Tyler

Beginning Saturday, kids in the Tyler area can experience PBS's wildly popular kids show "FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman" up close and personal as the Discovery Science Place opens its new "FETCH! lab."

Recreating the colorful, energetic feel of the TV show, the new lab will be a place where kids can do science and engineering challenges like the ones they see on the show while visiting the hands-on children's museum located in downtown Tyler.

To celebrate the introduction of the new science lab, Discovery Science Place is hosting a "Dog Days of Summer" event from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday.

The event will feature summer-based activities such as a charity dog-wash with the Humane Society of East Texas and hands-on training classes for kids on being responsible and respectful of animals with the Tyler Obedience and Training Club.

"FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman is a very popular TV show for the tween-aged kids," explains Kris Parks, Education Director at Discovery Science Place. "It will be a thrill for these kids to be able to physically conduct some of the experiments they see on TV in our FETCH! Lab at the museum. Making science fun is what 'FETCH!' and Discovery Science Place is all about."

Part game show, part reality TV, and part spoof, "FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman" targets six- to ten-year-olds and features real kids, real challenges, and real science.

The series mixes animation with unscripted live-action and breaks the mold with its educational and comical take on one of America's most popular television genres.

Think "Amazing Race" and "The Apprentice" as kids compete for points on wild and wacky challenges.

"FETCH!" prompts participants to ask questions, conduct experiments, and investigate the world around them.

"FETCH!" is produced by WGBH Boston and airs on KERA-PBS 13 each weekday at 5 p.m.

Recently named as one of the Top 25 Science Centers in the nation by Parents magazine, Discovery Science Place is a non-profit, hands-on learning environment whose purpose is to open young minds to science, technology, math and cultures in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Located at 308 N. Broadway in downtown Tyler, it is supported by grants, donations, admissions, memberships and special events.

For more information, call 903-533-8011 or visit the website at www.discoveryscienceplace.org.