Children scrambled into a space capsule, pushed buttons to light up a skeleton’s internal organs, and touched a palm-sized insect called an Australian walking stick Thursday at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland.
They posed for pictures perched inside a plastic pinna — or outer ear — and stood before the bones of a towering Tyrannosaurus Rex named Samson.
They operated a machine showing what their faces would look like with wrinkles, answered a true-false quiz about the effects of alcohol on young bodies, touched moon meteorites and Mars rocks, and pedaled a centrifuge to experience changes to the body during space flight.
Students traveled from Tenino, Toledo, Kalama, and Hockinson in Washington, and from Oregon schools.
Someday, students might travel to the Twin Cities to experience hands-on learning at a local children’s museum.
That’s the vision of nearly two dozen community leaders who gathered a week ago at Centralia College to paint a picture of what a local children’s museum in Lewis County might look like.
A consultant for the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team strongly recommended pursuing creation of a local children’s museum, something that Kelly Vanasse and Renell Norquist had already been exploring, said CCRT Chairman Larry McGee. The two women have studied what works and what doesn’t with regard to children’s museums.
“This is a community that is ripe for this to happen,” said Corine Aiken, manager of the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library. “I’m jazzed.”
The closest children’s museum is in Olympia, with others in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Mount Vernon, Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Pasco, and Spokane. Most cater to children through 12, encouraging lifelong learning in a stimulating environment with hands-on exhibits. They also provide opportunities for membership and volunteers to work with children.
Dividing into two smaller groups, those attending the meeting brainstormed answers to four questions:
• What are the reasons to have a children’s museum in Lewis County?
• What experiences should a local children’s museum offer?
• What should a local children’s museum not offer?
• What would your vision of a children’s museum be?
If you’d like to share your answers, contact McGee at (360) 269-5180 or Lsm152@yahoo.com, Aiken at (360) 748-3301 or caiken@trlib.org, Norquist at (360) 740-6412 or renellnorquist@msn.com, Vanasse at (360) 880-5134 or threelittlewomen@earthlink.net, or Allyn Roe at (360) 556-1965 or aroe@flycls.com.
As I followed my daughter and two of her friends throughout OMSI during the third-grade field trip, I watched them dart from one display to another, slowing only as they followed a line gazing at human development from fertilized egg to completely formed baby. They loved propelling balls into the air in the Inventors’ Ball Room.
I thought about what a perfect place a children’s museum would be for birthday parties. After swimming at Thorbecke’s, designing T-shirts at Michael’s, and playing on plastic slides at Burger King, my daughter wanted to do something different this year. We drove her friends to Vancouver Mall for a Build-a-Bear workshop party.
But a children’s museum would have been even more fun, especially one that capitalizes on our rich history here — hands-on displays of the lives of pioneer settlers and local Indians, flooding, railroads, and logging.
I’d love to see a section where youngsters record interviews with grandparents or other elders about their lives, similar to the nonprofit Story Corps program that started in 2003.
I hope Lewis County creates a children’s museum, one that stands out from the rest. Perhaps it could even partner with the Great Wolf Lodge to market a dual local experience for families.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
