Interactive and Innovative, the new DoSeum opens June 6. For all of you parents and grandparents who are always looking for fun places to take the kids,, there’s great news. The new children’s museum, renamed the DoSeum, is opening June 6 in its new location at 2800 Broadway. The little ones will love it, and so will you.
Children learn best by doing, and they can do a lot of stuff here. With both air-conditioned indoor exhibits and recreational outdoor spaces, it’s an ideal summer learn-and-play environment. To begin with, there’s plenty of water fun. The very young can enjoy wading through the 5-foot-wide, 3-inch-deep Children’s River, complete with bridges, stepping stones and sluice gates, while the older set can experiment with the power of water in another part of the “Big Outdoors.” That other part is like a playground with really cool equipment where youngsters can climb, run, crawl, walk on ropes and generally test their muscles and overall agility.
As the day gets hotter, take them inside and watch their eyes pop as they discover all sorts of exciting things.
In April, I was taken on a tour of the premises by marketing director Cristina Noriega and program educator Tabbetha Greco while workers were still busily installing the indoor exhibits. I was impressed by the evident effort to integrate science into a number of exhibits, such as the Sensation Studio, which focuses on light and sound; the Spy Academy, where older kids will deal with math-based problems, such as currency exchanges and code breaking; and the Innovation Station, where tinkering and building new contraptions are encouraged, tools and materials provided. I have a feeling that you’ll have a hard time luring your child out of there. That’s also where the programmable robot Baxter keeps an eye on the goings-on.
Language skills have not been forgotten either. In the Imagine It! section, children will be taught how to develop their own stories.
And there’s more: The popular Little Town setup has been recreated in the new building, only bigger and better. Here’s where the little visitors can indulge in role playing as they pretend to shop, bank, fly in an airplane or ride Molly the Trolley. Greco explained that scenes from San Antonio neighborhoods will roll by as they “ride” the trolley from stop to stop.
In addition, summer camps, a great variety of programs and special events dot the calendar. Cleverly, two upcoming events are designed for adults only – on July 31 and Oct. 30. If you happen to be child-free at that moment, take advantage of these. After all, the website describes the place as “where kids play to learn and adults learn to play.”
