UFO RECREATION

WHO WE ARE

UFO Recreation was founded in 2022 and has grown into a team of educators, science enthusiasts, event staff, and community advocates who share a single conviction: the best way to make science real is to let people feel it.

Our founder brings over a decade of classroom experience to this work, along with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Science and Mathematics and a Master of Arts in Education and Instructional Design Management. That academic foundation shapes everything we do — how we design our experiences, how we talk to students, and how we approach partnerships with schools and organizations. But UFO Recreation is not built around one person. It is built around a shared commitment to the communities we serve and the belief that curiosity deserves to be met wherever it shows up.

We have worked in schools, parks, community centers, and family events across Indianapolis since our founding. We have stood in gym after gym watching students climb out of a gyroscope with that particular expression — somewhere between disbelief and excitement — and immediately start asking questions. That moment is why we do this. And it has only gotten more motivating as our team and our reach have grown.

UFO Recreation is a Smart Growth Solutions sponsored company. Smart Growth Solutions is an Indianapolis-based organization founded in 2017 with a mission centered on human services, workforce development, and community growth. That mission runs through everything we do. We are not a novelty company that happened to land on gyroscopes. We are a purpose-driven team that chose this work because we believe it changes how people relate to science, to learning, and to their own capacity to understand the world around them.

OUR VALUES

We teach. We train. We learn. We grow — with you.

UFO Recreation is a company with a clear sense of what it stands for.

We believe science belongs to everyone. Not just to students in well-resourced schools. Not just to people who already think of themselves as science people. The curiosity that drives scientific thinking is universal, and it deserves to be met wherever it shows up — in a school gym, in a community park, in a backyard on a Saturday afternoon.

We believe the best teaching happens in relationship. Our staff are not performers delivering scripted shows. They are educators and community members who listen, adapt, and respond to the people in front of them. Every event is different because every group of people is different. That responsiveness is something we protect.

We believe in being straight with people about what we are and what we offer. We are a gyroscope experience company with a deep educational foundation and a genuine community commitment. We are not the right fit for every situation, and we will say so honestly if that comes up. But when we are the right fit, we show up fully prepared and we deliver.

We are rooted in Indianapolis. This is our community. The schools we serve are schools in neighborhoods we know. The families who come to our events are our neighbors. That connection is not background detail — it is central to everything we do.

FOR COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

We are built for partnership, not just appearances.

Community organizations know the difference between a vendor who shows up and a partner who invests. UFO Recreation operates as the latter. We have worked alongside parks and recreation departments, nonprofit organizations, family service providers, neighborhood associations, and community event coordinators across Indianapolis. We approach every partnership with the same question: what does this community actually need, and how do we serve that?

Rental partnerships:

For organizations that want to incorporate gyroscope experiences into their regular programming — a summer enrichment series, a recurring community science night, a youth development program, or an annual neighborhood event — we offer rental partnership arrangements. These are not one-size-fits-all agreements. We sit down with your organization, learn your calendar and your audience, and structure something that makes sense for both sides.

Rental partnerships are particularly well-suited for organizations that want to build science engagement into their programming consistently rather than as a one-time novelty. If you run an afterschool program, a youth sports organization, a library outreach initiative, a recreation center, or any kind of community-serving entity, we want to talk to you.

Community and family events:

We are available for festivals, block parties, back-to-school events, health fairs, and any kind of large-scale community gathering where you want an activity that draws people in and gives them something real to take home. The gyroscope consistently draws crowds and generates conversation. People stop, watch, ask questions, and wait in line for their turn. That kind of organic engagement is hard to manufacture and easy to build around. Our team has worked at parks, recreation centers, community centers, school grounds, and open public spaces across Indianapolis. We know how outdoor and community events actually run, and we arrive prepared.

THE GYROSCOPE — AND WHY IT MATTERS

This is not a carnival ride. This is one of the most effective teaching tools in existence.

A gyroscope operates on principles that govern some of the most important technologies humans have ever built. Satellite positioning. Spacecraft navigation. Inertial guidance systems. The physics at work inside our equipment is the same physics that keeps the International Space Station oriented in orbit and guides a rover across the surface of Mars.

When someone sits inside a multi-axis gyroscope and begins to rotate, their body is experiencing angular momentum, gyroscopic precession, and the sensation of multi-directional motion that no textbook or video can replicate. It has to be felt. And once it is felt, it is understood in a way that lasts.

What participants experience:

Rotation on multiple simultaneous axes, replicating the movement patterns used in astronaut vestibular training. The sensation of reduced gravitational orientation — the closest most people will ever get to understanding what weightlessness actually feels like. Real-time demonstration of Newton's laws of motion, not as equations on a board, but as physical forces acting on their own body. A visceral, memorable reference point for concepts like center of mass, rotational inertia, and gyroscopic stability that they carry with them long after the event is over.

Why experiential learning works:

Research in education consistently shows that kinesthetic and experiential learning produces stronger retention and deeper understanding than passive instruction alone. When students engage with a concept physically, the learning is encoded differently. It connects to memory, to emotion, and to curiosity in ways that a lecture or a worksheet simply cannot replicate. UFO Recreation is built on that foundation. The gyroscope is the medium. Science is the message.

WHAT WE TEACH

The concepts, the context, and the conversation.

We want to be specific about what the science actually covers, because this matters to educators, parents, and anyone thinking about bringing us in.

Angular momentum and gyroscopic stability. Why a spinning object resists changes to its orientation. Why this principle is fundamental to everything from bicycle wheels to space telescopes. What it physically feels like to be a rotating mass — explained in the moment, while it is happening.

Astronaut vestibular training. How space agencies around the world train astronauts to handle multi-axis rotation. What the vestibular system is and why it gets disoriented in microgravity. How the body learns to orient itself when gravity is no longer a reliable reference point.

Orbital mechanics and satellite navigation. How gyroscopes are used in inertial navigation systems aboard spacecraft and aircraft. Why satellites need to maintain precise orientation and how they achieve it. How these systems connect to technologies people interact with every single day, including GPS.

Newton's laws of motion in three dimensions. First law, second law, third law — demonstrated live on a human body in motion. Not as formulas to memorize but as felt experience, with vocabulary and explanation provided in real time by our staff.

Space exploration history and current developments. Our team brings genuine enthusiasm for the history and future of human spaceflight into every session. From early gyroscope research to the International Space Station to current commercial spaceflight programs, the conversation goes wherever the participants want to take it.

None of this is delivered as a lecture. It is woven into the experience as it happens. That is the difference between education and instruction, and it is what separates UFO Recreation from anything else you could bring into your school or community event.

FOR PRIVATE EVENTS

Birthdays, celebrations, and gatherings people actually talk about afterward.

If you are planning a birthday party, a family reunion, a graduation celebration, a private block party, or any kind of gathering where you want an experience that goes beyond the ordinary, UFO Recreation is available for private bookings.

We come to your location — a backyard, a rented event space, a park shelter, wherever makes sense — and we bring everything with us. Setup and breakdown are entirely on our team. Your guests show up, and the experience is ready for them.

Private events are a natural fit for families with young people who are into science, space, or technology, but they draw in everyone. There is no age threshold on curiosity. We have had grandparents climbing into the gyroscope right alongside their grandchildren, and those tend to be some of the best moments of any event we run.

We serve Indianapolis and the surrounding county area for private events. Contact us with your date and location and we will confirm availability.

FOR SCHOOLS AND EDUCATORS

One day. Real science. Students remember it for years.

UFO Recreation specializes in school-day events designed for Indianapolis and surrounding county schools. Our team comes to your building, sets up the equipment, runs structured educational experiences for your students, and handles everything from start to finish. Your staff does not need to prepare anything special. Your schedule does not need to be overhauled. We work around you.

What a school-day event looks like:

We structure school events around rotating student groups, which allows us to work with multiple classes or grade levels throughout the day. Each group session begins with a pre-ride educational segment where our staff introduce the relevant science concepts — angular momentum, astronaut training, space navigation, the physics of rotation — in plain, age-appropriate language. Students then take turns in the gyroscope, with our team narrating what they are feeling in real time and connecting it directly back to the science. After each ride, there is time for questions. There are always questions. The experience is not passive. Students are engaged before, during, and after the ride. Teachers consistently report that the conversations that begin during a UFO Recreation event carry into their classrooms for days afterward. That is exactly what we are going for.

Academic alignment:

Our educational content is designed to connect directly to Indiana Academic Standards in science and physics. Relevant concepts include Motion and forces, including Newton's laws and rotational dynamics. Space science, including orbital mechanics, satellite function, and astronaut training methods. Technology and engineering, including how gyroscopic principles are applied in real-world aerospace and navigation systems. Physical science concepts such as center of mass, inertia, momentum, and equilibrium. We are happy to work with teachers and curriculum coordinators in advance of an event to align the day's content with whatever unit or standards the school is currently covering. This is not an enrichment activity that stands apart from your curriculum. It can be woven directly into it.

Who we serve:

We primarily work with middle and high school students, though our experiences can be adapted for upper elementary students as well. If you have a specific age group or population in mind — including students with special needs or diverse learning profiles — reach out and we will talk through what the right approach looks like for your school specifically.

Logistics and safety:

Our team handles all equipment transport, setup, and breakdown. The gyroscope is maintained and inspected regularly and meets all applicable safety standards. A trained staff member supervises every ride. Participant weight and health guidelines are communicated in advance so schools can prepare appropriately. We carry the necessary documentation for school partnerships and provide it upon request.

Cost:

Our school-day event fees are structured to be genuinely accessible for public schools. We understand that school budgets are tight and that discretionary spending on enrichment programming is often the first thing cut. We would rather work with a school to find a number that works than decline to serve a community that could benefit from what we offer. If cost is a concern, contact us and have that conversation. We will do our best to make it work.

Gyroscope Experiences for Schools, Communities, and Events

What does it feel like to train like an astronaut?

Most people will never go to space. But for a few minutes, inside a UFO Recreation gyroscope, they can understand exactly what it feels like to move the way astronauts do — rotating on multiple axes simultaneously, feeling their body respond to forces that do not exist in ordinary daily life. That feeling is not a gimmick. It is physics. And it opens a door.

UFO Recreation brings professional gyroscope experiences to schools, community events, parks, family gatherings, and private celebrations across Indianapolis and the surrounding area. Every experience is led by educators and staff who are trained, passionate, and genuinely invested in the people they work with. We do not just spin people around and send them home. We use that moment of wonder to start a real conversation about space, technology, motion, and what it means to learn something by feeling it rather than reading about it

If you are an educator trying to make science stick, a community organization looking for something genuinely different, or a family that wants a celebration nobody will forget — you are in the right place.

Contact Us: (317) 537-7359

Email: leadership@smartgrowthindiana.com
Address: 5356 Hillside Ave Indianapolis IN 46220