2007 March Break at the ROM

Journey of Discovery: The Adventure begins March 10, 2007

Let the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) take you away this March Break with a world of discovery. Starting Saturday, March 10 with the opening of the new CIBC Discovery Gallery, dig, explore and use your imagination or let your creativity shine with one of the many other family-friendly displays, demonstrations or activities included with general admission.

Be the first to experience the CIBC Discovery Gallery (Level 2), a hands-on, family-friendly space full of great objects from the ROM collections. This redesigned and expanded “mini-museum” includes a Hadrosaur wall display, a Dinosaur Dig for aspiring Palaeontologists, and an Egyptian coffin for young Egyptologists. Children can play dress-up in the costume area, complete with mirrors, replica clothing and armour, or make their way to the Close to Home area and try on a real buffalo robe or spend time in a kids-size tipi. There’s also a special area for pre-schoolers with museum-style puzzles and toys.

Come and discover more than 120 artifacts -- most of which are gold -- excavated from a rare undisturbed tomb, in the ROM’s new exhibition Ancient Peru Unearthed: Golden Treasures from a Lost Civilization. Opening to the public on March 10, 2007, the exhibit includes an activity guide for families and features an archaeological dig where kids can try their hand at excavating artifacts.

The ROM’s five-day March Break Family Activities begin on Monday, March 12 until Friday, March 16 (see below for more details). From 11 am to 4 pm daily get a glimpse into the everyday life of the people, cultures and creatures represented in the ROM’s acclaimed galleries and have a look at what museum curators, technicians and conservators actually do. As you go Behind the Scenes, try your hand at re-assembling a broken pot guided by a museum conservator, get an up-close look at materials from the collections, learn about animals that excavate, handle real fossils, even meet a curator and hear them tell you about one of their favourite objects.

Grab your trowels and brushes and Dig This! Join in on the Museum’s mock-archaeological dig and see whether you can solve the mystery of the ancient tomb. Try out the steps and techniques real archaeologists use to unveil the secrets of the past.

Perhaps you enjoy all things Mediaeval? If so, why not Go Mediaeval at the ROM? The ROM’s Friends of the Mediaeval Studies Society (FMSS) present activities that will give you a taste of life in the past. Try your hand at calligraphy and quill-pen making; learn about crime and punishment, arms, armour, and archery. Watch presentations of medieval dancing and fashion, trebuchets, martial arts, or music, on the hour … you might even get to join in! Special thanks to the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada; the Academy of European Martial Arts, Historic Enterprises, and the medieval music ensemble Sine Nomine.

For those who prefer to satisfy their curiosity about nature, the interactive Keenan Family Hands-on Biodiversity Gallery (Level 2) offers unique environmental exhibits and the chance to examine real specimens for a first-hand look at the living world around us. Don’t miss our featured displays of live insects, frogs, fish and bees.

The Digital Gallery (Level 1), the ROM’s state-of-the-art learning studio. Equipped with digital video projector and 16 workstations,allowing the gallery visitors to interact with the ROM's collections in virtual two-and three dimensional space. Free tickets are available in the Samuel Hall f Currelly Gallery 20 minutes prior to show time; however, please come early, as seating capacity is limited. Viewings are scheduled daily at 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm. The Digital Gallery has been developed as part of ROM Digital, a Museum-wide initiative that uses digital imaging to bring the collections to the public in new and innovative ways.

All activities are included with the price of general admission to the ROM (see below) and are available to all Museum visitors. Book tickets online at www.rom.on.ca/visit/tickets.php and avoid the long lineups, or consider a ROM Family Membership - just $99 for two adults and up to four children (17 years and under) which includes a year of unlimited free admission to the Museum, tickets to feature exhibitions, as well as the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, opening June 2007. For more information on ROM Memberships, call 416.586.5700. Admission Rates: ROM Members: Free; Adults: $18; Students with ID/Seniors: $15; Children (5 to 14): $12; Infants (4 & under): Free

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