Take your kids to an educational yet fun-filled trip at the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center.

With its plethora of attractions that leave not just your kids, but you as well excited and educated, you’d think that its present exhibits and film features couldn’t just get any better.

But they just did and they’re being introduced just at the right time – the Holidays – when families are constantly looking for new activities and different kinds of entertainment that would make their bonding time truly memorable.

The amazing new exhibits include the Arctic Ice, Fear Wall, and Bug Rug – and the new film feature, “Stars of the Pharaohs,” at the DigiStar Planetarium.

Recently, members of the media got the chance to experience first-hand the new attractions as the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center treated them to a tour of its facilities.

The tour was one of the activities of the Christmas Party that the center hosted for them. Here, they were not the only ones who had fun, but members of their family as well with a really sumptuous dinner buffet, exciting games for both kids and adults alike, and lots of truly amazing prizes like gadgets, appliances and a trip to Hong Kong.

The members of the media were likewise treated to a performance from certified-gold record artist Myrus, who is behind the hit revival, “Sayang.”

“My family and I had so much fun touring the center. It was really nice of them to give us this one-of-a-kind treat,” said UNTV’s Adjes Carreon, one of the many members of the media who attended the party.

One of the popular attractions among the kids who were at the event was the Arctic Ice wherein the effects of global warming and climate change were presented in a truly exciting and educational format.

Here, a mother polar bear and her cub are stranded on different ice lobes. Visitors would have to use their body shadows appearing on the small chunks of ice to deflect incoming solar rays.

Blocking the rays lowers the temperature of the arctic that, in turn, helps refreeze the ice lobes and connect the two animals separated from each other. When the light ray hits the surrounding dark ocean directly, however, the light is absorbed and the temperature rises. They can keep track of the temperature by looking at the thermometer located on the right side of the screen. Once enough solar rays are blocked and the ice lobes are reconnected due to the decrease in the temperature, the mother bear will be reunited with the baby bear.

The Fear Wall, meanwhile, is an interactive exhibit that explores the science behind being scared. Visitors see the shadow of a leopard beside a fruit tree whose fruits are constantly dropping. The goal is to collect as many fruit without being attacked by the leopard. Once caught by the leopard, though, visitors will be “attacked” – something that is sure to elicit squeals of excitement and delight and demonstrate the freeze or flee response in graphic form.

Then there’s the Bug Rug, an interactive exhibit of entomology that highlights the Science behind bugs and the real method scientists use in capturing them.

Here, visitors walk onto the floor projection of the Madagascar forest floor, where insects are busy foraging for food and hiding under rocks and plants. When a visitor moves quickly, it scares the insects away. Visitors can move bait using their hands and feet to designated traps and wait for the insects to fall inside.

Not to be missed as well is the DigiStar Planetarium’s latest film feature, “Stars of the Pharaohs.” This movie lets you in on the secrets between one of the world’s most amazing people and cultures. Discover how the Sun, Orion, and the ancient Pole Star were used to align Egypt’s monumental temples and pyramids. Through this ancient culture, they will also be able to see the earliest calendar ever devised, based on the rising star Sirius and its ability to predict annual flooding of the Nile River.

So if you’re one of those still thinking of where to take your family this Holiday season, bring them to the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center and let them experience a different kind of excitement wherein they would learn so many things as well.

The Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center is the Philippines’ premiere science museum today. The center features over 400 exciting and interactive exhibits in 13 walk through galleries and houses the country’s most advance planetarium and dome theater. The Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center is located at Southside Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It is a member of the Association of Science Technology Centers Incorporated (ASTC), the international association of science center and museums that promotes understanding and appreciation of science. Founded in 1973, ASTC now has more than 540 members in 40 countries.