In the age of video games, tablets, and cell phones, children oftentime forget the joys of using their imagination and all five of their senses to fully engage in playtime activities. The summer weather allows for more outside play, but fall is rapidly approaching and many of our children will be back to spending more time indoors. What if there was a place that children could go where there were no video games or technology, but allowed them to discover the beauty of make-believe and wonder?
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The Port Huron Museums organization is gearing up to offer such a place for the little ones. Discovery City is a new playscape located inside of the museum that is set to open to the public Wednesday, Sept. 22. The playscape, which is watched over by their giant dog mascot “Edison,” offers hands-on learning, fun, and discovery all under one roof.
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There are several activity stations with the theme being centered around local attractions and landmarks located in the city of Port Huron. It includes places such as the popular Lakeside Beach, Pine Grove Park, Vantage Point, Fort Gratiot Lighthouse — there’s even a McMorran stage play area that allows children to play dress-up and reenact their favorite movie scenes, or they can use their imagination to create unique and original performances with their friends and family.
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The playscape has fun facts about the city of Port Huron and surrounding areas posted throughout, providing interesting knowledge to the curious little minds that enter. Want to be the captain of your very own ship? Or just have a beach day indoors — minus the water? You can do that, too. The Lakeside Beach play area has “magic sand” that allows children to fill their buckets to make sand castles, animals, sculptures, or whatever their minds can conceive.
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To experience Discovery City, tickets can be purchased for $5 to $15. They can be reserved by calling
(810) 982-0891, ext. 118. There is one ticket required per child, including infants, and all children must be supervised by an adult at all times. Each session lasts for 1 hour and 15 minutes and will be cleaned and sanitized in between each group to ensure a clean and safe environment. To note, the James C. Acheson Foundation has contributed a $10,000 grant to allow low income families to receive family passes. To find out more details about this new experience coming to the area, you can visit the Port Huron Museum website here
www.phmuseum.org.
All photos by Harold Powell.
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