Kidspace Museum

This was actually last week's playdate that I'm just now posting. Sorry!

Thanks to Aunt Tonya for documenting the trip with details below as well as being the group photographer and chaueffer. I'll never know how she does it all...

Kidspace Museum is located in Pasadena, CA and an amazing place for kids and adults to spend the entire day. It is a day for exploring with a new adventure around every corner. We left Corona. Stopped in Glendora and arrived just as the park opened. We started at the indoor exhibit hall where you can go on a dino dig, pretend to drive a rescue jeep or climb the “raindrop” climber. This year’s exhibits features bugs and everything is focused on being the size of an ant.

We dug for dinosaur bones in a pretend dirt pit. The dirt was made from ground rubber and very cool to the touch. The girls and Shannon crawled through a dark anthill with all the twists and turns. The boys and I climbed “leaves and stalks”. Don’t worry – everything is covered in nets to prevent falling. The leaf climber is surprising high but easy for the kids to manage. The boys moved onto the earthquake exhibit and “tested” all of the supplies on display.

Ever wondered what a bug eats? All the kids visited the Buggy Café. Kate was the chef and waitress. Shannon, Zach and Matt were the customers at the counter. Ashley served the patrons. Matt explored the menu options and Zach actually tolerated posing with a super-size beetle. We quickly moved on to the visiting the bee colony and the artificial flower garden. The girls loved painting on a over-sized leaf and laughed as a light mist washing the colors so they could start again. Matt and Zach were more interested in the huge flowers where each one provided a different tactile experience.

We stopped briefly at the craft corner and then moved to the raindrop climber. The raindrop climber is the absolute must do activity. It is a series of various size plastic disks that are placed in a circular pattern and then the outside is covered with netting. It goes up over 50 feet to an observation area. It was quite a climb for the little one but the girls make it in record time. Zach moved right along following the girls. Matt was not sure that to make of this strange thing. He got up about ten feet off the ground and decided that it was high enough…we played on the first few steps until everyone got down.

Then, we moved to the central patio that has multiple fountains coming from the ground and a construction zone. The girls could not get wet fast enough. We stopped and had a quick snack before moving to the construction zone. Kate built a castle. Ashley created a tower. Matt was in charge of knocking down the blocks so everyone could start again. Shannon won the prize for the tallest tower. Zach worked on his stacking ability with blocks that half his size.

The back patio has a standard bike track and one set-up just for the little kids. Kate and Ash each took a turn. For Kate, it was quite easy to stay on the painted path so she had to try at full speed. It took Ash a moment to understand that she must stay on the path. Once she did, you could hear her laughing from the other end. The boys were not interested in bike but water. The toddler water table is very cool. This was Zach’s favorite thing. He climbed, dumped and poured with the best of them. He could not resist sitting in the little pool. Matt was not interested in the water but the other things that the toddler area had to offer. He moved on to examining the toddler bikes, small slide and house. Pit stop for lunch and then onto the garden and wilderness area.

I happen to love the creek that runs through this area. The kids are allowed to walk up and down the creek bed, collect rocks and wade through the pond. Shannon and I sat in the shade for about a hour watching the girls play. The boys also watched from the sidelines but getting them down for a nap was unsuccessful. Ash and Shannon did the rock climbing wall. We played the water drums and climbed the spider web net while waiting for the dinosaur bones show. Girls got a front row seat. There are multiple education shows and presentations done daily but this is the only one that fit our timeframe.

Quick change into dry clothes for the kids and then we moved onto the Early Childhood Development Room. This is like a Gymboree. Matt entered the room like a wild man and there was no stopping him from the minute that we entered the door. He was so busy climbing, jumping and crawling. Zach played puzzles, stacked toys and played tiny tot basketball. The girls drifted from activity to activity. I sat and rested just thankful that everyone was happily playing. Shannon joined me on the mats but she did still have the energy to play with the kids. Where she found the energy, I will never know. It was after 3:00 in the afternoon and we had been there since 9:30.

Finally, we left and returned Matt to Glendora. I have never seen such excitement like when Matt saw Loretta. He screamed with delight and waved as we approached. The rest of us continued the long trek back to Corona.

Check out all the great pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mtsadsad/KidsSpace?feat=email