Exploring Lisbon’s Kid-Friendly Wonders: Pavilhão do Conhecimento — Interactive Science Center

Welcome to the tale of our beautiful road trip to Portugal. Check my previous stories for our adventures and beautiful places we visited.

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Overview of our Lisbon explorations

Ready to embark on an exciting adventure with your little explorers in Lisbon? Just so you know, numerous marvels await discovery, regardless of your children’s age.

Our trips to Lisbon have been meticulously crafted to delight young explorers while ensuring the inner child in all of us (the parents, that is) can relish the experience.

Imagine stepping into a world where mysterious sea creatures glide through shimmering waters (The Oceanarium), where science becomes an epic quest (Pavilhão do Conhecimento), and where you can soar above the city’s rooftops like a bird with the Telecabin.

The next step is landing in the magical Tropical Botanical Garden. There, enjoying Pastéis de Belém among Turquoise peacocks is a special treat in itself.

1. In this first episode series of our Lisbon trip we unlock the mysteries of Pavilhão do Conhecimento.
2. Episode 2 will be about exploring the Oceanarium.
3. Episode 3 we will take a breathtaking ride on the Telecabin of Lisbon.
4. Episode 4 will be about culinary delicacies, checking out the Belem Tower, and a visit to the Tropical Botanical Garden.

This was for us a day of fun, learning, and soaring to new heights that our kids and us will cherish forever!

Pavilhão do Conhecimento

When we planned our Portugal journey, we strategically included in our itinerary a visit to this remarkable interactive museum. So we made it our top priority as a family-friendly destination during our first trip to Lisbon.

Stepping into the enthralling world of Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon is like opening the door to a realm where curiosity knows no bounds. Even before buying our tickets, we were instantly immersed in a world of interactive wonders and scientific exploration.

See below some of the photos from between the entrance and before entering any of the exhibitions.

We received a warm greeting from a singing robot, and subsequently, we ventured down a mesmerizing black-and-white corridor leading to the captivating exhibitions.

Here are the exhibitions we checked at the Knowledge Pavilion, Lisbon:

1. Dinosaurs: The Return of the Giants

Our primary attraction of interest was the captivating Dinosaurs exhibition, famously known as “The Return of the Giants.”

Currently, an average of one new dinosaur species is discovered every week. A myriad of questions arise:

What did dinosaurs eat?

How did they camouflage or defend themselves?

What mating rituals or parental care did dinosaurs exhibit?

The use of innovative technologies allows us to answer these and many other questions about the long-past world. This was truly a marvelous exhibition with interactive content, for both adults and children.

Let’s go back in time and travel to the Mesozoic Era, between 251 and 66 million years ago. Our planet is hot, humid, rich in vegetation and filled with exotic species. Giants with long necks or creatures the size of pigeons, covered with scales and feathers, spines or plates. Dinosaurs inhabited planet Earth and challenge our imagination!

2. Doing: Enlarged Workshop

The Doing Exhibition is a place for creating, doing, experimenting, building, and sharing, where trial and error come together in a fun and inspiring way. There are over 500 m2 of activities for makers, the curious and inventive, nerds a

Which is the right? Which is the left? Orient yourself and guide the robots to overcome various challenges. Train your spatial orientation and help the robots navigate mazes, overcome obstacles, collect objects, or complete important missions. And to end on a festive note, make them dance.

Why do we love watching little things soar through the air so much? Create an object that floats in the wind tunnel, that soars higher, that spins endlessly… Strawberry baskets, straws, ping-pong balls, bits of foam, everything transforms into aerial art. (Translated from Portuguese, from original website)

If you want to explore the exhibition virtually, you can do so HERE.

Our children had an amazing time experimenting with a variety of tools, engaging with programmed robots at Robotika, interacting with wind vents, and discovering the wonders of doodle machines!

Fun Fact! A doodle machine is a contraption made of clothespins, rubber bands, and spools of thread that moves, leaving a mark.

3. Explore

In this exhibition, our children embarked on a captivating journey of scientific discovery as they explored the enchanting world of light and color.

They eagerly experimented with the mesmerizing fusion of different-colored lights, unlocking the secrets of how these hues interact and transform.

With wonder in their eyes, they observed the mesmerizing effects of lenses and prisms, as the ordinary becomes extraordinary through the play of refraction and dispersion.

Amidst the laughter and excitement, they uncovered the magic of a rainbow nestled within delicate soap bubbles, a vivid testament to the beauty of physics in action.

In their quest for knowledge, our kids engaged in plenty of experiments, each one unveiling a new natural phenomenon. You could literally observe their young minds beaming with the excitement of scientific exploration.

4. Fishanário

The Ocean is the most fascinating place on our planet and without it, life is impossible. Knowing, learning to respect and protecting this immense marine world is essential for the future of Humanity. Dive in and color this magical Ocean.

In this fascinating experience, we immersed ourselves in the world of sea creatures.

We colored various sea animals, our guide scanned the drawings, and like magic, these creatures came to life, swimming or crawling, right before our eyes on a large projector screen. It was a truly enchanting and interactive encounter with the ocean’s inhabitants.

This was the screen below:

5. TCHARAN! Circus of Science Experience

The Circus of Science Experience was an area that combined the discovery of an amusement park with the emotion of a circus!

This expansive playground provided an abundance of fun for the kids! The experiments and materials were thoughtfully designed to ensure top-notch quality and enjoyment for our young explorers.

Wrapping up an unforgettable day of discovery

With our three curious children, we embarked on an extraordinary exploration of curiosities and discoveries during our visit to Pavilion of Knowledge in Lisbon.

As we immersed ourselves in the interactive activities, our children’s faces lit up with wonder and excitement, making it clear that learning can be incredibly fun.

The Dinosaurs exhibition, the highlight of our day, transported us back in time to the age of giants, sparking their imaginations and fascination with Earth’s ancient history.

It was a day filled with laughter, exploration, and learning, reminding us of the incredible power of education when it’s presented in such an engaging and interactive manner. This style of immersion into knowledge highlighted the benefits and opportunities associated with world-schooling and, in some instances, unschooling.

We left with our hearts and minds enriched, grateful for the memories created at Pavilhão do Conhecimento that will last a lifetime.

Whether you’re a wide-eyed child or a curious adult, Pavilhão do Conhecimento promises an enriching and entertaining experience that will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the wonders of science and technology.

• Have you been with your kids to Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon?
• Have you been to any interactive museum with or without kids?

Let me know in the comments if you experienced such an interactive immersion into knowledge and real-life experiments.

Stay human, be loved,

Gabby

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***I originally published this article on Medium.***

Thank you for reading! Your support means a lot and fuels our passion for travel and my motivation to write about our experiences. It takes me a few hours to craft an article about various travels, and we do travel quite a lot! So expect more in the future :)

I write about our travels with kids and our parenting journey. We hope to raise money for our next trip this coming summer. We plan another road trip across Europe to reach the Atlantic again.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for all the stories in this Portugal Trip series and other travels with our kids, too.

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