Corvette enthusiasm starts at an early age for many people.
As a youngster, I still vividly remember a neighbor’s red 1969 Corvette. It broke my heart when he sold it! As a high school student working at a small grocery store, I loved it when one of our customers came in driving his new 1975 silver Corvette.
Fast forward years later and my own kids have come to love Corvettes, too, including my 19-year-old son Chris who has grown up to become a Corvette salesman for a major car dealer in the Atlanta area.
He and my other kids have been to the National Corvette Museum many times, and I still remember Chris as a teenager still enjoying a playful time in the NCM KidZone along with my youngest, Jack.
Well, the Museum just held a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Oct. 18 to mark the grand opening of the newly remodeled KidZone. Our whole family can’t wait to see it (as well as that long-rumored mid-engine C8, too!).
“We took a different approach when developing the activities for this space,” said Katie Ellison, Marketing and Communications Manager. “We wanted it to be both educational and fun, so we looked at the life cycle of a car, and what it takes to bring a vehicle from an idea to reality.”
The revised KidZone includes spaces where kids can sketch their own cars, put blocks and wheels on a vehicle and then test drive it on a series of ramps simulating different surfaces. They can even climb in a “test car” for their own crash test. There’s a service station where they can change tires, exhaust, and air filter, and allowing them to look ahead a few years, even a driver’s license photo op. A mini street scene with 1950s Chevy pedal cars, including one sponsored by Tri-City Corvette Club of Southeast Texas, rounds out the exhibit.
“We worked to incorporate aspects of the STEAM educational approach which focuses on science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics,” said Deb Howard, Education Coordinator. “The more hands-on activities we can offer, the better understanding kids will have of the concepts.”
Museum Educator Deb Howard, State Farm agent Jonathan McDaniel, and Marketing Manager Katie Ellison.
Financial support for the new KidZone came from the good folks at State Farm Insurance, who provided a $10,000 Good Neighbor grant, as well as the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and NCM Lifetime Member Eugene Nagowski in memory of his late wife Patricia.
You can visit the NCM and the KidZone every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, with admission $10 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12, and free under 6.
Source:
corvettemuseum.org
Related:
Corvette Museum is Offering a Personalized Orientation of Your C7 Corvette
[VIDEO] Bowling Green Students Restore a 1980 Corvette Donated by the Corvette Museum
Corvette Museum Opens Registration for 25th Anniversary Celebration and National Corvette Caravan
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