Reduce, reuse, recycle and … Tyrannosaurus Rex? EdVenture Children’s Museum launched a new “Fossils to Futures” exhibit March 27, combining interactive dinosaur elements with lessons about sustainability. 

Previously a rotating gallery, the space is now a permanent exhibit, with two stories and dozens of interactive activities. Much of the exhibit was made with reused materials, including a model T-Rex and plesiosaur made entirely of recycled elements.

Kelly Shank watched her 9-year-old son Callan scan pieces of “trash,” which came to life and danced on the screen in front of him. 

“It’s something really unique for boys and girls,” Shank said. “Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? We’re very excited. It’s so informative. Lots of creativity. We’ve been excited for something new.” 

Fossils to Futures is EdVenture’s first exhibit focusing on sustainability. 

“We are winning the hearts and minds of children so that they become the change in the world,” Director of Development Robin Harriford said. “They make their families start recycling.”

Director of Facilities Lloyd McDonald said he believes it’s one of the first ever children’s sustainability exhibits tied to dinosaurs.

“A frequent question we have when people come into the museum is not, ‘Do you have dinosaurs?’ but, ‘Where are your dinosaurs?’” McDonald said. “And so that was quickly, ‘How can we incorporate this with dinosaurs?’”

Six-year-old Jai Cohens-Ashley was eager to share what he learned from the exhibit.

“Did you know a T-Rex is related to a chicken?” he said. “House cats, alligators and chickens.”

He learned the fun fact from the dinosaur history timeline, paid for by a $30,000 True Inspirations Award from Chick-fil-A. 

Most of the funding for the exhibit came from a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Richland County nearly matched that donation, bringing the exhibit’s total budget to almost $4 million for the museum. 

“I’m just thankful that they keep investing in it for the kids,” Kelly Shank said. “I mean, it’s a safe haven for us.”

Brainstorming for the exhibit began in 2021, and the museum hired exhibit design firm Roto in 2023.

Amanda Williamson attended the opening with her two sons, 8-year-old John Isaac and 9-year-old Lucas. She said the EdVenture Museum is a game changer for filling in the gaps of their homeschool education and was excited that the new exhibit allows even more creativity.

“They’re having a blast,” Williamson said. “It’s more activities for them to make, not just to do, but to make. As a mom, I love that this is not a thing to take home. Make it, leave it, and let’s come back and do it again.”

Elsewhere, Lucas Williamson hand-crocheted using a string from the craft table. Next to him, John Isaac Williamson embroidered his own name on a plastic sheet.

“This is definitely one of my favorites,” Lucas said of the Fossils to Futures exhibit.

A large video screen displayed different dinosaurs towering over their tiny onlookers. It shared fun facts such as, “The mosasaurus were over 40 feet long. That’s longer than a T-Rex!”

Another display allowed visitors to play music, with buttons connected to robotic arms that drummed on an empty yogurt container, soup and soda cans, a laundry detergent bottle and an egg carton. 

Visitors also got competitive tossing beanbags labeled “trash” and “recycling” into their respective targets. 

“I feel like every time you come back, you’d hit something new that you might have missed,” Kelly Shank said.

Admission to the interactive exhibit is included with general admission costs.