The Dallas Museum of Art's new Center for Creative Connections expands the number of verbs you might associate with a visit to an art museum. Beyond the usual looking and imagining, you can add creating, playing, smelling, touching, writing and much more. You can even blog about artworks in the Tech Lab.

The center, also known as C3, is designed for interactive learning programs, with a special focus on the museum's collections. I visited the 12,000-square-foot facility's inaugural exhibit, "Materials & Meanings," and scoped out five fun things to do while you're there.

1. At the Materials Bar, visitors can create their own artworks, which can be taken home or left behind for a rotating display. When I was there, you could use cardboard, feathers, pieces of pre-painted canvas, sparkly gold pipe cleaners, shells and more. Feeling uninspired? Check out the video screens that show artists demonstrating some possible projects. If you want to leave your masterpiece behind, you can fill out a card with important details, such as the name of your artwork and what inspired you.

2. Each of the 32 panels on the Wall of Materials is covered with different stuff, ranging from velvet to raffia. They're meant to be touched, and you can post sticky notes on the wall about your impressions of the experiences. For example, a panel covered in bright blue feathers drew the response "Toucan Sam."

3. To create the work Lick and Lather, artist Janine Antoni made casts of her head in soap and chocolate. Then she licked the chocolate and washed with the soap. You can see the results and put together some magnetic poetry on a display in front of the work. The display also includes compartments filled with soap and chocolate for folks to sniff.

4. A Frank Gehry chair from his Easy Edges line, made mostly of cardboard, is featured in the exhibition. Get info on how it was made and sit in an Easy Edges replica. Don't miss the picture of a few Easy Edges seats holding up a Volkswagen, which shows how strong they were.

5. While there's plenty for grown-ups to do, a couple of areas are meant especially for kids. The Young Learners Gallery lets youngsters make rubbings with crayons and play with cardboard boxes. Arturo's Nest is designed to be a place for kids 4 and younger to chill with books and a magnetic matching board featuring works from the museum's collection (check the museum's Web site for special children's activities at Arturo's Nest).Pulling it all together

GET CREATIVE: The center is inside the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood. Admission is free with museum admission: $10, $7 for ages 65 and older, $5 for students, free for children under 12. Museum admission is free on the first Tuesday of every month and on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. The center's regular hours of operation are during museum hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through Sundays from

11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays 11 a.m.

to 9 p.m. 214-922-1200. www.dallasmuseumofart.org.