In So Many Words

I have been trying to take the Little Guy somewhere fun on Friday afternoons, especially now that it is nicer outside. Last week we went to Hersheypark for a few hours, but today it was too rainy for that. So we considered our options, called to see if his best friend was available (he was!), and ended up at Curiosity Connection.

Curiosity Connection, otherwise affectionately known as the home of the giant chick — seriously, it is 10 feet tall, check out the pictures! — is a discovery-learn-play place at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg.

It is designed for children ages 2-7, and, although it is not a huge space, there is a lot to see and do inside. The Little Guy’s favorite part is the magical bedroom. Some of the other sections are related to the living forest, industry and transportation, farming, construction, and art. There are also puppets, books, some costumes, and an area especially for the littlest ones.

Another nice feature is the single entrance manned by a museum employee so you don’t have to worry about your child wandering off or getting lost. All in all, it is well worth the $5.00 per person admission fee.

I got a twitter from spotobe the other day (yes, I am on twitter now) and decided to check it out. I am glad I did!

Spotobe is short for “the spot to be” and is actually a very cool website about places to go and things to do in central Pennsylvania. Here’s a brief description from the site:

Whether you’re looking to visit Central Pennsylvania, move here or already live here, bookmark this site to keep up with what’s going on in the region. Spotobe aggregates all the events—from concerts to exhibitions to hockey games, and much more—so you can view all your options in one convenient place.

Besides the About/FAQ page, there are four main parts to spotobe:

• events – choose ongoing or upcoming and then browse, search or filter by category or date if you wish
• locations – here you can search or select from eight different categories. Clicking on view details takes you to a page with the address/directions, any events at that location, and a list of other places you might be interested in. Hmm, I wonder if they will ever offer a rating or comment system to viewers??
• my spots – once you register (very simple and fast), you can add locations or events to your personalized list for quick reference. Features include creating multiple lists, printing your lists and even sending them to a friend.
• area map – dynamic map with events marked based on the date selected, can zoom in and out and access details right from that page, can also filter by category

When viewing the site, you can also choose which region you are interested in – Central PA, Harrisburg, or Hershey. The site is visually appealing and well thought out; there is even a feed that you can subscribe to for notification of upcoming events. The feed can be customized by category and time frame, although, despite a very thorough explanation of the RSS process in the FAQs, the only place I saw to access this is a tiny Subscribe link at the bottom of the page, and I didn’t see a subscribe by email option.

They have plans to expand into other areas, but in the meantime, all you non-central Pennsylvanians should check it out and then come visit us!

When I got the email newsletter from our moms’ group from church the other day, there was a blurb about a new fun place to take your kids called Museum 4 Me. It is the brainchild of a former elementary school teacher turned stay-at-home mom turned entrepreneur.

I was really intrigued after looking around the website and wanted to take Little Guy to check it out, so we went there today with my friend Stacey and her youngest son, who is 3 1/2. The boys had a blast – we were there for 2 hours and both of them would have played happily for another hour at least!

The museum takes up the lower level of a house and has several different areas of hands-on play for the kids. The room you first walk into changes each month and right now is set up like a backyard, complete with a planting area and playhouse. Next there is an area with a couple of tables where you could eat food you bring in or snacks you buy there, along with a few items for sale.

The intended age is birth to 6, but older siblings are welcome and would probably enjoy playing with the younger children. One area that older kids may like is an art area with all sorts of different craft supplies – both of our boys chose to paint pictures. LG painted “A Sunny Day”, and I have to tell you I was amazed that he was able to easily come up with an idea and execute it, using several different colors of paint in distinct areas of the paper – I am getting emotional just realizing what giving him this extra year of preschool so he could be in a typical environment and allow his skills to develop has produced.

The biggest room is filled with several different exhibits – a construction area, treehouse, post office, store, kitchen area with dolls, building blocks, and an area with mats and soft climbing blocks for the littlest ones. The favorites with our two were by far the post office and the treehouse, although they investigated each one thoroughly and spent some time in almost all of them.

It was a wonderful way to spend a rainy Friday afternoon and I’m sure we will go back again. The maximum occupancy is 50, and I can imagine that it might be a little overwhelming for the Little Guy with a lot of kids there. Of course, if we ever get there and it is too crowded, we would easily be able to see that before we went in and he could decide whether we should do something different that day.

All things considered, I would highly recommend a visit if you have young ones at home. They are having a Grand Opening event on March 29th with a circus theme, special activities and half-price admission (it is usually $5 per person – 12 months and younger are free).