Where can kids walk through a giant ear, get their hands on some of the newest technology in health care, and find out just what those supersized backpacks they lug around every day are doing to their bodies? Join us at the area’s largest and most popular kid’s health education exhibit – Journey Through The Body© – A Hands-on Discovery Adventure.
St. Peter’s Health Partners will host its 18th annual Journey Through The Body© on Friday, March 31, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, April 1, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Crossgates Mall. The event is co-sponsored by WNYT-NewsChannel 13. WNYT Meteorologist Bob Kovachick and Anchor/Health Reporter Benita Zahn will be doing a live broadcast from the event on Friday, beginning at 5 p.m.
This FREE health education event is designed to educate children and their parents about select parts of the human body and to learn about their functions, components, strengths and limitations, and ways to lead an active, healthy lifestyle.
Just like in past years, kids will have the chance to explore larger-than-life-sized models of the heart, brain, lungs, ear, teeth, and colon. Kids can walk through a giant, inflatable model of the brain and check out the inflatable heart, getting an up-close and personal look at how these important organs work.
Back again is the Capital Region’s largest ear – at nine feet tall, eight feet wide and 19 feet long, it is hard to miss! Pulsating lights show how sound moves through the ear and the dangers of exposure to loud noises or music. The model, like all exhibits at Journey Through The Body©, is handicap-accessible.
New, hands-on activities this year will enhance the classic Journey Through The Body© experience, including:
- Students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) will be on hand as bioengineering ambassadors, leading hands-on activities to demonstrate the intersection of high-end technology and health care.
- Germs are everywhere! Kids will find out where they lurk and how to get rid of them at a newly upgraded infection control exhibit, staffed by physicians and nurses from SPHP’s infection control and patient safety departments.
- Kids can bowl a free frame at Lucky Strike Social! While they wait, they can learn about how being active – like when you’re bowling – has a positive effect on bones, joints, muscles, and their brain.
- The brain exhibit’s perennially popular obstacle course has been enhanced with new challenges this year – kids can put their minds and bodies to the test!
- Kids’ backpacks seem to get bigger and bigger each year – what effect is it having on their bones, joints, and spines? The musculoskeletal exhibit debuts a new hands-on activity this year, where kids can load up and weigh backpacks to see just what they are lugging around every day.
- The Apple store will have tablets set up for kids to learn about healthy behaviors, and how fitness tracking apps can positively impact their fitness.
Once again this year, Uno Pizzeria & Grill in Crossgates Mall is proud to support Journey Through The Body© with its Dough Rai$ers program. Uno will donate up 20 percent of patrons’ checks, before tax and tip – both dine-in and takeout – to Journey Through The Body©. Coupons to present at Uno will be available at the event, and everything they donate goes to enhance next year’s programs and exhibits!
For more information on Journey Through The Body©, visit http://www.sphp.com/jttb
