There is something special about finding an exhibit that feels just as exciting for your child as it does for you.

Ava and I recently visited Sean Kenney’s Brick Planet at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach. The exhibit features large-scale LEGO brick sculptures inspired by nature, ecosystems, animals, and the planet. At first glance, it’s colorful and playful, but the longer you look, the more you notice the creativity, structure, and intention behind each piece.

I recently became a member of the Cox Science Center and Aquarium, and while the teacher membership was only $25 for the year, I decided to do the $80 membership for me and one guest. For me, that guest is usually going to be Ava.

I also realized this is exactly why joining the mailing lists for places you enjoy is so important. I did not know the science center had different exhibits and experiences throughout the year until I started paying closer attention. Sometimes there are beautiful things happening right in your city, but you will not know unless you stay connected.

LEGO Has Been Part of Our Home for Years

LEGO has been part of our home for years now. I think Ava received her first LEGO kit when she was around three years old, and since then, we have collected dozens of sets. Ava gets to build, imagine, and make something with her hands, and I get to watch her practice patience, problem-solving, and creativity without it feeling like a lesson.

And that is what I love most about LEGO: it gives people of all ages a way to create. There are instructions if you want them, but there is also freedom to take the pieces apart and build something completely different. And while some sets can definitely get expensive, the heart of LEGO still feels beautifully simple. You can start with a small kit, a handful of bricks, or even leftover pieces and make something that feels like your own.

Eventually, our love for LEGO carried over into watching LEGO Masters. So when I saw that the Cox Science Center was hosting Sean Kenney’s Brick Planet, there was already a built-in excitement before we even walked into the exhibit. We have watched people turn tiny bricks into buildings, creatures, stories, and full scenes on television, but seeing LEGO art in person is different.

This art exhibit made room for science in a way that felt easy to understand. The sculptures invited us to think about animals, habitats, oceans, gardens, and the natural world, while also showing the engineering behind building something large and stable from tiny pieces. It was science through observation, structure, and nature, wrapped in something colorful, playful, and familiar.

In that way, it reminded me of our visit to Ashleigh Walters’ Bread & Butter exhibit at the Armory Art Center. Her work also took something familiar and everyday, like food and household objects, and gave it a new life through art. Different materials, completely different styles, but a similar reminder: creativity is often already sitting right in front of us. We just have to be open enough to see what else it can become.

What Stood Out to Me

The first thing that surprised me was the size of the sculptures. In photos, LEGO art can look fun and detailed, but in person, the scale changes everything. It made me even more curious about the process behind the pieces. Sean Kenney has a video on his YouTube channel that walks through the making of one of his large-scale works, and watching it gave me a better appreciation for how much planning, structure, and collaboration can sit underneath something that feels so playful at first glance.

But my favorite part of the exhibit was the garden scene. A garden is already creative in its own way. It is planned, but it is also alive. It changes, grows, and asks you to pay attention. Seeing that idea rebuilt with LEGO bricks made it feel both familiar and newly imagined.

It also made me think about Ava and the way she creates. Since she was little, she has always had this natural way of taking ordinary things and turning them into something else. Recycled materials, cardboard, craft sticks, random pieces from around the house, she can see possibility in things that most adults would probably throw away.

That is what I love about taking her to creative spaces, from museums to science centers and everything in between. I want her to know that creativity belongs in those spaces, but more importantly, I want her to be able to envision her own work there too.

Final Thoughts

Sean Kenney’s Brick Planet was colorful, playful, and impressive, but it was also a reminder that creativity can be both childlike and technical. Something that can start on the floor with a small LEGO kit and grow into sculptures that fill a museum space.

And getting to experience that with Ava made it even more meaningful.

Our visit that day was mainly focused on Brick Planet, but there is so much more to explore throughout the Cox Science Center and Aquarium. The day we went was also the museum’s Coral Carnaval conservation event, a celebration of corals with expert talks, coral-themed activities, crafts, vendors, food trucks, and entertainment. That definitely explained the crowd, but it also goes to show just how much the museum offers beyond its seasonal exhibits.

If you love LEGO, art, science, nature, or creative family outings, this is a beautiful exhibit to visit before it closes on September 27, 2026. The exhibit is included with general admission, but I would also consider looking into a Cox Science Center membership. Beyond free admission and access to premier exhibitions, membership includes discounts on youth classes, science camps, the gift shop, and select partner experiences.

It also helps support school outreach programs, professional development for educators, and science scholarships in the community, which makes becoming a member feel like a beautiful way to invest in curiosity, not just for your own family, but for others too.

For me, becoming a member was not just about one visit. It was about making more room for curiosity, creativity, and those sweet little mother-daughter days that remind me how much beauty is already close to home.

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