Carolyn's Blog

Ever since the Delaware Children's Museum opened this past April, it has been a busy place, with parents, grandparents, and summer camps and day cares introducing their excited little charges to a totally transformed building on the riverfront of Wilmington, Delaware, which once housed the Kahunaville nightclub and restaurant and a Chucky Cheese-type game center.

Out with the outside volcano (which had to be turned off to keep from distracting drivers on nearby I-95) and in with the Stratosphere (for just plain climbing fun--elevator for handicap accessibility). Exhibits include The Power of Me (the human body) Structures (the who, what, where, and how behind building structures), ECOnnect (environment hands on activities means a popular stream table you can get your hands in), Training Wheels (from crawling babies to choo-choo fans), and a Delaware favorite, Bank on It (play with pretend money and a drive-in window type pneumatic tube from you to the teller window).

                            Stratosphere and Structures

Popular money game, locomotive, and climbing wall (surprisingly popular with babies)

The idea for the museum materialized 20 years ago when a storefront museum on Market Street opened. Then, 15 years ago, a board of directors was organized to raise funds, interview exhibit architects, designers, and fabricators. They talked to parents, teachers, and kids about what they would like to see. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and they are already ahead of their goal in family memberships. The museum is located on the Waterfront of Wilmington, Delaware, at 550 Justison St., and it is open 7 days a week from 9-4:30.  Their website is http://www.delawarechildrensmuseum.org/

I am going to close with one of the neatest sights to see, and probably a lot more fun to participate in--rowing down the Christina River (right outside the museum) with an interactive scene of the river as the child rows.  What fun!