EdVenture Children’s Museum provides parents, teachers and caregivers of children with disabilities and special needs the opportunity to expand their knowledge of resources while allowing their children to explore the museum.

Information:
(803) 400-1133
edventure.org

EdVenture is located at 211 Gervais Street in Columbia.

You think it will never happen in your family. You think it only happens to other people, and then you find out that someone you gave birth to has purchased a Snuggie.

Yes, a Snuggie, the extra large fleece blanket with sleeves, sold at high-end clothing retailers such as Walgreens and Staples. Wearing a Snuggie is like wearing your bathrobe backwards.

I can’t help but ask why. Where did we go wrong? Did we keep the house too cool? Did she not have enough fleece wear as a child?

“Why would you buy a Snuggie?” I plead, dabbing at my tears. “You’re such a pretty girl.”

“Some of us agreed to get them as a joke,” she says, her head disappearing into waves of signature blue fleece.

“What’s next — Sham Wow, the magical cloth that can hold 12 times its weight in liquid?”

A muffled voice from somewhere inside the Snuggie says, “Snuggies are funny. And the thing is, they really do keep you warm.”

All I can think of are the times I tried to persuade her to wear a coat as a kid when it was 30 degrees out and she claimed she didn’t need one. And now she drags around an oversized blanket when she’s inside and the temperature is 70. To say Snuggie lovers have blanket attachment issues is putting it mildly.

Fans on Facebook list the Snuggie as a “religion.”

Young people are having Snuggie parties at pubs as well as Snuggie costume contests.

The Snuggie television commercials, however, most often show middle-age and older people, frustrated and upset, grimacing and thrashing about as they fight their way out from under a blanket to attempt physically daunting tasks like answering a phone, working the remote and eating popcorn. With the Snuggie, your hands are completely free. You are now able to weld the remote to your hand and glue the buttered popcorn directly to your hips.

If the human race was ever meant to be this lethargic, we wouldn’t have legs. We would have been designed to roll instead of walk.

The Snuggie (now available in leopard, zebra and camel) is touted as “perfect for chilly office buildings, sporting events and cold movie theaters.” Coming soon to an office near you: Snuggie Friday.

Sadly, they also make Snuggies for dogs. The advertisements only show small dogs wearing Snuggies — small dogs lacking the strength to overpower dust balls let alone their owners.

Any dog embarrassed by a Snuggie should have some means of legal recourse.

So should a mother.

Lori Borgman is a freelance family life columnist and author is the author “Catching Christmas.”

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

QUESTION: I’ve been dating a man for a little over a month. His second marriage was the result of his getting the girl he was seeing pregnant. It lasted five very turbulent years. Their child is now 6 — and she also has three older children by another man. My problem is that my boyfriend remains in contact with his three ex-stepchildren. In his words, “I divorced their mother, not them” and expects me to accept that those children are still his children for the rest of our lives. His reasoning is that they’re his son’s siblings and they will always be a part of his life, as will his son’s mother. Is it fair to ask me to accept three former stepchildren? They really never were a family.

ANSWER: There are so many red flags here it’s hard to know where to start. We could begin with the fact that you have only dated this guy a month and you’re already in the “rest of our lives” mode. But more worrisome is that you seem to trivialize a five-year relationship because it was “troubled and turbulent and not really a family.” That was in your eyes, and presumptuous to say the least. The quality of their relationship is not really your concern and should not be used as criteria for the importance of his relationship to the children.

It seems your boyfriend instinctively understands that the relationships he formed with those kids were separate from his relationship with their mother and he’s telling you that his devotion to them did not change just because their mother and he divorced. He’s absolutely right. This guy sounds like one first-class bonusdad and we would like to nominate him for Bonus Dad of the Year. (If any of our readers knows someone who also fits the bill, write us c/o the Bonus Families Web site.)

Finally, it doesn’t sound as if your boyfriend has asked you to accept his bonuskids as much as he would like you to try to understand his commitment to them. If you can’t, this guy is not the guy for you.

Jann Blackstone-Ford, Ph.D., and her husband’s ex-wife, Sharyl Jupe, authors of “Ex-Etiquette for Parents,” are the founders of Bonus Families (www.bonusfamilies.com). Reach them at ee@bonusfamilies.com.

MCT, Contra Costa Times (c) 2010

Family psychologist John Rosemond answers parents’ questions on his Web site at rosemond.com.

QUESTION: Our 34-month-old daughter is trying to control everyone else in the family, especially us. When things don’t go her way, the result is an instantaneous and fairly demonstrative meltdown. We either it ignore or tell her to sit on the steps until she’s finished. When do kids stop trying to control other people’s behavior? Should we have a stronger response to these outbursts?

Answer: When did you stop trying to control other people? If the truth be known — unless you’re on track to become a saint that is — you are still trying to control other people. So am I. It’s called being manipulative, and as much as no one wants to admit it, there are times when even the most well-adjusted, likable, responsible adults attempt to manipulate, to get their way.

The only difference between adults and children in this regard is that most adults (1) have accepted that other people, because they too want things their way, will cooperate sometimes, but not all the time, and (2) have learned that you attract more flies with sugar than vinegar. In other words, most adults have learned the art of social diplomacy (there are exceptions, as we all know). These agreeable folks don’t throw tantrums when they don’t get their way. They just shrug their shoulders and move on.

Not toddlers. Oh no. The typical toddler — of which your daughter is one — has yet to even accept that the world does not exist for her pleasure, and hers alone. The translation of the incoherent rage of the toddler at not getting her way is “HOW DARE YOU PEONS DENY THE ALMIGHTY ME, RULER OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE!!!” It takes more than 34 months for most children to accept that the Almighty Me and “me” are not one and the same. In fact, I’ve run into a fair number of adults who obviously still cling to that fantasy. I call them “terrible twodults.” Isn’t that clever?

Making your daughter sit on the stairs when she has one of her high-self-esteem seizures is fine and will contribute to the gradual acceptance that she isn’t the Almighty Me (also known as the Almighty I Am). If you want to hasten things along, however, and I sense you do, then up the ante a tad. After all, the earlier in her life she accepts that bit of bad news, the better for her and everyone else in her life.

Give her two free tantrums a day. Indicate that by magnetizing two “tantrum tickets” (rectangles of colored construction paper) to the refrigerator.

When a tantrum occurs, sit her on the steps and tell her she can get up when she’s ready to join the civilized world. When she gets up, take her to the refrigerator and take one of the tickets down, making sure she understands that she only has one ticket, and therefore only one free tantrum, left. Do the same for the second tantrum, but this time make sure she knows that because she has no more tantrum tickets left, another tantrum (the third of the day) will require you to confine her to her room for the rest of the day and put her to bed at least one hour earlier than usual, maybe even right after supper. And yes, you should do this even if the third tantrum occurs at 10 o’clock in the morning. And no, this will not cause permanent psychic injury to a child this age. She won’t like it, and that’s the point.

If you follow through with this methodically and matter-of-factly, I’d venture to predict that your daughter will have her tantrums pretty well under control within a couple of weeks. At that point, reduce the number of daily tantrum tickets to one. To eliminate her tantrums altogether, keep this up for at least six months, maybe as much as a year. After all, the Almighty Me is the hardest of all nuts to crack.

- McClatchy Newspapers

First, moisten the raffia by wetting it with warm water and allowing it to sit for ten minutes. Use scissors to trim the raffia pieces to about 20 inches long. Lay one or two strands vertically on your table. Fold a second strand or two in half around the middle of the first, with the ends pointing to the right (figure 1). Rotate your project a quarter turn. Fold a third strand or two around the second (figure 2). Rotate the project again and add a fourth strand (figure 3). Repeat these steps until your cross is as big as you’d like (ours uses 13 pieces), then tie the ends of the cross’s arms with scrap pieces of raffia.

(c) 2010, Disney FamilyFun magazine

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Potatoes are a popular food with families, but they are not a common crop in the home vegetable garden. Let’s change that.

March is a great time to plant potatoes. The gardener’s rule of thumb is to sow them anytime from six weeks to just before the last frost.

Potatoes like a sunny spot. Prepare a fertile friable soil by mixing in well-rotted compost. Potatoes need a fertilizer high in phosphorus for root growth (10-20-10 formula). As plants grow, you may add a side dressing with superphosphate. Clemson Extension recommends a soil pH of 5.8 to 6.5. An excellent draining soil is especially important for underground crops.

Gardening with Kids is published monthly. Marturano is coordinator of the S.C. Garden-based Learning Network. Read more of Marturano’s garden writings at suite101.com.

Our personality is something we are born with, much like the color of our eyes or the size of our feet.  Some of us are naturally outgoing, while others are more reserved.  Some of us prefer to plan our days meticulously, and others like to be spontaneous, taking life as it comes.  Psychologists tell us that there are 16 distinct personality types described by a combination of natural preferences or tendencies like these.

Our character, on the other hand, is not a natural part of us, but something we choose.  While it is good to be born, as some of us are, with a winning personality that others find attractive, it is even better to choose character traits that people respect and admire, and to work to make those traits our own.  Like all of our natural attributes, the various aspects of our personalities can be used for either good or ill.  A quick wit can be employed to laugh with or to laugh at others.  The gift of gab can be used to make people feel welcome or to spread gossip.  Only the conscious development of positive character traits can ensure that our personalities are channeled in the right direction.

To illustrate this point, let’s take one of the better known dimensions of personality and look at the impact of character on the behavior of extroverts and introverts. We tend to think of extroverts as people who are friendly and outgoing, and of introverts as quiet or shy, but it is more complicated than that.  One way to think about it is that extroverts get their energy from being with other people and introverts get their energy from being alone.  Both types are needed in any group or organization, and both have strengths and weaknesses that need to be tempered by character.

An unreflective extrovert will try to dominate any conversation and may need to be reminded to “at least take a breath and give someone else a chance to jump in.”  But a wiser, more thoughtful extrovert will show respect for others and will care about their need to talk.  Introverts can become withdrawn and, perhaps, intimidated, outnumbered as they are by the seemingly self-confident extroverts.  However, as they mature, introverts learn that they, too, have much to contribute and develop the courage to speak up and to be assertive when it is important or helpful to do so.  They accept that, as Eleanor Roosevelt put it, “you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.”

Finally, it is the combination of character and personality that makes each of us unique.  We are all born with personality traits that give us the potential to do great things and to have wonderful relationships.  But we can only reach our potential by harnessing the powerful personalities we were given to character traits that we have thoughtfully chosen.

Learn more about Rob

For more information about “Character Connections,” click here.

Read more from the Parents Panel:

• Lessons learned?
  
• A bit of culture becomes family-bonding time
• Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff
• Motherhood Martyrs: ‘Me time’ and collard greens
• It’s called a knife . . . please use it
• Can anybody tell me what’s going on?

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content and brief strong language
What it’s about: Two large and very ethnic families _ one black, one Hispanic _ meet and comically clash during the titular nuptials.
The kid attractor factor: American Ferrara, “Ugly” and “Betty” no more
Good lessons/bad lessons: The newlywed’s mantra _ “It’s our marriage, THEIR wedding.”
Violence: A cake fight or two
Language: “Brief strong language” that you’ll miss if you aren’t looking for it
Sex: Two words _ “goat” and “Viagra”
Drugs: A big drunk scene
Parents’ advisory: A bit broad and low for a wedding comedy, but barely more than a PG in terms of adult content.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Rating: PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar
What it’s about: An about-to-marry Alice falls back down the rabbit hole where much has transpired since her first meeting with The Mad Hatter.
The kid attractor factor: Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, “Alice in Wonderland” in 3D
Good lessons/bad lessons: “When in doubt, remain silent.” “All the best people are…bonkers.”
Violence: “Off with their heads!” Scary images
Language: Disney clean
Sex: None
Drugs: A smoking caterpillar
Parents’ advisory: Not a literal “Alice,” so don’t expect to do your book report based on it. But this “Shrek”-like 3D spin on the tale is still suitable for all ages.

REMEMBER ME

Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking
What it’s about: A troubled young man finds love and purpose in the love of a girl he dates on a dare.
The kid attractor factor: Robert Pattinson, from “Twilight,” in a romantic role without fangs.
Good lessons/bad lessons: When a guy asks you out looking as if he just got beat up, run.
Violence: More than you’d expect.
Language: Some profanity, not much
Drugs: RPattz drinks beer and smokes, almost incessantly.
Parents’ advisory: Not even remotely as clever or deep as it seems to think it is, this is a gateway drama for Pattinson fans aging out of teen vampire tales.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL

Rating: PG for some mild rude humor.
What it’s about: Alvin and his brothers cope with fame, school and the allure of girl chipmunks.
The kid attractor factor: Chipmunks who sing, ride toy motorcycles and crack jokes.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Keep your word. Stick up for family. Never trust an agent.
Violence: Slapstick stuff, one good shot to the crotch.
Language: Chipmunk clean.
Sex: Chipmunk goo-goo eyes.
Drugs: None.
Parents’ advisory: Kids love their talking critters.

AVATAR

Rating: PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.
What it’s about: A disabled Marine is given an alien body to go live among them to help convince them to leave their land, and comes to take their side against the developers who want to bulldoze their forest.
The kid attractor factor: Aliens, dazzling critter-covered alien world and the best motion-capture animation ever.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Developers and their mercenaries bad, indigenous people good.
Violence: Quite a bit, as there’s a war and a lot of hunting-killing that goes on before that war.
Language: A heaping helping of profanity.
Sex: Alien mating, discrete toplessness, loincloths.
Drugs: Cigarettes.
Parents’ advisory: A dazzling spectacle with a plot any tween will recognize, it’s too violent and too long for the very young, but a fairly mild PG-13. OK for 10 and up.

THE BLIND SIDE

Rating: PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references.
What it’s about: A big homeless kid is taken in by a wealthy family and finds that his place in the world might be on the football field.
The kid attractor factor: Teen angst, amped up by poverty and race.
Good lessons/bad lessons: “Family” means always having your back, always covering their blind side.
Violence: Some, and there’s a lot of football, too.
Language: Pretty clean, considering.
Sex: “References.”
Drugs: Discussed, but not flaunted.
Parents’ advisory: This inspiring “Just do the right thing” family film based on a true story is suitable viewing for ages 10 and up.

THE BOOK OF ELI

Rating: R for some brutal violence and language
What it’s about: A loner wanders a post-nuclear world, guarding a book.
The kid attractor factor: Denzel and Doomsday. Kids love ‘em both.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Books and their big ideas can be used to inspire or enslave.
Violence: Quite a bit, mostly stylized. Occasionally graphic.
Language: Half a dozen F-bombs
Sex: Hinted at, avoided
Drugs: None
Parents’ advisory: Entirely too violent for 10-and-unders.

COP OUT

Rating: R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality
What it’s about: They’re cops. They break rules and bust heads.
The kid attractor factor: Tracy Morgan
Good lessons/bad lessons: Keep your baseball cards inside their plastic wrapper. They could pay off some day.
Violence: Shootings, head trauma, nothing terribly graphic
Language: Profane even when it doesn’t need to be, with a foul-mouthed 11-year-old as a bonus.
Sex: Implied oral sex, juvenile
Drugs: None
Parents’ advisory: The language could be your deal-breaker, very raw. Not for 13-or-under.

DEAR JOHN

Rating: PG-13 for some sensuality and violence
What it’s about: A young couple meet and fall in love on the beach, but war takes him far away, with only letters keeping them together.
The kid attractor factor: Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum in a film of a Nicholas Sparks novel.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Love means sacrifice and doing right by the other person, no matter what.
Violence: A shooting, in combat, in the opening scene
Language: Disney clean
Sex: Yes, but handled with discretion
Drugs: A beachside party with some beer
Parents’ advisory: An old-fashioned romance with an emphasis on the inoffensive, very much in the Nicholas Sparks style

THE GHOST WRITER

Rating: PG-13 for language, brief nudity/sexuality, some violence and a drug reference
What it’s about: A hack writer takes a job ghost-writing a former politician’s memoirs and finds himself trapped in a deadly thriller.
The kid attractor factor: Ewan McGregor
Good lessons/bad lessons: Politics is a sometimes deadly game.
Violence: Yes
Language: A lot of profanity was cut out, though if you can read lips, you still get the drift.
Sex: Yes
Drugs: A “drug” reference and lots of alcohol abuse
Parents’ advisory: A thriller that tries to shed a few of its “adult” trappings, it’s still not for 12-and-under.

THE LOVELY BONES

Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language
What it’s about: A murdered teen narrates the tale of her death and her family’s life after it.
The kid attractor factor: It’s about kids, and it’s by fantasy director Peter Jackson (”King Kong” and “Lord of the Rings”).
Good lessons/bad lessons: “You’re not supposed to look back. You’re supposed to go forward.”
Violence: A girl is lured on camera, and murdered off camera.
Language: Some profanity
Sex: Young romance, and the crime itself has a sexual nature
Drugs: Alcohol and cigarettes
Parents’ advisory: Entirely too creepy and intense for very young children, and kids under 12 might be bored by this after-life thriller and fairytale.

OLD DOGS

Rating: PG for some mild rude humor.
What it’s about: A couple of single-guy 50somethings adjust when one of them discovers he has twins and must help raise them.
The kid attractor factor: Robin Williams, John Travolta and Seth Green go for the goofy.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Parenting is something you pick up as you go along.
Violence: None.
Language: “Mild rude humor” about bar pick-ups, gorilla love.
Sex: Well, the guy was careless enough to father twins during a one-night stand.
Drugs: None.
Parents’ advisory: Nothing here to offend, though a bit more slapstick would have made this kid-friendlier.

PLANET 51

Rating: PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor.
What it’s about: A world enduring the do-wop black-and-white-TV global paranoia of its own “1950s” is visited by an alien _ a NASA astronaut.
The kid attractor factor: Animation, a cute robot, a cute alien dog.
Good lessons/bad lessons: “If an alien came all this way, wouldn’t it be smart enough to come in peace?”
Violence: Gun play. And tank play.
Language: Quite clean.
Sex: A repeated anal “cork” joke, a penis joke.
Drugs: None.
Parents’ advisory: A “Shrek” writer scripted it, so there’s a hint of the naughty hanging around the edges of this kids-only cartoon.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

Rating: G.
What it’s about: A hard-working waitress meets a ne’er-do-well prince who’s been turned into a frog in 1920s New Orleans.
The kid attractor factor: Disney animation, Disney characters and Disney cartoon comedy rendered in the classic Disney style.
Good lessons/bad lessons: “The only way to get what you want in this world is hard work.”
Violence: A Disney death.
Language: Disney clean.
Sex: A few frogs are kissed.
Drugs: Wine is consumed.
Parents’ advisory: An animated film in the Disney style that you and your parents remember. Suitable for all ages.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material.
What it’s about: The world’s greatest detective tries to prevent a murderous cult from carrying out a coup in 19th-century London.
The kid attractor factor: Robert Downey Jr., the once and future “Iron Man,” is Holmes.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Observation and “data data data” back up every informed decision.
Violence: Deaths, some pretty brutal bare-knuckle brawling, the works.
Language: Pretty close to spotless.
Sex: Coyly suggested with near-nudity.
Drugs: Holmes’ drug habit is hinted at but never in the foreground.
Parents’ advisory: Not the traditional way of approaching Holmes _ this one emphasizes brawn over brains. Too violent for younger children but OK for 12 and up.

SHUTTER ISLAND

Rating: R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.
What it’s about: Feds investigate a mental hospital for the criminally insane where everyone seems to have a secret.
The kid attractor factor: Leonardo DiCaprio, playing a WWII vet who is now a Federal marshal
Good lessons/bad lessons: Today’s humane treatment of the insane may not always be viewed that way.
Violence: Yes, some of it nightmarish in nature.
Language: Profanity
Sex: Partial nudity
Drugs: Drugs are sometimes administered in mental hospitals, and cigarettes are smoked.
Parents’ advisory: Sort of a horror thriller from a director known for violence, this isn’t for anyone under 15.

TOOTH FAIRY

Rating: PG for mild language, some rude humor and sports action
What it’s about: A cynical, embittered hockey player is sentenced to be a tooth fairy after he lectures kids to live in the real world and not fantasize about things they may never have.
The kid attractor factor: Dwayne Johnson, the cinema’s ultimate plush toy, dressed as a fairy and doing slapstick.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Taking away children’s fantasies ruins childhood
Violence: It’s hockey, right?
Language: Very mild language, despite the hockey
Sex: None, though the hockey player is dating a single mom with sleepover privileges
Drugs: None
Parents’ advisory: Strictly a younger kids’ fantasy, with fairies and the gadgetry of fairies plus a good message about the odds against growing up to be a star athlete. Suitable for 5 and up.

VALENTINE’S DAY

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity
What it’s about: Assorted couples and would-be couples try to pull it together in time for “the most romantic day of the year.”
The kid attractor factor: An all-star cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx, Kathy Bates and Julia Roberts
Good lessons/bad lessons: Fall in love with your friend. It saves time and heartache.
Violence: None
Language: Quite clean, considering
Sex: Teens plan it, with near nudity played for laughs
Drugs: None
Parents’ advisory: A bit risque for tweens, but teens might learn something about love.

WHEN IN ROME

Rating: PG-13 for some suggestive content
What it’s about: A young woman steals coins from a wish-for-love fountain in Rome, with comical consequences. The guys who tossed the coins fall in love with her, getting in the way of Mr. Right.
The kid attractor factor: Strong fantasy element, cute Kristen Bell and adorable Josh Duhamel
Good lessons/bad lessons: Love is about getting to know somebody, not about wishing and tossing a coin. But stalking is played for laughs.
Violence: None
Language: None to speak of
Sex: Not in this romance
Drugs: There’s no such thing as an Italian wedding without wine.
Parents’ advisory: A romantic comedy with training wheels, suitable for 10-and-up

THE WOLFMAN

Rating: R for bloody horror violence and gore
What it’s about: A hairy beast stalks the moors, slaughtering with impunity.
The kid attractor factor: Hairy beasts slaughtering
Good lessons/bad lessons: Don’t blame the Gypsies. And staying at home when the moon is full is never a bad idea.
Violence: Graphic – beheadings, disembowelings, dismemberments
Language: No profanity
Sex: Partial nudity
Drugs: Lots of needles, a few pints are consumed.
Parents’ advisory: Old fashioned in some ways, but nightmarishly graphic in its violence – not suitable for 14-and-under.

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

Rating: PG, for some mild sensuality, a scene of violence, and brief incidental language and smoking.
What it’s about: The royal teen becomes Queen, learns on the job and finds a husband in this intimate screen biography.
The kid attractor factor: A rebellious teenager gets even with Mom.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Love can find a way into even an arranged courtship.
Violence: A shooting
Language: So clean Victoria herself would approve
Sex: Suggested
Drugs: None
Parents’ advisory: Entirely too historical and talky for younger children, though teens and tweens into history or princess romances might enjoy it.

— Roger Moore | The Orlando Sentinel

More reviews:

www.CommonSenseMedia.org

www.parentpreviews.com

The exhibit will feature artifacts as well as reproductions to illustrate the lives and times of buccaneers during the heyday of piracy (approximately 1600-1718). Museum guests will see money plundered by pirates, including silver “pieces of eight” from 1497 to 1857; gold doubloons from 1566; and Spanish reals (pronounced ray-ahls) from 1497 to 1864.

Also, the exhibit will display a concretion tank containing mineralized pirate ship items from the ocean’s floor, plus a pirate ship’s rigging hook, cannon balls, pirate weapons, pewter plates, buckles, ballast stones, cannon aprons and small vials of gold dust.

Reproduction cannons from pirate ships will give guests the feel of being on the deck of a pirate ship such as the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the infamous Blackbeard, who was killed in North Carolina in 1718. The actual ship’s bell from the Queen Anne’s Revenge is among the exhibition’s amazing artifacts.

Hands-on elements such as reproduction weapons – swords, pistols and muskets – will allow guests to imagine themselves as 18th-century pirates in the Caribbean or elsewhere. Visitors also can tie a variety of sailor’s knots, walk off “paces” from a treasure map, try on reproduction pirate clothing and learn pirate expressions such as “shiver me timbers” and “blow me down” at the exhibit’s 15 hands-on stations.

The exhibit also will dispel a number of popular myths about pirates, such as that they made their victims walk the plank, and used phrases such as “arrr” and “matey.”

Pirates, Privateers and Buccaneers can be seen in the blockbuster gallery through Sept. 19.