‘World’s largest Etch-a-Sketch,’ other giant toys will fill Exploration Place

Toys can be scientific, too.

That’s the message Exploration Place is trying to get across with its new traveling exhibition, “Toytopia.”

The museum at 300 N. McLean Boulevard is opening “Toytopia” at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Here are four things you need to know about “Toytopia”:

• Expect to see the following: An 8-foot-tall Etch-a-Sketch (for photo opportunities only), toys available to play with, a retro arcade with cabinets including “Donkey Kong” and “Ms. Pac Man,” a large Lite-Brite, a life-size doll house and life-size Monopoly car for guests to take photos with. The robotic fortune-teller Zoltar will be on-site, as well as a Lego play area and a Bachmann (and Lego) train layout. Kids can learn about the science behind toys — everything from Furbies to radiometers.
  
  

It’s an interactive experience built both to entertain and educate.

• An Exploration Place admission also gets you $2 off at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum’s exhibit, “Toys of the Future.”
  
  

The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum is also opening a toy-themed exhibition on Saturday, called “Toys of the Future.” That exhibition highlights mid-century space-themed toys — rockets, saucers, robots and ray guns of the 1930s and beyond.

Guests who bring a ticket stub from Exploration Place will receive $2 off admission at the historical museum.

• Exploration Place is hosting toy-themed events to tie in to the exhibition.
  
  

As is customary, Exploration Place is tailoring its “School’s Out Edventures” day care programs after “Toytopia.” The service will be available Oct. 19 and 22, as well as Nov. 12 and 21. There is a new movie showing in the Digital Dome Theater, called “Pandas: The Journey Home.” Children’s birthday parties between now and the end of the year will also be themed after “Toytopia.” For more information on the various events scheduled around “Toytopia,” visit www.exploration.org.

• It’s scheduled to run through Jan. 1, 2019.
  
  

Admission to “Toytopia” is included in regular Exploration Place admission, which is $10.50 for adults 12-64, $9 for seniors 65+, $7 for youth 3-11 and free for children 2 and under.

This story was originally published September 19, 2018 at 2:47 PM.