Parenting: Fun For The Kids

Over the weekend, I took my daughter and one of her friends to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. While it is mostly geared toward the younger crowd (around 4 to 6), the older kids (7 to 10) will have some fun as well.

There are a number of areas to explore. The first floor has a carousel (which I didn't count as 'exploring'), a water-themed play area, a transportation area, and a sky-themed area. The water area has smocks for little ones so they don't get soaked. A river, which is arm-height for children, moseys around the area. The kids use various buttons and levers to move rubber ducks and boats through the waterways. The sky area has things like a two-seated bicycle that moves flat 'umbrellas' when you pedal. There is also an area where you can build an airplane out of foam pieces, send it up to the ceiling, and see how it floats back to the ground. In between the water and the sky is the transportation themed area. There are cars to build, a SEPTA bus to 'ride,' an SUV to fix up at the service station, and some construction vehicles to pick up balls.

Heading downstairs, the second floor (yes, I think it's weird that the bottom floor is the second) has an Alice in Wonderland themed area, a centennial area, and a...I'm not sure how to explain it other than a play area. The Alice exhibit is wonderful. There is a huge maze that the kids run around in to see various pieces from the story, as well as various characters. This was the biggest hit with our crew. Next to that is the centennial area. To be honest, this was the most boring of all the exhibits. There was little for the children to do and all of the historical stuff bored them. However, next up was an area filled with "dress up" areas. There was a construction set, a McDonalds set, a hospital set, a grocery store set, a shoe store set...and probably more that I forgot! In each set, there were costumes for the kids and various items for them to use to play pretend. However, it was quite crowded.

Amid each section, there were separate areas for children under 3 to play. However, we didn't have any children that young with us so we weren't allowed in those areas. There was also a very good puppet show that engaged the kids and their imaginations. I have to admit that I thought the kids would be bored there. I was under the impression that the museum was geared toward the 5-year old are group. While that is true, there are still plenty of things to keep the older kids occupied. It was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours.

Riverdance

Last night, we all went to see Riverdance at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia. My daughter takes tap and ballet lessons. She's also really into dance overall. So we thought it would be a good idea for her to see something a little different than what she is used to.

Overall, the show was amazing. It's unbelievable how fast the dancers can move their feet. In addition, all of the musicians were awesome. I enjoyed the fiddler and the percussionist the most. Hopefully we get the chance to take my daughter to see some other forms of dance as well.

Website of the Week: TheatreAlliance.org

Most people don't know that I was a Theatre Arts major in college. While I haven't been active in the theatre community in a really long time, I do enjoy watching performances. The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia is a wonderful site for anyone interested in the stage. Besides listing all of the current and upcoming performances in the Philadelphia area, the site also maintains a list of open theatrical jobs. Whether you enjoy performing on-stage, backstage or just watching from the audience, this really is a great resource.

Return of the Geek

Now that our house guest has left the state, we can get back to business. We did accomplish some semi-geeky things this weekend. That is, if you consider educational excursions geeky. On Saturday, the gang headed over to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. I hadn't been there since they made the big change from the Camden Aquarium to Adventure Aquarium. It was a neat trip. They have an area where you can touch some of the animals. I thought it was a little weird to have shrimp to handle but those that touched them said it felt cool. Unfortunately, the Swim With The Sharks area was closed. According to the sign, it will be back on September 22. We watched the seals getting fed and my daughter got her face painted like a Mermaid Princess, which took me forever to scrub the sparkles off her face. The only down side of the trip was that the previously free Children's Garden now costs a whopping $3.50 to get into. Otherwise we all had a great time and I can't wait to go back to see what Swimming With The Sharks is like.

For Sunday's adventure, we hit up two museums. First, we went to the Franklin Institute Science Museum. I've always loved visiting this place. My husband and I came here on our honeymoon. Sadly, most of the exhibits weren't functioning then. However, since there is currently a King Tut exhibit that brings in tons of people, the older exhibits have been retooled so they work properly. My personal favorite is the Giant Heart. It's basically a huge walk-through heart that shows you the path that your blood takes through the heart. When I was a kid, it used to be in a room all by itself. Now there is a huge health and wellness area around it with skeletons and x-ray machines and all sorts of neat gadgets. I think this may be my favorite room in the entire museum.

After we finished being science nerds, we headed over to The Academy of Natural Sciences. I think we mostly went for the butterflies. While we were watching the butterflies flying around us, the boys were lucky enough to have some land on their hair. (I believe this is because the boys have lighter hair while all the girls present had dark hair.) My daughter is currently on a bit of a dinosaur kick so she really enjoyed looking at the dinosaur bones and trying to identify the various types.

It was a really awesome weekend where everyone got to see and do something they enjoyed. Since my daughter just started kindergarten last week, this was a great opportunity to learn some things she probably won't learn for a couple of years. There were definitely enough geeks around to explain something to her if she didn't understand! Whether you are an adult or a child, if you are in the Philadelphia area, please try to take a day or two to visit some of these wonderful museums. I can pretty much guarantee you will have a good time.