Scooper bowl XI: Scream for more than ice cream

It’s not easy to get kids to eat a healthy diet. My boys just don’t want to hear it when I try to preach the gospel of good nutrition. But you can bet they will be the first in line this Saturday at the Science Museum of Virginia where kids of all ages will be encouraged to eat as much as they can from the fifth major food group: ice cream.
Scooper Bowl XI is a yummy celebration of summer that allows conspicuous consumers to feast on heaps of cookies ‘n’ cream, mint chocolate chip, and butter pecan slathered with syrup, nuts, and candy.
Between sundaes, sweet-treat eaters can meet members of the Richmond Kickers soccer team, see a demonstration of kung fu and competitive rope jumping, move the earth with their hands with the museum’s new Grand Kugel, hold a furry bunny or adopt a dog or cat, listen to a story, and oooh and ahh at the feats of a juggler.
Other awesome entertainment includes kiddie karaoke, a duck race, giant bubbles, Civil War observation balloons, temporary tattoos, ice cream cone optical illusions, robots, shattering pennies, a moonwalk, and so much more.
All the usual exhibits are open for the day, too, including the not-to-be-missed, solve-it-yourself whodunit “Sherlock Holmes and the Clocktower Mystery.” The Carpenter Science Theatre Company performs Sherlock Chromosomes, Scientific Detective, and the Case of the Twisted Ladder, a play inspired by the Sherlock Holmes story “A Study in Scarlet.”
Three super-size films give viewers the gut-wrenching experience of being there in the museum’s IMAX theatre. Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West wends its way on a perilous journey across the uncharted wilderness. Extreme takes on the most challenging environments imaginable. And Everest follows an expedition to the top of the world’s tallest mountain.
Out on the tracks, visitors can examine C&O Locomotive No. 2732, a Kanawha class steam engine that now calls the science museum its home. The Railcar Café is also out there offering a break from all that ice cream with hot dogs, chips, pretzels, nachos, and sodas.
Not only is Scooper Bowl XI the coolest way to delve into this particular part of the food pyramid, it’s also great fun for the whole family.

Scooper Bowl XI takes place at the Science Museum of Virginia on June 28 from 10am-5pm. Tickets are $8.50, $2 for members, and include all the ice cream you can eat and admission to all the exhibits and activities. IMAX tickets are $7 each, $4 for a second film. Located in the old Richmond train station, 2500 West Broad St. 804-864-1400 or 800-659-1727. smv.org.