Building castles and building futures

Constructing imaginations at Space Center Houston

Corey Benson

The Signal

Space Center Houston unveiled its fall exhibit, LEGO Castle Adventure Sept. 26, where visitors can dress up as medieval royalty, tour the LEGO kingdom and even build their own castles.

“We’re really excited to have the LEGO Castle Adventure here because it has over 7,000 square feet of fun for all ages – ranging from toddlers to children anywhere from nine to 99 years of age,” said Jack Moore, public relations specialist for Space Center Houston.

Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, hosts three traveling exhibits each year in addition to its permanent collections and exhibits.

“Once we received LEGO Castle Adventure, it took us about a week and half to install,” Moore said. “Luckily, we were not tasked with the hard job of piecing together all of the intricate models that consist of thousands and thousands of individual LEGOs.”

LEGO Castle Adventure is an international traveling exhibit built by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

“LEGO Castle Adventure gives visitors to Space Center Houston the opportunity to test their planning and constructing skills,” said Charity Counts, associate vice president of exhibit design and traveling exhibits for The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “This unique exhibit created in partnership with LEGO Systems, Inc. is another great opportunity for children and families to learn through play with one of the most-loved toys of all time.”

Space Center Houston will host a LEGO building contest Nov. 6.

“You can build your own LEGO creation based on the theme of space exploration,” Moore said. “Bring it to Space Center Houston and you can be eligible to win more than $2,500 worth of prizes.”

All entries are due by 2 p.m. and will be divided into four categories based on age: ages 6 and under, 7-10, 11-14, and 15 and older.

In addition to viewing the LEGO kingdom castle and a full-scale suit of LEGO bricks armor, visitors can build a castle wall, pull back the catapult and fire a projectile at it.

“This is something we actually have to think about in orbit,” Moore said. “When we build the International Space Station, we have to protect it from micrometeorites. The exhibit is designed to encourage the development of a child’s creativity through playing and learning.  When children play with LEGOs, they must problem solve and search for creative solutions.  This simple playtime helps to develop the rudimentary thought processes that are essential to engineering and design.”

Ticket prices range from $15.95 to $19.95 and can be upgraded to a full-year membership for an additional $3.

“Not only are you going to learn about castles, but you’re also going to learn about the history of manned space flight,” Moore said.

LEGO Castle Adventure will exhibit through Jan. 23, 2011, at Space Center Houston, located at 1601 NASA Pkwy. For more information, visit www.spacecenter.org.