The CosmoCaixa Science Museum in Barcelona offers boys and girls between 3 and 11 years of age a place where they can ask themselves questions about scientific issues such as gravity, color, water pressure or the principles of construction. Everyday items like paper airplanes, mirrors, or flashlights will help them learn by observing and exploring. The space, called Clik, opens its doors coinciding with Holy Week.
CosmoCaixa’s renovated permanent space for experimentation and learning will stimulate the curiosity of the little ones. In 520 square meters, divided into three different areas – one interior and two exteriors – they will be able to discover, investigate and ask questions about the world around them through elements and objects that they can have within their reach on a daily basis.
Throughout the entire Clik experience, the figure of the educator is fundamental, who will invite the participants to put on the glasses of science and guide them to apply the scientific method during their time in space. It will encourage them to observe, hypothesize, experiment, analyze and draw conclusions from what they have seen, done and played.
At the Clik you can learn science in action through 25 modules or experiment stations divided into four areas: air, light and color, water and mechanics and construction, the latter two, located in two open-air areas newly used in the museum.
In the air section, boys and girls will be able to fly their own paper airplanes using launchers and see the differences in the route depending on the shape, speed and inclination of the launch. In addition, they will be able to use a wind table to understand the forces that act on objects suspended in the air, a module that will allow them to think about issues such as the object and its mass, the force of the air or balance, something closely related to geometry and weight of the object.
In the area dedicated to light and color, participants will be able to get closer to the concept of refraction and reflection of light, learn about color mixtures, find differences in objects when we illuminate them with different lights or enter a kaleidoscope.
In the module dedicated to shadow theater they will experiment with filters, shapes and different colors, and discover how light travels from the source until it hits a surface and how the latter allows all, part or none of the light to pass through it. depending on the color and intensity of the light, as well as the material with which it interacts.
Mechanics and construction are other topics that can be worked on in the Clik. Through different modules they will be able to discover concepts such as strength or balance. Boys and girls will be able to use pulleys to lift themselves or see how a loading crane or scale works, where they will be the weights and must try to balance it.
They can also build an arch bridge with different pieces to see that, when they are arranged closely together and placed at a certain angle, they exert a compressive force against each other and the weight is redistributed, which provides stability to the bridge.
Finally, in the section that has water as the protagonist, you can discuss aspects such as water pressure, movement or mass. In one of the modules, which represents a rubber duck race, they will understand how these toys follow the flow as long as nothing intercepts them. But what happens if a jet of water intervenes? How does your displacement change? In this space they will also have the opportunity to generate pipe circuits and even play musical instruments thanks to powerful water jets.
This area, which complies with the regulations regarding the current state of emergency in phase 1 of the Catalonia Drought Plan, has been created following criteria of sustainability and maximum use of resources. To this end, it has been designed with a water recirculation system in which non-potable water recovered from the Flooded Forest and treated for use in the Clik is used.
The Clik is one of the most emblematic CosmoCaixa spaces and with the greatest pedagogical value for boys and girls from early childhood onwards. The space, which has existed in the museum since 1989, has renewed its proposals on several occasions. When it was inaugurated, with a design by the Mariscal studio, it was born as a pioneering space aimed at children between 3 and 6 years old where they could learn scientific phenomena related to four thematic axes: light, senses, force and machinery. In 2004, along with the expansion of the museum, it was remodeled with new experimentation areas and was complemented with another space (Flash) for children up to 9 years old.
In 2020, the Clik closed its doors to expand, renew and redesign its space from the perspective of current educational challenges. Until then, the facility attracted more than 22,000 visitors a year, including the general public and school audiences. Now, the Clik embarks on a new stage, doubling the space it previously had.
The current design has been developed by the Lacol architecture studio, which has worked on an aesthetic related to nature and plays with shapes and colors to invite the little ones to touch and experiment. Likewise, advice from European experts has been provided in the creation of museographic modules aimed at early childhood. The educational project has been developed with the collaboration of researchers from the ACELEC group, from the Department of Didactics of Mathematics and Experimental Sciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), who will also carry out research work in the space itself observing the development of the school sessions, the work methodology and the didactic guidelines.
The CosmoCaixa Science Museum offers two types of visits to this new space, both guided by educators who act as facilitators of the experience. On the one hand, visits will be organized for schoolchildren from P3 to 2nd grade in which they can enjoy observation and interaction as a method of understanding the world.
On the other hand, for families, who will have space available under reservation starting March 23, the age range is expanded from 3 to 11 years old.
The Clik will reopen its doors to the public coinciding with the Easter programming, although it is a permanent space that is here to stay. On the occasion of the school holidays, the CosmoCaixa Science Museum has prepared a wide range of special activities that can be enjoyed from March 23 to April 1.
In addition to the Clik there will be three great new features. On the one hand, the show Tana, recommended for boys and girls from 1 to 5 years old. It is a sensory experience under the artistic direction of Compagnia TPO about nature and animals that combines dance and movement, and that at the end will leave the stage space open to public interaction to allow the little ones to explore shapes and sounds. created by them.
For the older ones, the center will exhibit Entrañas, a lesson in anatomy and visual poetry by the company El Patio Teatro. The show, recommended for ages 9 and up, takes a journey into our interior and will cause attendees to ask themselves many questions, such as what a body is or what we are made of. As a complement to this show, a free access space will be made available to the public of all ages to learn more about the human body, with full-scale anatomical models, reference books, creative activities and microscopes.
Likewise, the open activity Bioconexiones can be carried out, a workshop in which attendees can use geometric figures such as the sphere or the cylinder to build sculptures.
In the special Easter programming on the CosmoCaixa website there is all the information about the rest of the proposals, which include a visit to the Dinosaurs of Patagonia exhibition and its related activities, as well as different sessions of the Planetarium, among many other activities.
