200 West Island Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
619 233 8792
Our East Coast relatives recently spent a day here at the San Diego New Children's Museum (NCM) in downtown SD when they were in town. It had been awhile since we visited, so one Sunday afternoon off we went to check it out!
The theme of the two-story museum is "think play create" which is exactly what the museum achieves when you're there! The current project being featured is "Feast", exploring art through various mediums around the focus of food! Right up my family's alley!
It seemed that there were some remnants of the ever-popular San Diego Comic Con still present in the museum as the annual epic event occurred the week before. One of the activities for kids was to create their own superhero. Participants could select body part templates for their hero, color them in and then add their creation to the wall display.
Downstairs we found the clay & paint stations. These stations are located on the patio where families could enjoy the San Diego weather while engaging in their creativity! The clay activity could take up quite some time so I suggest surveying the whole museum and then carefully choosing the activities you want to do in the time you have allotted for your museum visit.
Also downstairs was the "Rain House" a fun play house to well,... play house!!
There was also this Sandbox Gallery located downstairs where visitors could literally take off their shoes and play in the sand. We just can't get away from the beach here in San Diego!
With shoes back on, kids could also climb on the jungle gym!
In the background of this last picture behind my son, you can maybe see these suspended orange balls. Adults and kids can hang on them and every time the suspended string is pulled, a musical note sounds off! I thought it was pretty neat!
Time to explore downstairs! A cool looking exhibit was "Stacked Stories" sponsored by Woodbury University's School of Architecture. Get the pun?! This area had a Jenga feel to it and was just interesting to look at! Style and function are weaved together to create a place to think, play, and .....read!
Also downstairs was the "Chicken Cam" where you could see chickens in the exhibit area in real time. The actual exhibit is only open certain hours so it is best to check out the website for the hours before your visit.
Speaking of chicken, a tent of sorts was set up where inside various films that centered on food were projected onto the four inside walls! This was the "Dinner and TV" exhibit!
Beanbags were spread on the floor inside the tented space so you could get comfy while being mesmerized by the food films being played around you!
Also located downstairs was the party place, a private room where specialized workshops are held. These workshops usually cost extra because of the materials and dedicated staff. It is also a place that can be rented for parties!
Then it was time to ride the elevator all the way up to the third floor! Upstairs seemed to be the floor dedicated to the younger children. Outside on the patio was the bubble area. These kids had fun swishing their bubble makers in the soapy water, whipping them through the air and watching their bubbles float away!
Also featured upstairs was a paper exhibit. Kids can make their own confetti pieces and add to the paper mural!
Babies and toddlers had their own sea-themed area to explore with lots of chunky shaped furniture to climb on, climb through, touch and feel!
The popular popsicle stick station attracted many kids and parents to make creations!
Since the New Children's Museum is a non-profit organization, of course we wanted to donate a little something. We watched the money get sucked up and away and travel through the wall web of tubes!
This is an aeriel view of the entrance walkway from the front door to the counter. The wide open space of the museum is something I really appreciated about the structure of the building!
My college aged daughter came with us on this visit mainly because she used to intern here years ago. She wanted to see what was new. She summed up our visit on the chalk wall.
We didn't get a chance to explore EVERYTHING since we had another event to skedaddle off to that day. And I purposely didn't want to feature all the exhibits to give you something to discover when you visit!
For example, there is an outdoor park across the street along with a garden to explore that is part of the museum as well. In addition there is an onsite restaurant that serves food, open to the public, so museum entrance is not necessary to eat there.
The museum changes exhibits regularly so if you become a member, there is a reason to come back and see something new throughout the year. And as mentioned before, the museum runs workshops, camps, and special activities specific to certain age groups. Lastly, every second Sunday of the month is a discounted admission for families, only $1 per person, thanks to the generous sponsorship from Target. Hopefully you can bring the family to explore the New Children's Museum! For more information check out their website here.
Disclaimer: I was given free tickets in exchange for this blog post. All opinions are my own.
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