March 2026 – May 2026

Special Event Days

North Carolina Science Festival: Science Matters (April)
NC Sci Fest Events include:

Spring into Action | Spring Break April 3 – 12
Science doesn’t just happen at a museum! Celebrate spring break at Discovery Place Science and discover different ways to take science outside the museum and into your world. Activities will provide opportunities to experiment and explore how science, nature, and sustainability make an impact on you, your community, and the world.
Take Flight Weekend | April 18– 19
Final boarding call to experience Discovery Place’s traveling exhibition Above and Beyond. Above and Beyond celebrates the incredible innovations that have shaped flight from early dreamers like the Wright brothers to tomorrow’s cutting-edge aviation technologies. Guests will experiment with flight and aviation throughout the Museum, including building hydraulic systems, exploring how animals fly, and the physics of flight.
Star Party | April 24 | 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Discover the magic of the Moon at Discovery Place’s Star Party! Guests will use telescopes to explore the night sky, search for stars, and observe the Moon (weather permitting). In addition to star gazing, interactive stations will include building and launching stomp rockets, creating craters, making a night-sky picture, and sizing up the Moon.

From the Field

From the Field: UNC Charlotte BITE | February 21, March 21, April 18
Students from UNC Charlotte’s Bat Immunology Training and Education (BITE) are here to dispel myths and share their research about our coolest flying mammals.
Brain Day | March 28
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, so come learn about this amazing organ with the professionals at Carolinas Rehabilitation and the Center for Injury Prevention
 Science of Safety | May 16
Join medical professionals from all over the Charlotte area and explore the science of safety and injury prevention to start the summer off safe.

KidScience

On the Move | Daily
Through a mix of child-led exploration and facilitated activities, our youngest guests will explore how humans and other animals get from place to place.

Activities include: 

Building inventions using gears and wheels
Dramatic play with air, land, and sea vehicles   
Modeling body structures of humans and other animals
Exploring how things move—fast and slow, up and down, around and around

Living Planet Lab

Mapping Migration | Daily
Animals are on the move in the Living Planet Lab! Stop by and check out some of the migration routes these incredible creatures have planned for the spring.

Activities include: 

Make your own monarch butterfly to travel with you
 Play a game to see who can get the most sea turtles to the ocean
Check out real specimens under a microscope

Tech Innovation Lab

Motions & Machines | Daily
From walking to flying, movement is everywhere! Explore how nature and engineering use forces and motion to get us where we’re going.

Activities include: 

Compare natural flying creatures to the planes in the sky
Discover how the shape of wheels affects how machines travel and move

Explore More Me

Two Steps Forward | Daily
Explore how different people move through the world and discover ways we can work together to make everyone’s path a little smoother.

Activities include: 

Playing pretend with dolls who showcase various disabilities
“Fixing the phrasing” of ableist headlines and exploring the power of positive language
Engineering accessibility solutions that benefit everyone
“Nothing About Us Without Us” interactive video gallery exploring the diverse lived experiences of people with physical and cognitive disabilities
Choosing to read a story from a variety of new books in the “Cozy Corner”

Thinker Space

Crash Test Studio | Daily
Explore the intersection of physics and design in Thinker Space as you engineer vehicles made to be destroyed and experiment with materials to develop safety mechanisms.

Activities include: 

Vehicle Safety Mechanisms
Roadway Safety Mechanisms
Designed for Demolition