Has your family been to COSI in Columbus, Ohio?  If not, I highly recommend you consider taking them!  We had a long weekend mini-vaca in Columbus in 2009, and we had so much fun exploring the city, the zoo, and especially COSI.  It’s a great hands-on museum that educates and entertains everyone in the family.

In honor of their new exhibit,  Geckos: Tails to Toepads  I have been given a family four pack of tickets to COSI to give away to one lucky reader!  With these tickets you can explore the entire museum AND check out the new Gecko exhibit!  How cool is that?!?!

Here’s a bit about the new exhibit:
Enjoy the most charismatic reptiles on earth when COSI (The Center of Science and Industry) opens Geckos: Tails to Toepads on January 15, 2011. This traveling exhibition is the largest and most advanced of its kind, introducing visitors to the remarkable diversity of these lizards through bold back lighted graphics, engaging interactive displays and living examples from around the world. It will be showing through May 8, 2011.

Challenge any of the 14 species displayed to a staring contest and chances are, the gecko will win. Most geckos can’t blink and like snakes, they have a transparent scale covering the eye, but no moveable eyelids. Why are Geckos so fascinating, irresistible and captivating to audiences? Whether it’s their bulging eyes, ‘sticky’ toepads, squawking voices, or disposable body parts – visitors will be their own judge when they explore this fascinating interactive zoological exhibition.
“We are thrilled to have Geckos: Tails to Toepads at COSI. We chose the Geckos exhibit as a great way to showcase life science as well as the emerging science of biomimcry where we can learn from the nature to solve human problems. And these creatures are incredibly intriguing and beautiful, they will appeal to all ages” said David Chesebrough, COSI President and CEO.

Highlights of Geckos: Tails to Toepads include:
• A hands-on, minds-on adventure! Visitors can experience gecko night vision, listen to gecko voices, try to spot camouflaged geckos, and build a custom gecko for various environments.
• The gecko habitats re-create natural environments in astonishing detail. State-of-the-art controls provide lighting, humidity, temperature, and water quality to meet the needs of these delicate creatures.
• An exploration of all aspects of geckos: biology, natural history, their role in human cultures, their importance to ecosystems, and the potential they hold for bio-technology.

Visitor Information
Geckos: Tails to Toepads exhibition runs through May 8,2011, at COSI in Columbus, Ohio. This exhibition is included with admission to COSI; exhibit only admission to COSI is $14.25 for adults and $9.25 for kids ages 2 to 12. Seniors are $13.25. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; Sundays: 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm; and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. COSI will be open on Monday, Jan. 17 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Monday, Feb. 21 for President’s Day.

CONTEST INFORMATION ::
You have 3 chances to enter this contest (please leave seperate comments for each entry!).
1.  Leave a comment below telling me why you would like to win these tickets to COSI.
2.  “Like” the little things page on Facebook (see box to the right side of this page), leave a comment telling me you did so.
3.  Spread the word about this contest via twitter, facebook, email or your own personal blog and leave a comment below telling me how you did so.
***Be sure to leave contact info so I can let you know you won!

Contest ends Monday, January 10, 2011 at 1pm.  Winner will be drawn using Random.org.  The winner will be notified via this post & email (if contact info is available), you then have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.
Disclaimer:  As part of the giveaway/promotion my family was given tickets to COSI.