Learning Afro- Amer Train History at NY Transit Museum

Since Daniel LOVES trains, today we headed to Brooklyn to visit the NY Transit Museum. As a Kids Club Thirteen Ambassador, I was the event mayor of their ElectriCity: Powering New York’s Rails exhibit happening today.

While it was cool to be the event mayor it was more cool to learn the history of the transit system with my son.

Our first stop was to the KidsClub 13 special membership room. There Daniel learned about the different tools used to make the trains run smmoth. He even had the chance to try on a pair of spacail heavy rubber gloves used when working on the train tracks.

Then Daniel made a special train letter button. We chose the letter "D" since his name starts with the same letter. After picking his color, he stamped his latter and then waited while it was all pressed together into a button.

Then we learned about the different types of electric current and the power is passed. Daniel had the chance to conduct a mini experiment using batteries to light up tiny blubs. Then at the last table we made trains! He needed a little help figuring out to fold corners but once it was done, he was so proud. LOL

Once we were finished with the activities in the Kids Club 13 membership room, we headed out to tour the rest of the Transit Museum.

One of the exhibits that caught my eye was Steel, Stone & Backbone: Building New York's Subways.

One of the photos showed a black man, while another talked about the history of African-Americans who worked on the subways systems but were barred from the trade unions

As I toured the exhibit with my son I was proud that this history was there for everyone to see and learn about. Black Americans have contributed in many ways to so many areas of building New York City from the start. My son needs to learn his history as an American of African decent.

After touring that exhibit, we went on different buses and pretended to drive.

We learned about different gears and how they make things move on the train. We learned how energy is generated at the source and transmitted to the train system

Then it was time to go on some trains! We went to the 2nd level where real train cars from different years waited. I had fun seeing the ways the train cars have changed throughout the years. We saw how the trains had different colors, seats and even handle bars. Of course we posed for a mom and son photo in one of the trains.

Then we went up stairs to the exhibit ElectriCity: Powering New York’s Rails at the New York Transit Museum. Daniel was able to play with switches and circuit breakers and see how power travels and turns on different areas. We really liked that the exhibit was so hands on and child friendly.

Spending time at the Transit Museum was a great way to spend a mom and son Saturday.

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