June 16 Photo: Out and About

Today I am in the Hanover/Lebanon NH area for a function at Dartmouth College. Actually, we attended a barbecue there last night, and this afternoon we will be attending a cocktail reception. But all day today my husband has meetings for the Alumni Volunteer Corporation of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, so the kids and I are on our own for entertainment for a few hours. I decided that the best way to spend a few hours with small children in that area is the Montshire Museum.

The Montshire Museum is a marvelous science center that is geared for children of all ages. Their displays range from a special play area for under-fives with lots of tactile displays, narrow padded stairs with tubes for watching balls roll down chutes, a beach ball that floats on a column of air, tunnels to climb into, a corner full of wooden blocks, and lots of other toys and displays to keep littler ones happy while the older kids explore the other exhibits.

And even the more complex exhibits are designed in such a way as to keep all ages entertained. The bubble tanks, for example, have various sizes and shapes of bubble wands made of strings and straw or hula hoops. Toddlers can happily blow bubbles; older children can compare the different sizes, shapes, and colors of bubbles that the various wands make; and teens and adults can read about and experiment with the physics behind each type of bubble. There are tanks of fish, frogs, and turtles. There are chains you can spin and an air cannon you can shoot. There are balls and tubes and a fog machine and a stuffed moose and an ant farm. And that’s only the inside part! Outside there’s a water park with fountains and canals and musical tubes and acoustical sculptures and planets and all kinds of other wonderful things.

Needless to say, my son had a wonderful time exploring.

It’s fun to go out and about!