Get outside with the kids at the newly opened Arroyo Adventures at Kidspace Museum in Pasadena. The museum’s enhanced gardens feature eight new hand-on exhibits and activities that will keep the kids super busy but are also fun for families and adults.
The overall concept of the Arroyo Adventures is to introduce visitors to the nature of the nearby Arroyo
Seco area with interactive play, especially “old-time” play that involve simple principles. Kids can bang
on shells and other natural items to make music, craft a fort from logs and, a sure-bet to be the most popular exhibit, cook up dirt in the mud kitchen or squeeze oozy mud through fingers at the play tables (yes, there’s water cleanup area nearby!) In addition, older kids can learn how to make mud adobe bricks and the plan is to, once they are dry (takes about a month), use them as construction materials.
Another messy-but-fun local is the flood and erosion plain where engineers-in-the-training can design channels through sand, build small dams and use other materials to control how the water flows. There’s also a quiet infant and toddler area next to a sandy area where more industrious kids can connect tubes and pour sand. A large frame invites kids to paint and draw using natural materials and paints; one board is just to make water designs.
A highpoint of the new adventure is the Hawk’s Nest, which adds another wonderful climbing experience to Kidspace’s collection of superb climbing structures. Kids can use the ramp, stairs, rope bridge or circular climber to reach the nest. Once there, they can dress-up as a winged wonder and look over the trees.
It’s hoped that when families leave the Arroyo Adventures, they will be apt to head outside and discover the joy and beauty of nature in the neighborhood.
Kidspace Museum, 480 N. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena. www.KidSpaceMuseum.org
