Chrissy Jay

Review of COSI - Center of Science and I...

Disappointed and hoped for more. They have not cha...

Disappointed and hoped for more. They have not changed the exhibition rooms, or the area in general, in 15 years.

The first time I went to COSI was a school field trip in middle school. I was so bored and disappointed with the huge lack of mentally stimulating exhibit rooms. Not only were there mainly boring "interesting facts", and boring ways to present them, but there were much less hands on exhibits than they lead on. The "ocean" room, which is less ocean and more movement of water, was a little sub that just sits there and you have to wait forever to even see that. And the other part of it was a giant water fountain. The rest was not working.

Fast forward 15 years later, I brought my kid because I was hoping things changed. Ocean room is still half not functional, and really boring. The little kids areas are ok, but there are so many kids in the little areas that you can't even enjoy it with your kid. The water play room would be cool if it did not have such a urine smell. I was afraid to let me kid touch anything including the carpet, let alone the water..... The medical exhibit has some promise, if they would add more hands on stuff. I was happy to see they were at least offering healthy alternatives to hotdogs and fries in the cafeteria, but the staff were slow and obviously unmotivated to be in customer service..

I'm giving stars for the random guy bringing a tarantula to pet in the hallways. And the random play things in the hallways. Those were cool. The medical exhibit had cross sections of an actual body. The kids play area was ok but needed some more variety of toys/ displays. That's all of the memorable experiences I have..

I'm astonished of the hype and the awards, because this place is so old, outdated and boring. The lobby when you walk in is the coolest part. The extreme lack of not only change to the exhibits, but presentation of mentally stimulating material, or more hands on exhibits, is disappointing. Never going here again, and I tell every parent I know to disregard all the hype, because that's what it is. If you have really smart and curious kids, bring them to the zoo and enroll them in some STEM extracurriculars instead of going to COSI..