How many times have you had a great idea only to let it just fritter away? I have had several good ones in my lifetime I am sure, but can’t remember what they were for the life of me. You get the idea. If only I would have followed up on that electric car idea. Next time, I’ll come back to the Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention for inspiration. The Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention is where the spirit of invention and discovery is embraced for children and adults of all ages to bring out the inventor inside each of us. Curiosity is widely encouraged at the Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention, and there is a lot here to be curious about.
Wandering the Milky Way – The Cade Museum’s Museum-Wide Theme
The featured exhibit at the Cade during my visit was “Wandering the Milky Way – A Tour of the Solar System”. This is the theme that runs through the entire museum as we visit the different labs. From the beginning of time, folks gazed up at the stars and dreamed of traveling through the galaxy. Space stations and rockets have brought us closer to being able to do so. In fact, if you have half a million dollars laying around, you can go into orbit on SpaceX. From Jupiter’s swirling red spot to the icy geysers on Neptune’s moon Triton, the Milky Way is full of wonders just waiting to be explored. This featured exhibit is a part of Cade’s museum-wide theme which changes periodically.
The beautiful and stately Cade Museum has a hands-on learning experience unlike anywhere else dedicated to future visionaries, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The Cade Museum provides visitors with exhibits, programming, and events to get their creative juices flowing. From the rotunda, we entered the Creativity Lab.
The Cade Museum Creativity Lab
The Creativity Lab is where kids learn how astronauts stay safe in space as they construct a spacesuit for a marshmallow, and discover why potatoes make excellent astronaut fuel. I caught the staff preparing for another field trip of the many that are held daily at the Cade. Roll up your sleeves because when there is glue, glitter, and galactic slime involved, you can bet that things are about to get a little messy with fun activities. Remember in school, the excitement you felt when you walked into science class and it was all set up for a class experiment? Well, the Creativity Lab is hands-on science that is sure to excite and educate. You are going to have fun learning here.
The Fab Lab
Next, we stepped into the Fab Lab where we entered a world of the latest technology. The beautiful and stately Cade Museum is a space to explore old and new technology in different ways and have fun. Staff is standing by to demonstrate and help you discover. Katelyn was happy to show me how an old victorian era printing press worked while Logan explained a new 3D printer.
In the Fab Lab, guests can build a rover and test it on alien terrain.
The Sweat Solution
The museum is named for Dr. Robert Cade, a professor at the University of Florida and best known as the inventor of Gatorade, the most popular of all sports drinks. The Cade Museum’s Sweat Solution exhibit tells the story of the invention of Gatorade from the concept to commercialization. Learn all about the science behind Gatorade and its inventor.
Following a request from Florida Gators football head coach Ray Graves, Gatorade was created in Cade’s lab to help athletes by acting as a replacement for body fluids lost during physical exertion. The earliest version of Gatorade consisted of a mixture of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate, and lemon juice. You can see the actual lab on display here where Gatorade was invented.
At First Flush
Sipping on all that Gatorade made me happy to see the Men’s room close by. You would think, that this is a good place to take a break from all the scientific learning that was taxing my brain. But, Oh NO! Even the restrooms at The Cade have a lifelong lesson. “At First Flush” explores the history of the invention of toilets and how they made modern cities possible. Visitors to the exhibit will learn the true story of Thomas Crapper, who manufactured one of the first widely successful lines of flush toilets. “At First, Flush” ponders the science of soap and introduces visitors to NASA’s Zero-G toilets.
Mothers of Invention
Inventions are born out of Necessity, Curiosity, Imagination, Iteration, and Serendipity. As you look around the beautiful rotunda, you will see examples of inventors who exemplify these concepts and you can read about the inspiration behind great inventions.
Petty Family Gallery
With a panoramic view of Depot Park, the Petty Family Gallery is designed especially for youngsters. Aspiring astronauts prepare for a mission to space! Send a parachute flying in the wind tube, crawl around the obstacle course, and hop your way across the galaxy.
Tony + Olga Barr Gallery
Traveling Exhibition: Animationland
Join Tracey the pencil dog and her crew—Rooth, Drop, Inky, Uno, and Kari—on a fantastically immersive journey to create stories using science and imagination. Channel your creativity and develop your own animated masterpiece using animation basics like storyboarding, sketching stop-motion movie-making, and more! Learn the step-by-step process of how animated cartoons and feature movies are created.
Rotating exhibits such as “Animation Land” focus on specific inventions and interactive demonstrations to keep each visit to the museum fresh and unique.
Gator Tank
A hundred years before astronauts set foot on the moon, science fiction writers like Jules Vern imagined how they might do it. Find inspiration from these sci-fi visionaries as you design a Space Invader or a pixelated message from the earth, and fold origami that’s out of this world.
While the Cade Museum has exhibits that would be of interest to visitors of all ages, I found that most of the activities in the labs are geared toward younger school-age children.
The Loot Lab
Don’t forget to visit the Loot Lab on your way out for souvenirs, gifts, apparel, games, books, and activities for all ages.
Oh, and don’t forget some liquid refreshments on your way out to Depot Park. The hard part will be picking a flavor. What is your favorite?
The Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention: 811 S Main St, Gainesville, FL
OPEN for General Admission
Thursday – Sunday 10 am-4 pm
Adults (18+): $15.00 | Youth (ages 5-17): $10.00 | Children (ages 0-4): Free | Seniors + College Students: $12.50
Cade Museum Members: Free
Free parking.
Depot Park
Just next to the Cade Museum is Depot Park. This popular downtown park features a train-shaped jungle gym, a splash pad area, and plenty of open space to walk, jog, or have a picnic. The southern half of Depot Park is a conservation area filled with wetlands and wildlife.
The Cade Museum is just one of the many attractions that are available in Gainesville. I was able to visit several during my visit to Gainesville this fall. For more suggestions on places to visit and restaurants to eat at, come along on my 10-DAY TRIP TO GAINESVILLE, FLORDA.
