

Discovery Cube Orange County

WHY:

To ring in the new year with your family, and make memories that you will never forget!
Happy Noon Year!

GIVEAWAY:

Let's end this 2015 with a giveaway! It has been such a pleasure being a Discovery Cube Mom Ambassador this year! I hope you have enjoyed learning about fun and exciting things to do at the Cube as much as I have loved sharing! Enter this giveaway for your change to win an annual family membership ($99 value) to Discovery Cube! It'd be a great way to start off 2016 with free admission for a year to the Cube. GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Cube Admission:

Grand Opening Price of $10 per ticket extended until January 3, 2016.
(Children 2 and under free.)
Annual Memberships are available.
Tickets to 4D movies cost extra.

Discovery Cube LA Address:
11800 Foothill Boulevard
Sylmar, CA 91342

Hours:
Open Monday-Sunday from 10am to 5pm
(not open on Christmas)

Follow Discovery Cube LA on Social Media:
Facebook: Discovery Cube LA
Twitter: @DiscoveryCubeLA
Instagram: DiscoveryCubeLA

See you at the Cube!
 
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. As a member of  Discovery Cube Mom Ambassadors, my family and I get free admission to The Cube to review and attend events. The thoughts and opinions shared on this blog are 100% fresh and 100% mine.

 

5 Tips for Making the Perfect Gingerbread House

There's actually a science to building the perfect Gingerbread House! My family and I had the chance to visit Discovery Cube Los Angeles last weekend and checked out their latest exhibit, The Science of Gingerbread. The museum was decorated and had the sweet smell of gingerbread floating through the air. We followed our noses and headed straight for The Science of Gingerbread exhibit where the gingerbread houses were on display made by guests for  The Cube's annual Gingerbread Competition! I picked up these tips on how to create an awesome gingerbread house of your own because, tis the season!

5 tips on how to create the perfect gingerbread house:

1. Pre-Planning

  A key step in gingerbread house building is starting with a prototype. This will ensue the house will stand up and be able to support itself. Try building a model ahead of time out of cardboard and using that as your stencil.

2. Foundation and Structure

Before beginning the construction of a gingerbread house find a solid sturdy base to build your structure on. This does not need to be edible, but it should be easy to transport. Some examples of great foundations include wood, cardboard, and thick plastic.

3. Walls

After mixing the batter cutting out your pieces and baking the walls you may notice the shape and size of each piece has changed slightly. This is because the gingerbread dough expanded during baking. And easy way to remove any extra bulges in your walls is to put your cardboard stencil on top of each baked wall, we cutting the edges with the pizza cutter. Your walls will once again be straight!

4. Icing

The icing on a gingerbread house is perfect to make the house look like it is covered in snow, but this special combination of powdered sugar and egg whites actually acts like glue, or more tar, holding the pieces of the gingerbread together. Every time two pieces of gingerbread are attached using royal icing, it is important to give the "glue" plenty of time to dry before adding another piece.

5. Roof

Building gingerbread houses takes time and patience. Give the royal icing at least a few hours to dry before adding the roof or decorations. This will help the roof stay on top of the house adding shingles such as sticks of gum, cereal, chocolate, or even peppermint candies can help the house look more realistic. But be careful not to add too much weight.

Here are some of the incredible entries on display now at Discovery Cube LA:

After getting inspired by all of the cool gingerbread creations, it was time for our kids to create something of their own. The Annual Gingerbread Derby welcomed children of all ages to build their own car and race them with each other down the ramp. Each child is given a bag of graham crackers & they walk down the line picking out candies, crackers, mints, gummy bears, marshmallows, etc. The helpful Discovery Cube LA staff is on hand to assist everyone build their racing car. When they were done, it was off to the race track they go to see who's car will finish first! It was a fun activity that ended in cheering and high fives for all.

On the way out we stopped to say hi to Santa Claus! My daughter was a little too shy to tell Saint Nick what she wants for Christmas, but she did take a photo with him and friends. And we each got a candy cane afterwards. Merry Merry.

The Science of Gingerbread Exhibit
November 27, 2015 – January 3, 2016

Admission:
Grand Opening Price of $10 per ticket extended until January 3, 2016.
(Children 2 and under free.)
Annual Memberships are available.
Tickets to 4D movies cost extra.

Address:
11800 Foothill Boulevard
Sylmar, CA 91342

Hours:
Open Monday-Sunday from 10am to 5pm
(not open on Thanksgiving or Christmas)

Follow Discovery Cube LA on Social Media:
Facebook: Discovery Cube LA
Twitter: @DiscoveryCubeLA
Instagram: DiscoveryCubeLA

See you at the Cube!

Disclosure: This is a compensated post. As a member of  Discovery Cube Mom Ambassadors, my family and I get free admission to The Cube to review and attend events. The thoughts and opinions shared on this blog are 100% fresh and 100% mine.

Let's Get Curious at Discovery Cube Los Angeles

"Everyone's got a little Curious George in them." - Kathy Davis

Bring your children and their insatiable curiosity to Discovery Cube Los Angeles this fall for a new exhibit, Curious George: Let's Get Curious featuring everyone's favorite monkey!

"George is a little monkey, and all monkeys are curious. But no monkey is as curious as George."

Starting September 19, 2015 and going through January 3, 2016 families are welcome to exercise their curious minds while they explore the neighborhood where Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat live.

Guests can discover this new educational, hands-on exhibit featuring multiple areas just perfect for active and inquisitive children of all ages:

*Shoot three holes of Mini Golf

*Take care of animals at the Farm

*Get ready to blast off in the Space Rocket

*Design your own building at the Construction Site

*Experiment with wheels and pulleys at the Apartment Building

*Pretend play of customer and salesperson at the Sidewalk Produce Stand

 *Take a selfie with full-sized Curious George at the City Park

Did you know that the authors of Curious George saved the manuscript during World War II. There's a lot more to learn about this curious little monkey and you can do it all at The Cube. This classic story has captured the heart of millions for 65 years and now thanks to Discovery Cube LA it will be introducing this historic little monkey to a new generation of kids.

I am really looking forward to seeing one of my my childhood literary favorites come to life and sharing it with my children. Stay tuned on my blog for the upcoming review and recap of this adorable exhibit.

For more fun, be sure to check out my other posts all about Discovery Cube:
Ultimate Playdate at Discovery Cube LA and Hansen Dam
10 Awesome Exhibits Your Kids Will Love at Discovery Cube LA

See you at The Cube!

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has it's own reason for existing." - Albert Einstein

Photos and images featured in this post are courtesy of Discovery Cube Los Angeles.

Disclosure: This is a compensated post. As part of the Discovery Cube Mom Ambassadors, my family and I get free admission to The Cube to review and attend events. The thoughts and opinions shared on this blog are 100% fresh and 100% mine.

Summer Playdate at Discovery Cube Los Angeles and Hansen Dam Recreation Area

I don't know about you, but we're still enjoying our last month of summer. Our kids don't go back to school this year until after Labor Day. This means we have all of August to continue exploring Southern California's local spots to cool off during summer. Last weekend we took the kids to one of our favorite places, Discovery Cube Los Angeles and to a new destination. We called our friends and met up for the perfect summer playdate at The Cube and Hansen Dam Recreation Center!

The Cube is a great place to 'beat the heat' and hot weather typically continues throughout October in the San Fernando Valley. Check out 10 Reasons To Go To Discovery Cube Los Angeles which highlights some of our family favorites! The kids had a blast (as usual) going from exhibit to exhibit of hands-on play. On this particular trip though, they spent most of their time between two main areas.

1.) ADVENTURES WITH CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG

 All paws were on deck at Clifford Exhibit (only open until Sept 7, 2015). Even though my daughter is almost 8, she loves going to Birdwell Island and engaging in imaginative play with the Big Red Dog's hometown. As her mom, I love the 10 life lessons that are placed throughout the Early Learners Zone to help remind young children of positive behavior. These are the same guidelines that we have always tried to teach our own kids.

 * Help Others * Be A Good Friend * Believe In Yourself * Work Together * Share * Be Truthful * Have Respect * Be Kind * Play Fair * Be Responsible *

2.) DISCOVERY MARKET

The other half of our visit was spent shopping... at Discovery Market learning how to become super shoppers! Once these kids grab a cart, they are off and running down the aisles to make the right healthy food choices and to pick products that are good for our environment. I think their favorite part is the scanner, and the way that it interacts with the computer game on the grocery cart. It's like a video game on wheels - literally.

After we spent a few hours at The Cube, the second half of our summer playdate was to be spent at the Hansen Dam Recreation Center, which FYI is right next door making it easy to visit both places in one day. The kids wanted to go to the universal access Playground first. So they got on the swings and ran around the park for awhile until they were all hot and sweaty! Just in time to hit the Hansen Dam Aquatic Center.

Since we've never been I didn't know what to expect, and had no idea how BIG the pool area is. We paid a small fee to get in. ($3.50 for adults and $1.00 for children) We were pleasantly surprised to find a beach like setting, sand, cabanas (for rent), lifeguards in towers, outdoor showers, and two water slides all encompassing a HUGE swimming area. Fresh Tip: Rent a cabana or bring an umbrella to help shade you and your party from the hot summer sun.

There's a variety of outdoor activities to do at Hansen Dam including:

* Skate Park

* Hiking Trails

* Aquatic Center

* Baseball Fields

* Biking Trails
* Soccer Fields
* Equestrian Center 

* Universal Access Playground

* Barbeque Pits and Picnic Tables

* Lake (Fishing, Paddle Boats, Kayaking, Canoeing)

It was a great way to spend a day with family and friends. We are already planning a trip back to check out the Lake and to take our youngest daughter on her first fishing trip. Have you been to the Hansen Dam Recreation Area before? What's your families favorite thing to do there? Leave a comment, I'd love to know what you like.

 

Disclosure: This is a compensated post. As part of the Discovery Cube Mom Ambassadors, my family and I get free tickets to The Cube to review and attend events. The thoughts and opinions shared on this blog are 100% fresh and 100% mine.