I’ve always loved science. Now I get to see my kids fall in love with science, too.
Amy Kang grew up not loving science, even though she was surrounded by a family full of scientists. But she found a way to embrace it, and with her husband, Ed, who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and is a board-certified science teacher, they are helping every kid they encounter love science, too.
Together, they founded The Laboratory, a science playground that makes science and STEM education fun, engaging and interesting to kids of all ages.
The Laboratory’s secret sauce is project-based learning that’s themed to stories kids love. Chemistry is taught by creating potions and spells, bringing the world of Harry Potter to life in a lab. The power of Elsa is harnessed through hands-on chemistry that gives kids the ability to manipulate ice and snow. Older kids can join Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson& The Olympians) and use math and science skills to complete the quest. There even is a class on surviving a zombie apocalypse.
My kids, 10 and 12, and I didn’t want to leave the day we visited. They built their own characters out of paper and cellphone motors, transformed liquid into worms with a spell, learned how dragons breathe fire and played with the principles of sublimation, more commonly known as dry ice.
You can’t help but get excited when you are working with Ed Kang. And Amy’s demeanor and knowledge of favorite characters helps really connect children to the project. My kids are now begging us to move so they can visit all the time.
If you go
The Laboratory
2349 W. North Ave., Chicago
