Pull out bubbles around kids and everyone is happy and having fun, right? Kids love bubbles! That’s the motivation behind the popular “Bubble Days” in Beaumont. The free event is an effort by the Texas Energy Museum to get kids interested in science by using something kids can really get into!
“What we are trying to do is to introduce kids to sciences,” said Executive Director of the Texas Energy Museum, Ryan Smith. “Petroleum science is our main science and these events get kids at a young age interested and involvement with science outside the classroom.”
The museum’s primary focus is the history, technology and science of petroleum. Smith says bubbles is an easy way to make it simple for kids.
"It’s the fascination with seeing and creating something and watching it move. You are actually creating something when you are creating a bubble, for example blowing with it. I think kids are fascinated by anything they can create that moves.”
Bubble Days is summertime favorite for kids ages three to eight and the events keep getting larger each year.
“We typically have a couple of hundred kids at each event,” said Smith. “They go around the room to different stations and each is different experiments. There’s blowing the biggest bubble they can, put a bubble inside a bubble, building a bubble wall, put hand through a bubble without popping it. We also put kids inside a bubble with a holla hoop.”
The bubbles are also a way to bring science to different parts of the city.
“We take our museum off site and go to community centers in the area and work in conjunction with the library system,” said Smith, “by taking this on the road, we are introducing the museum to other communities, other groups that may not think about coming downtown to see the museum.”
Upcoming Bubble Days:
June 15, 2017
John Davis Community Center
3580 E. Lucas
Beaumont, TX 77705
10:30 am- 12:00 noon
July 7, 2017
Rogers Park Community Center
1455 Dowlen Road
Beaumont, TX 77706
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
“We encourage people to not just have fun at Bubble Days but to use it as an opportunity to have fun at other things Beaumont has to offer,” adds Smith. “Head over to the library, check out books about science, explore the neighborhood. Or, at Rogers Park you can pack a picnic lunch and spend time with your family. "
Smith says the hope is to get kids excited about what they may do in the future.
“It’s a good way for kids to do something science related and maybe we will introduce them to future careers and long term goals of engineering and science careers.”
If you can’t make it to the Bubble Day events, you can always stop by the Texas Energy Museum for an interactive science lesson for all ages.
“What we do here is provide a colorful story about Texas oil,” said Smith. “Whether you want to know about the science or the history of Spindletop, it’s all presented in a very readable, interactive format. People can understand that is right there with them everyday and something they use everyday.”
The Texas Energy Museum has state-of-the-art, colorful exhibits with talking robotic characters that relive the oil adventure for visitors. You can see the entire story of the Spindletop oil discovery in 1901 with a complete rotary rig from the time period.
