In a small corner is a fort of epic proportions. It’s like a miniature city—actually it is a miniature city. More specifically, it’s a scale model of the Detroit skyline. There’s even smoke coming from the little space behind it, like early morning smog.

A tiny child, with so much dark brown hair covering his head that it could be mistaken for a large animal, has hogged one of the few electrical outlets in the room for his My Very First Chemistry Lab™ set. Not surprisingly he’s heavily modified it so that it actually works, and, with precision to rival the most dedicated scientists, is mixing two substances together. One is a clear liquid, boiling slowly over a Bunsen Burner, and the other…looks suspiciously like blue Play-Doh.