Events Calendar

Mondays: Explore & Play
Explore the WET Science Center and earn a prize for completing a scavenger hunt! The indoor scavenger hunt guides you through many of our interactive games and exhibits, or go outside and try out our wetland or plaza scavenger hunts.

Tuesdays & Wednesdays: Make & Create
Whether you’re an experienced artist or a beginner, you’ve come to the right place! Create art projects inspired by our local environment. From paint to pipe cleaners, we have all the materials you need to make your own masterpiece.

Thursdays: Discover & Investigate
Join Stream Team and Pacific Shellfish Institute biologists on the first, second, and third Thursdays of the month to see “What’s Blooming in Budd”. You’ll get up close and personal with some of the smallest organisms in the sea – phytoplankton. Help collect plankton samples from the Port Plaza dock from 1-1:45 pm, then travel to the WET Science Center to view plankton under a projecting microscope from 2-3 pm. Participants can assist in recording species diversity and counting harmful algal species as part of NOAA and Sea Grant’s Sound Toxins program. No experience needed!

Fridays: Tinker & Build
Build, invent, problem solve, and think with your hands. A variety of design challenges and activities for all ages inspire the next generation of inventors, engineers, and tinkerers. Our supportive environment encourages out-of-the-box creations and self-directed free play.

This hands-on activity is a great way for kids to learn how recycled-content paper is made. From 1-4 pm, Thurston County’s recycling specialists will guide participants in mimicking the process of industrial recycled papermaking while learning about the natural resources used. Each participant will make their own recycled paper to take home to color and decorate. Recycled crafts all day.

In honor of Labor Day, the WET Science Center will be closed Saturday, September 1 through Monday, September 3.

Treat grandparents to a personalized card or piece of art for Grandparents Day on Sunday, September 9. Handmade gifts are perfect for all grandparents!

No creature in the animal kingdom is as chill as a sloth. Do they really sleep 18 hours a day? How slow are they? Can they swim? Join us for a 2 pm presentation to find out! Or just come hang out like a sloth, and enjoy related arts and crafts all day.

*We will not have a live sloth at this event, but there will be lots of pictures and videos during the presentation. After learning more about these amazing animals, you could go see them at Point Defiance or Woodland Park Zoo!

What happens to the water you send down the drain? Celebrate Septic Smart Week by learning about wastewater treatment and the importance of clean water. Join us for a 1pm presentation followed by a tour of the Budd Inlet Treatment Plant! Tour participants must be 10 or older and wear closed-toe, closed-heel shoes. Water-related arts & crafts all day.

It’s a special time of year. Local salmon are finishing up their long, tiring journey and returning to their home streams to spawn. Come honor this amazing fish by creating salmon-inspired artwork to take home. Create fish prints, make a salmon button or hat, and more!