We’re calling it a full body on science experience with our Bed of Nails demo at the NAEYC annual conference in Washington D.C. Teachers from all over the country (actually the world) come to NAEYC to learn the latest strategies and methods to get children excited and motivated to learn… especially when it comes to science. Our science island (as it was called) in the exhibit hall featured more than 50 cool science toys and hands-on science activities teachers could share with their children. This year we wanted to share something special with the teachers… something they would remember for years to come. Let’s turn hands-on science into a full body experience using the coolest Bed of Nails demonstration we’ve ever seen.
We want to thank Sherry Marshall from the Science Museum Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Museum Network for allowing us to share their motorized Bed of Nails demonstration with the participants at the NAEYC 2009 annual conference.
I first fell in love with this Bed of Nails when the producers at the Ellen DeGeneres Show asked me to find a safe way for Ellen to do …
You don’t just go to someone and say, “Hey, can I borrow your $45,000 Bed of Nail exhibit. No, seriously, I promise to bring it back.” But that’s exactly what happened…
The closing stunt on my last appearance on the Ellen Show was the Bed of Nails. Up to this point, I’ve never really been that excited about the traditional Bed of Nails demo because of the way you have to get the person on the nails. Normally, the volunteer gently sits down on the end and the lays their head on the pillow. As soon as the audience sees that the nails didn’t impale the volunteer’s bottom, the rest is boring.
We thought about various ways of making the Bed of Nails more exciting, but nothing hit home… until we found the ultimate Bed of Nails at the Arizona Science Center. The manufacturer is a company called Hands-On! out of Florida and these guys produce some of the best science exhibits you’ve ever seen. If you’ve ever visited a science center, you’ve probably experienced their work. In preparation for this
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We’re back from another taping at the Ellen DeGeneres Show and we had a blast. I use the pronoun “we” because this taping required a team of people to orchestrate the final stunt… the Bed of Nails. This segment featured the Methane Bubble Fire Ball (always a crowd pleaser), a demonstration of Bernoulli’s Principle with floating ping-pong balls, beach balls and a new way to “TP” your friend’s house using a leaf blower (and who doesn’t like to decorate their friend’s home with toilet paper?). Learn more about all of the science demos.
The final science experiment was a demonstration of pressure… 4,538 points of pressure to be exact. The great people at the Arizona Science Center allowed us to borrow their Bed of Nails from their “Get Charged Up!” exhibit for the show. This was no easy task as the Bed of Nails (created by Hands-On exhibits in Flordia) weighs a mere 1,000 pounds. It’s by far the best Bed of Nails I’ve ever seen because the nails come up from the table. Just push the red button
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We’re calling it a full body on science experience with our Bed of Nails demo at the NAEYC annual conference in Washington D.C. Teachers from all over the country (actually the world) come to NAEYC to learn the latest strategies and methods to get children excited and motivated to learn… especially when it comes to science. Our science island (as it was called) in the exhibit hall featured more than 50 cool science toys and hands-on science activities teachers could share with their children. This year we wanted to share something special with the teachers… something they would remember for years to come. Let’s turn hands-on science into a full body experience using the coolest Bed of Nails demonstration we’ve ever seen.
