Impression 5
Science Center
200 Museum Drive, Lansing, MI 48933
517.485.8116
- THUR-SUN9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- MON-WEDClosed
Impression 5 is open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. No reservations required! Learn more here.
This interactive exhibit based on the popular PBS Kids series, Wild Kratts, is now open at Impression 5 Science Center!
Inside Pop!, you can step into a full-size body bubble, experiment with buoyancy, and break down the molecular structure of a bubble!
Our exhibit FLOW: A Water Experience celebrates fluid dynamics with two stories of interactive components and activities.
Open Today from 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m
Admissions
Adults and Children 2+$12.00
Seniors and Military members $10.50
Members and Children < 2FREE
Hours
Thursday - Sunday 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Monday - Wednesday Closed
Turn your ideas into reality inside this teen maker space with real tools, real challenges, and real outcomes! Watch for our special programs in this awesome creative space!
The Youth Action Council is an active community of teen influencers who help shape the Think Tank--its activities and its future! Students meet regularly throughout the year and work on making projects and contribute to ongoing research following “making spaces” for youth.
Why Join?
Your voice is recognized and heard
You get to prototype new ideas
You contribute to ongoing research in youth STEM education
You get to spend time with youth who share similar interests and goals
You receive free membership to Impression 5 Science Center
You receive free or discounted pricing on educational programming (Make It Workshops and L.A.B.S. Camps)
YAC Requirements
You must be between 5th and 12th grade.
You can participate in monthly meetings, annually, from September through May.
If you are interested in joining the Youth Action Council, please contact Micaela Balzer at (517) 485-8116, ext. 144 or balzer@impression5.org.
Embrace the universal urge to play and explore in a space created for young scientists ages birth to four years old. Here, you’re safe to roam, touch, crawl, climb, splash, read, create, and get to know science in a whole new way in a comfortable and supportive environment. Park your stroller, hang up your diaper bag, kick off those shoes, and enjoy a thoughtful environment for you and your little ones . . . complete with a family restroom and private nursing room.
Family restroomNursing roomStroller parking & diaper bag storage
Water table (crocs and smocks available)Play structureHarley's Space StationLight sensory tablePuzzles, books, thoughtful toys, and more
Shoe-free zone (crocs of all sizes are available for water table area!)Safe “smart” electrical outletsRigorous cleaning schedule with non-toxic cleanersAn adjoining nursing room and family restroom to change all diapers in a sanitary spaceDiaper changing in either the nursery room, or family restroom
Discover a world you can't see! In this exhibit, immerse yourself in nanoscale science by playing with magnetic materials, building a giant model of a carbon nanotube, comparing levels of static electricity, and more!
Explore the electromagnetic spectrum and compare different light sources, lenses, prisms and mirrors, and more! Step up to a life-size Light Mosaic to create your own colorful masterpiece then strike a pose with a Shadow Wall. See how plasma reacts to a conductor, experiment with primary colors, paint with light, and more!
Experience a day in the life of a naturalist! Explore natural environments found here in Michigan with a variety of tools and challenges to keep your problem-solving and inquiry skills sharp. Get a closer look at birds using our webcam or scoop up some pond water and magnify the amazing world within it!
Take engineering and building challenges to the next level with materials from blocks to magnetic tiles, panels to bridges, and more! What types of structures can you build? How will gravity, tension, and compression affect a structure?
Take a deeper look at the inner workings of the human mouth! Explore oral health with giant dental tools, get up close to real teeth under microscope, see MRI images to watch the mechanics of your mouth, visit the Smart Mart to discover how the food you eat affects your teeth in an interactive grocery checkout activity, and more!
Explore the wonder of kinetic and potential energy in this hands-on exhibit that allows you to perfect your pitching form and blast targets with an air cannon! Toss things around in the Play Space, then create the most aerodynamic airplane to launch before you hurl a tennis ball forty feet with a trebuchet!
Part outdoor education space, part art installation, part place to contemplate the universe, the Planet Walk Plaza brings us closer together and helps us create more meaningful connections to art and science within greater Lansing.
Our exciting exhibit FLOW explores fluid dynamics with two stories of interactive components and activities! Build and test your own sailboat, explore the science of a vortex, power a giant flywheel that shoots a two-story geyser, play with water jets, and much more!
Inside Pop!, you can step into a full-size body bubble, experiment with buoyancy, and break down the molecular structure of a bubble!
Experience the wonder of nuclear science in this new interactive exhibit that explores atoms and their journeys of acceleration, collision, separation, and detection in simulated environments that illustrate the research happening now at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and in the future at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University.
Built entirely here at the Science Center, this exhibit also explores a variety of jobs and skillsets that make the research at FRIB possible. It also features Isotopolis, an exploratory game about the process of discovering rare isotopes. In the game, players accelerate particles and assemble new isotopes in the effort to complete the table of nuclides in a process inspired by what goes on at the nanoscopic level within a cyclotron. Learn more and download Isotopolis here!
The research that will happen at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams will transform nuclear science. Check out this video to learn more.
SMASH: A Nuclear Adventure is generously sponsored by TechSmith; Michigan State University's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science; MSU Federal Credit Union; and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
Experience something new each visit! Each year you can expect either a new permanent exhibit or a unique traveling exhibit to explore with your family.
Welcome to How People Make Things!
How People Make Things, an interactive exhibit inspired by the Mister Rogers’ Factory Tours, will open at Impression 5 Science Center on June 11, 2022. In this traveling exhibit – created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh – kids and families explore the story of manufacturing and the tools and machines used to make familiar objects.
How People Make Things is locally sponsored by the Dart Foundation.
How Are Everyday Objects Made?
The newest traveling exhibit to visit Impression 5 answers that question! How People Make Things brings the manufacturing experience to life and shows you how familiar childhood objects are made. Hands-on activities in cutting, molding, deforming and assembly show you the people, ideas and technology used to transform raw materials into finished products. In this exhibit, visitors can cut wax, deform wires, mold spoons, assemble a trolley, and much more!
Grand Opening
How People Make Things will open at Impression 5 Science Center on Saturday, June 11, 2022. We hope you can join us! There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:45 a.m. and special gifts for attendees while supplies last. Entry to this exhibit is included with general admission.
How People Make Things TM was produced by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.
Wild Kratts®: Creature Power®!, an interactive exhibit based on the popular PBS Kids series, Wild Kratts, is now open at Impression 5 Science Center through May 29, 2022! In this exhibit – created by Minnesota Children’s Museum in collaboration with the Kratt Brothers Company – kids and families explore four animal habitats and the creatures within them.
This adventurous exhibit, which focuses on cultivating STEM skills in children ages 3 to 9, invites kids and families to explore animal habitats from around the globe, discover incredible creature powers and go on a mission to foil the villains’ nefarious plans.
Visitors will explore four animal habitats including:
Tropical Rainforest
The Antarctic
Australian Outback Desert
Your Neighborhood
Kids and families will get the chance to learn about and try out various Creature Powers® such as:
Sneaking through the forest using the stealth of a jaguar
Swinging through the trees like a spider monkey
Testing their hops against a kangaroo
And much more!
The Wild Kratts®: Creature Power®! exhibit is generously sponsored by Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau and Plante Moran.
Experience something new each visit! Anticipate new permanent exhibits or a unique traveling exhibit to explore with your family.
Explore a self-choice, learner-directed exhibit environment that's designed for your entire family.
Embrace the universal urge to play and explore in a space created for young scientists ages birth to four years old.
Turn your ideas into reality inside this teen maker space with real tools, real challenges, and real outcomes!
Impression 5 Science Center celebrated its 50th birthday on April 20, 2022 and the festivities will continue all year! Join us in celebrating all year long to commemorate Impression 5's legacy and vibrant future.
Join us for this year's Adopt A River community cleanup with the Board of Water and Light! The event will take place Saturday, May 14 2022 from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
As a participant, please:
- Bring your own gloves for clean-up
- Enjoy a complementary water bottle to be filled at the tap
Information for participants:
- Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
- Free entry into Impression 5 Science Center after the clean-up
- Tree giveaways!
Pre-registration is recommended. Please review this liability waiver before proceeding to register.
Fireflies aren't really flies—they're beetles!