On Saturday June 4^th, we opened our second traveling exhibition, Toy Tech.  The exhibition was developed by the Northwest Invention Center and supports our mission of free enterprise education by showing visitors the process of taking an idea and making it into a marketable product — the touchstone of free enterprise – while emphasizing entrepreneurship and innovation, so visitors like you can learn how free enterprise works with soft drink industry and other products, too!

The exhibit focuses on toys that both kids and adults are familiar with.  See the inside of the toys to see exactly what makes those toys work and get a peek into the invention process. Toy Tech illustrates the similarities between the way children play and the way the creative process is used by inventors in science and technology.  So try your hand at making a paper helicopter and see what happens when you fly it in the wind tunnel.  Can you get it to spin and stay afloat?  What about making a whistle out of a straw?  How do you make the tone higher or lower pitched?  How high can you get your straw rocket to fly?

While in Toy Tech, take a look at a variety of Dr Pepper and other soft drink themed toys that are part of the Dr Pepper Museum’s collection.  For years, soft drink companies have marketed their beverages by putting their logos on toy cars, trains, trucks, Frisbees, and stuffed animals.  Some people have even made toys out of soft drink cans.  Have you collected any soft drink themed toys?  What about creating some of your own?

While visiting Toy Tech, take a look at The Secret(s) of Inventing exhibit that features several soft drink inventors and their soft drinks!  Do you know what Charles Grigg originally named 7UP?  Do you know what the oldest continually marketed soft drink in the world is?  Which soft drink is older – Dr Pepper or Coca Cola?  Figure out these answers and more in The Secret(s) of Inventing exhibit!

Come on in, enjoy, play, and learn a bit about free enterprise this summer!