Arts & Entertainment

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The Children’s Museum of Denver aims to “champion the wonder and joy of childhood,” according to its mission statement, and it absolutely succeeds with its rocket launching station. Part of the museum’s exhibit devoted to teaching kids about energy, the station lets visitors make paper airplanes of various forms before using compressed air to shoot the “rockets” into a solar system. The task is trickier than it seems, but somehow, there are paper creations stuck all the way up in the rafters. Try it, and your stress will melt away — at least until the nine-year-old next to you creates a rocket that completely outmatches yours.

The phrase “hidden gem” is like nails on a chalkboard to those who consider it overused, but its meaning is surprisingly maintained at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science with Chicky, a taxidermied prairie dog. Those in the know can find the little fella waving from inside a Brazilian amethyst geode in the Gems and Minerals exhibition, a mainstay on the first floor. The hidden gem is just one of many touches at the museum that makes it worth the $25.95 admission price for adults; kids and seniors can visit for less.