Casey's Perspective

Yesterday a small group of library staff members went to two children’s museums: Pretend City in Irvine and the La Habra Children’s Museum. I was curious about visiting the museums and seeing what they had to offer.
We borrowed a city van and Jason drove us on the ride out to Orange County for the Pretend City visit. Parking at the museum was not a hassle at all, which was nice and probably made the visit more enjoyable for parents and children. We arrived at Pretend City, located in an industrial park, and entered to find a wide lobby, bustling with the sound of children at play. I noticed that the lobby walls were covered with information about financial donors and there was also a large gift shop.
We were greeted by our tour leader, Chantal. She is their Director of Education and she told us she also designs the exhibits. As indicated by its name, Pretend City is set up like a city: there is a main street and the spaces are lined up along the street. This amazingly fun, colorful play area caters to toddlers and preschoolers and their curious and playful personalities. The first stop we made was at the doctor’s office, where we saw a little room set up with a play examining table, x-ray machine, a scale and other medical items. Children can dress up in costume to fit the theme. Next, we went to the water table area, where we saw children playing with handles that blew air that made boats move. Other children were using toy fishing rods to “catch” lobsters and other pretend fish. The children were wearing readily available smocks to protect themselves from getting wet, but some of them looked as if they were getting wet anyway. But they were so busy having fun and playing that it didn’t seem to matter.
I could go on and on about Pretend City and the creative activities we saw while we were there. For example, children receive pretend timecards that they can put into punch machines and receive play money for their “work.” They can also choose to deposit their play money into donation bins to learn philanthropic skills. However, I do want to write about the La Habra Museum, as well…

And here is where we took a lunch break at Corner Bakery in the Irvine Spectrum

Then we all piled into the city van and Jason drove us back down the freeway to La Habra. As we drove, Renee told us that the La Habra Children’s Museum was housed in an old train depot and that it had been there for many years. We parked next to some really nice tennis courts and walked past some old train cars, through a nice little garden area, up some stairs and entered the museum lobby. Wess and Jason noticed the coin gravity machine in the lobby and Jason pulled out a dime to put in it. We all watched as the dime circled round and round and finally went down the hole into the middle. Our tour guide, a young girl named Kelly, came out to begin the tour. But first they charged us each $7 to go inside the museum then realized they weren't supposed to and issued a refund.
Kelly led us back to the older part of the museum where we entered a room filled with dead animals that had been stuffed. They were pretty creepy. I did not see any children in this room. Next, Kelly led us into another room filled with items collected and donated by a couple who live in La Habra. All of these items seemed to be from the Far East. Again, there were no children in this room, either.
As we made our way to the model room, I began to hear the sound of children playing. And by the time we got to the Farm Room, where we saw a live goat and baby chicks, we began to see children and parents playing and looking at the exhibits. The museum has tons of other activities and exhibits that children seemed to be enjoying. The Carousel Room had an old-fashioned merry-go-round, part of a city bus and a play food area with little grocery carts. The children were busy pushing the carts around and playing in the bus. They seemed to be intrigued by all they touched and saw there.

Needless to say, both of these museums were places where the hours can go by without notice. I heard parents telling their children that it was time to go, but that they promised they would be back to play soon. And the museums are so much fun, I’m sure that is a promise the parents will be happy to keep.