(cheerful music) - Whoo!

I am a mess.

Well, actually, my name is Grace, and I just got in the biggest food fight ever here at Messtival at the Museum of Discovery.

We love discovering and tinkering and all sorts of things here at the museum, but we also love making messes, and Messtival is the perfect time to make messes.

We make all kinds of huge messes, and if you join us for Messtival, you get to make huge messes, too, and you don't even have to clean it up.

It's the best.

We are at the Museum of Discovery in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, in the heart of the famous River Market District.

We are Arkansas's premier science center, and our mission is to ignite and fuel a passion for science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics through dynamic experiences, and we just want everyone to explore the world around them.

(upbeat music) We created Messtival a few years back with the goal of creating a space where kids like you can explore the world through making messes, which you can't do at home, because at home, you'd get in trouble for making a big mess.

But here, the cleaning is on us.

(cheerful music) Over here, our friends with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have brought some minnows for us to feel and explore how slimy they are, and they're so cute, and then right next to that, they've got a big tub of dirt with worms that you can play in as well.

(cheerful music) Have you ever been to a fair, and you waited in line to get your face painted like a tiger, or maybe you could do it like a dog, but you only had a few options?

Here at Messtival, you get to have whatever you want on your face, because you get to paint it yourself.

Have you ever just wanted to play with your food, not eat it?

Well, here at Messtival, you can play with your food as much as you want.

In fact, we have a food mashing station.

You can mash your food with a hammer.

You can mash it with your feet.

You can mash it however you want.

Way to go, Jeremy.

(cheerful music) And this is our sensory station, so we have all of these different bins filled with all kinds of different materials that you can touch and feel the different textures.

Some people think it's gross, but we think it's super cool.

(cheerful music) Here in our mud kitchen, you're not here to make anything to eat.

You're here to make a huge mess.

(cheerful music) Looks delicious, Neba.

I'm sure you've seen this one before, but Mentos and Diet Coke are a great combination when you want to make a mess.

But have you ever seen this many bottles of Diet Coke and this many Mentos?

I don't think so.

(upbeat music) Have you or your parents ever put too much soap in the dishwasher, and did it make a huge mess and get soap all over the floor?

Well, here at the museum, we have the Bubble Tron, a huge bubble making machine, where we make big bubbles everywhere.

You get all soapy and slippery.

Now, try not to slip while you're having all that fun.

(upbeat music) And over here, we have our water play area, where you can get super soaked.

(upbeat music) We've got a large water slide.

We have a paint pendulum.

And at the end of the day, you can get yourself all squeaky clean by going through our kid car wash. And it wouldn't be Messtival without a huge food fight.

Now, this was my favorite, because I finally got to throw food at my coworker, Maddie.

Watch out, Maddie.

(upbeat music) Ew!

Creamed corn.

(cheerful music) Better hope that washes out.

I had so much fun in that food fight, and I'm ready to go make some more messes.

In fact, I think I need to go make a mess right now.

(cheerful music)