Dr. Scott Sampson draws a huge crowd | Photos

Last Friday was the big event my two small children had been eagerly awaiting for weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, Dr. Scott Sampson, host of the wildly popular PBSKids television program Dinosaur Train, paid a visit to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to give a lecture and sign copies of his latest book, but most important to my two palaeo-enthusiasts, was his meet-and-greet session with the little Dinosaur Train fans. Here are a few photos of the fun.

Over 700 people showed up in the dinosaur hall Friday afternoon, and 500 of them were children! Our family arrived promptly at 2:00, but still waited an hour and 20 minutes to meet Dr. Scott. Fortunately, the perimeter of the gallery is lined with excellent fossils, classic dioramas, and lots of great lesser-known extinct species. Generally, when we visit this gallery the children are so interested in the dinosaur megafauna that we never have time to explore the smaller cases around the room. The long line on Friday gave us a chance to really explore everything else the exhibits have to offer. Not a bad predicament.

Nora was in awe of Dr. Sampson, as you can see, but she did manage to ask one of the three questions she had prepared for the occasion. (As a 3-year-old enthusiastic dinosaur fan often prone to intense shyness, we had to practice asking the questions ahead of our visit.) Nora asked "Dr. Scott" whether ladybugs were around with the dinosaurs, and to her delight he answered yes, and told her that he had never been asked that question before. "Good question," he said, and Nora beamed.

From his incredible patience to his genuine interest in the children, it was hard to believe that he had been at this for almost an hour and half when this photograph was taken.

Many thanks to Dr. Scott Sampson, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and WVIZ Ideastream (who passed out Dinosaur Train stickers and coloring sheets) for the incredible kid-friendly experience at the Museum last week.

Dr. Scott Sampson rides the Dinosaur Train to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

When it comes to little kids, few things inspire their scientific curiosity as completely as dinosaurs. At the same time, trains seem to inspire an equal measure of whimsy and imagination in children under six. So what happens when you combine these two elements? You get PBS's winning preschool program Dinosaur Train. It's smart, funny, charming, and full of fascinating facts about dinosaurs and the world in which they thrived for hundreds of millions of years.

One of the highlights of Dinosaur Train is certainly "Dr. Scott the Paleontologist," aka Dr. Scott Sampson, who appears at the end of every segment to reinforce key scientific concepts raised during the cartoon portion of the program. As an adult with my own dino-fascination, Dr. Scott is hands-down my favorite part of the show.

This weekend, Dr. Scott rides his wave of dino success into the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. I will be seeing him here in Cleveland, and am delighted that before his official appearance in the Museum's Explorer Lecture series and signing his latest book, Dr. Scott will be greeting his youngest fans at 2:00 PM in the Museum's dinosaur hall. My two little girls are completely geeked at the chance to meet Dr. Scott, and I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a little excited myself. After all, Dr. Sampson is one of the foremost minds in paleontology, not just a preschool cult hero.

If you have a kid who digs dinos, or you are looking for a little education on the subject yourself, be sure to check out Dr. Scott Sampson at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, or the Carnegie Museum this weekend. If you can't make it to Cleveland or Pittsburgh, set your Tivo to catch Dinosaur Train on your local PBS station. Your kids will love it, and you just might learn something along the way.