Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work!

It tickles! Joel Fuerte, 6, of Woodland, and Roxanne Bell, 7, of Davis, reacting to a rose-haired tarantula named Peaches at the 2015 TODS event. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

That's what will happen on Thursday, April 28 during the annual "Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work" day at the University of California, Davis.

The UC Davis event, nicknamed TODS Day, coincides with the national workplace celebration, a day when employers spring open their doors to the offspring of their employees.

"Kids will have the opportunity to see how our UC Davis community functions, instructs, learns and grows," a spokesperson said.

Insects? Not to worry. Yes, there will be insects. The Department of Entomology and Nematology is planning special activities at its Bohart Museum of Entomology and at its bee garden, the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. The Bohart Museum, home of nearly eight million insect specimens, plus a live "petting zoo," is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane. The half-acre bee garden is located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.

"The haven will have activities for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day from 11:30 to 1:30," reports Christine Casey, staff director of the haven. "Learn how to safely catch and observe bees, learn about bee diversity, and have your lunch in our picnic area."

Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the Bohart Museum, says the Bohart will be open to TODS participants in the afternoon from 2 to 5.  Education interns from EDU 142, an environmental education class, will provide insect life cycle activities. Visitors can hold and photograph the critters in the pettzing zoo, including walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and rose-haired tarantulas.

Most activities/events do not require prior enrollment. For a list of the events that do or don't, check the website.  See also the 2016 Davis Schedule of Events.

Among the many things to do:

• Make pottery and grind acorns with the Anthropology department.
• Experience what it's like to work in agriculture and plant some vegetables to bring home.
• Enjoy a reprise of the famous Picnic Day Chemistry Show.
• Meet the UC Davis dairy cows. 
• Listen and dance to Band-Uh and explore the “Instrument Zoo.”
• Explore Chinese culture with Chinese crafts and food at the Confucius Institute. 
• Visit feathered friends at the Raptor Center.
• Taste honey and see how wine is made at the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Science Center.
• Enjoy a “Walk in the Woods with Chemistry.” 
• Check out the famous double-decker buses and see UC Davis keeps them running.
• Get a peek at animal skins, nests, eggs, and skeletons collected by scientists/explorers from creatures around the world at the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology.
• Discover plants from the world's deserts and tropical forests, some which are carnivorous!
• Sound the police siren and spray the fire hose at the police and fire atations.
• See what it's like to be an Aggie football player and experience the stadium from inside-out.
• Check out the tiny world of plants and animals through the eyes of a microscope .
• Explore the backstage of the Mondavi Center for Performing Arts.
• Explore the artifacts, bones, stones and pottery at the Archaeology Lab.

Educational. Informative. Entertaining. And there's an added bonus: It's an opportunity for youngsters to envision their own future.