Family Days

NOTE: Family Day events are currently being held virtually.

Hands-on science, culture, history, and art!

Family Days allow the whole family to connect with the museum! Enjoy hands-on activities, including crafts, games, and experiments. Meet curators and other experts. See and touch museum specimens. Explore the galleries.

Family Days are designed to engage the whole family in exploring, investigating, and having fun. All ages are welcome! Guests 14 and under are FREE on Family Days, and parking is always free on weekends!

Museum Family Days are proudly presented by TOTE Maritime. THANK YOU!

Virtual Family Day: Solar System

September 26, 2020

Artist's rendition of the Solar System, showing the sun, planets, asteroids, and comets.

Image courtesy of NASA/JPL.

Create and discover with your family! Explore at home and share your discoveries with us. Activities are designed for all ages.

Explore our place in outer space! From the sun and planets to moons and asteroids, discover what makes our Solar System unique. Investigate how scientists study far-away objects, learn the latest news from NASA, and create your own out-of-this-world artwork.

Activities will be posted on September 26.

Virtual Family Day: Amazing Earth

Image from NASA/NOAA.

From liquid water and a breathable atmosphere to the diversity of life, explore what makes our planet an amazing place to live!

Watch videos about the Earth.
Try crafts and activities designed to do at home.
Have fun, be curious, and enjoy creating and discovering!

Videos

Earth's Wild Ride: Discover eclipses, the ice age, volcanoes, Earth's water cycle and more in this 20-minute movie, told from the perspective of a grandfather and his grandchildren in a colony on the Moon.
English version
Spanish version

Produced by ePlanetarium, in collaboration with Rice University through NASA's Immersive Earth Project.

Museum Minute: Watch short videos on Earth and outer space, by UAMN education staff. Each video includes ideas for activities to do at home.

Activities To Do At Home :

The links are all PDF documents.

Pocket Solar System: Discover Earth's place in the Solar System!
Create an Atmosphere Collage: Explore how our atmosphere makes life possible on Earth, and make a collage.
Imagining Life: Investigate the diversity of life on Earth, and imagine what life could look like on alien worlds.
Build A Spacecraft: Create a model spacecraft, and learn how scientists study the Earth from above.

Example Atmosphere Collage. White piece of paper with the sun drawn on one edge. Two colored pencils are next to the paper.
Atmosphere collage example. Making a Pocket Solar System.

For more activities designed for kids ages 5 and under, go to our Virtual Early Explorers page.

Virtual Family Day: Water

Photo by Elisabeth Arnold on Unsplash.

Welcome to Virtual Family Day: Water!

Watch a Collections Chat with museum experts.
Explore water-themed crafts and activities designed for at home.
Have fun, be curious, and enjoy creating and discovering with your family!

Collections Chat: Water

Explore the theme of water with museum experts!
Curator of Fishes Andrés López shared information on some of the fish species used by people across Alaska's different watersheds. Ethnology & History Collections Manager Angela Linn discussed watercraft in Alaska, cultural objects related to water, and the connection of rivers to where people live.

A person scooping water into a white container.

Museum Minute: Exploring Water

Watch a short video to discover more about the connections between water and life. Includes ideas for at-home activities!

Water-Themed Activities To Do At Home :

The links are all PDF documents.

Design a Boat: Try designing, building, and testing your own boat!
Build a Model Fish Rack: One way to preserve fish is by drying them on racks. Make your own model fish rack!
Create a Watershed: Explore how watersheds work by making a model.
Water Habitat Collage: Create a collage of a water habitat, such as an ocean, river, lake, or wetland.
Explore the Salmon Life Cycle: Discover the salmon life cycle with videos, articles, and games.

Model fish rack made from straws, pipecleaners, and clay. Collage of a sea ice habitat, made with tissue paper, yarn, and foam pieces.
Model fish rack example. Water habitat collage example.

For more water-themed activities designed for kids ages 5 and under, go to our Virtual Early Explorers page.

Past Family Days

Fossils (February 2020): Kids and adults met paleo artist Ray Troll, explored fossils in the Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline special exhibit, decorated Ice Age animal puppets, excavated bones, and created paleo art.

Walrus (January 2020): Visitors met walrus researchers, saw specimens from the collections, experimented with blubber gloves, explored the importance of walrus in Alaska cultures, and made walrus masks.

Stars (November 2019): Guests experimented with hands-on astronomy demonstrations, explored how different cultures view the night sky, made solar viewers, and created glow-in-the-dark artwork.

Animals in Art (September 2019): Visitors explored how animals inspire artists! They saw art from the collections, created animal masks, sketched scientific specimens, and made fish prints.

Soil (April 2019): Visitors met soil scientists and archaeologists, explored the properties of permafrost, looked at soil under microscopes, created artwork with soil paint, and planted seeds.

Ravens (March 2019): This Family Day focused on ravens in culture, art, and science. Guests met a raven researcher, read and wrote raven stories, created raven artwork, and competed in the Raven Olympics.

Earthquakes (February 2019): Kids and adults explored the science of earthquakes with researchers from the Alaska Earthquake Center, learned how to prepare emergency kits, and created earthquake-inspired art.

Gold (November 2018): Visitors met geologists, investigated the importance of gold in Alaska history, saw objects from the Ethnology & History collection, created gold-themed artwork, and tried panning for faux gold.

Berries (September 2018): Guests met berry experts, learned about the Winterberry Citizen Science project, created berry field guides, decorated berry recipe books, and explored the role of berries in Alaska cultures.

Stories (April 2018): Visitors listened to a Yup’ik storyteller, discovered stories of the past with archaeologists, recorded interviews with the ScienceTapes project, made storybooks, and used storyknives to tell their own stories.

Butterflies (March 2018): Kids and adults met butterfly experts, explored the Kenelm Philip collection, investigated the life cycle of butterflies, made butterfly art, and tried on butterfly costumes.

Whales (February 2018): At this Family Day, visitors could meet whale researchers and examine specimens, explore Arctic food webs, create scrimshaw art, and learn about the importance of whales in Alaska cultures.

Dinos & Fossils (November 2017): Guests saw and touched real fossils, met museum paleontologists, explored Ice Age mammals, dug for fossils, made fossil timelines, and created dinosaur art.

Bears (September 2017): This Family Day featured exploration of bears in art, science, and culture. Visitors saw polar bear art, went on a Bear Story Quest, investigated bear specimens, and learned about bear safety.

Visitors around a table in the Gallery of Alaska, making animal puppets.