Dino Idol at the Museum of Nature

By Kamerine I was lucky enough to attend the media preview of Dino Idol at the Museum of Nature last week. It's now open to the public so you should go!

Dino Idol is a fun initiative by the museum to stir up interest and intrigue. Like American Idol the public gets to vote on their favourite, but the contestants are dinosaurs!  The museum has more than 200 fossils in storage and a new palaentologist got to pick 5 to star in the show. The fossils are encased in rock and sealed in plaster, and are now on display at the museum. They've all been given catchy names and a description of what lies beneath the plaster. The almost 100-year-old field notes are sometimes vague so the descriptions could be right on or way off.

Kids and their parents will have fun looking at the pictures of the dinosaurs and reading the descriptions, and finally choosing a favourite. The five contestants are Mystery Jaw, Stumpy, Regal Ed, Headrosaur, and The Canadian Club. There is a ballot box set up beside each to cast your vote.

The winner will be announced March 19th and will be opened at the museum's research facility. The process of extracting bones and preparing them is tricky work and can take up to a year so the museum will be blogging with updates periodically. What a fun way to get involved in the next dinosaur bones to be displayed at the museum!

Dino Idol is open to the public and included with the price of admission to the museum. It runs until March 17th. This is your chance to have a say in what dinosaur is cracked open next so go vote!

Disclaimer: I was provided free admission to the Museum of Nature to attend the media preview of Dino Idol. I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.