Our Day at Mystic Seaport

We had a nice sunny day yesterday and we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and head out on a field trip.

We headed to the Mystic Seaport and learned about life in a whaling community way back when.



The boys had been to Mystic Seaport one other time last year (you can read about that trip here) and they weren't sure what more they could learn.

I let them set the pace and put them in charge of what we were going to do for the day.

We were so surprised when our entire day included all new experiences!

The Discovery Barn was open and the boys learned all about wind speed, wind direction and sailing; simple machines and pulleys, loading a boat properly to keep it on an even keel, the shapes of boats and how that effects drag, speed, and performance.

Learning about drag 

Testing out simple machines 

Loading a boat with fish 

Keeping the load even 

Testing our more simple machines 


We stopped for lunch on the town green.  It is such a picturesque little town!



We toured a whaling ship and then went into the nearby museum to learn even more about whaling.  From there we ended up looking through several art museums and ended up in a wonderful kids' space filled with drawing supplies, puppet theaters, games to play and a lot of hands on areas for learning.  The boys each picked out their favorite pictures and we were all taken with the stained glass art found around.





Alec added a thought to the whale; an interactive exhibit. 





Ian and Evan played checkers 

While Alec worked on an oil pastel drawing 


We ended our day with a navigation quest.  Using a compass, a GPS system, a spyglass and some clues we had to go around and find 4 boxes hidden throughout the village.  It was a lot of fun and each of the boys was able to take home a prize for completing the challenge.  Alec chose a small pocket flashlight while the other two boys took home a compass (and asked me which direction we were travelling in the whole way; checking to make sure their compass was right and that they understood how to use it!).

Reading clues and figuring out the GPS system 

Navigating our way around 

We found the boy feeding the birds 

The first box 

Using the spyglass 

Mostly I was just glad to get out of the house.  My boys have been fighting a lot lately and I think we were all feeling cooped up inside together.  Our day ended up being the perfect break we needed.  They got along well with one another and we had fun exploring so many new and wonderful exhibits.

Comments

  1. Sharon WagnerMay 19, 2016 at 9:07 AM

    The art glass is really beautiful. Thanks so much for your blog visit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 19, 2016 at 10:17 AM

      There's just something about art glass that seems to draw us all in; it's so beautiful! Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. MichelleMay 19, 2016 at 9:16 PM

    What little boy would not find this adventurous and full of learning. I love to look at art glass. The colors are so pretty. Thanks for sharing today at my party.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Karen Del TattoMay 21, 2016 at 10:48 AM

    Sounds like a lot of great new exhibits and things to do in Mystic since I was there years ago with my children. I truly is a picturesque town.

    Thanks for sharing about your day! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 21, 2016 at 2:58 PM

      We were just there a year ago and my boys were kind of dragging their feet to go. Mostly because they felt like they had been there and saw it all but we were so surprised that out entire day was completely different. They were building a new building while we were there too so I'm sure they'll be something new next time too!

      Delete
  4. Claire PotterMay 19, 2017 at 7:02 AM

    Looks like a great day out. Where are you based?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Claire PotterMay 19, 2017 at 7:03 AM

    P.S. That boardwalk picture is so enticing...I am bonkers for a boardwalk!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ethan.n.EvelynMay 25, 2017 at 6:51 AM

    I love the drawings of the boats and the whales drawings, and the colour stain glass. They are so beautiful. It sound like the day was jam packed with lots of incredible things to discover. What a great day out! Thank you so much for linking up with us on #FabFridayPost

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 25, 2017 at 8:05 AM

      The art gallery was amazing! We had such a fun day.

      Delete

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