Village Squire, 1979-07, Page 7Ju st
for
/cids
A few years ago some Londoners were visiting Boston and saw
the Boston Children's Museum, one of 130 children's museums
in the U.S. They decided that was just what London needed and
so decided to start a museum for children in their home city.
So today children from the city and Western Ontario in general
can learn in a place designed specifically for them. Since
November the London Children's Museum has been located at
379 Dundas Street London in the new London Towers complex.
The museum was located for the first two years of its existence in
the City Centre complex downtown.
The current major exhibit at the museum is on dinosaurs.
There's a large cast showing the footprints left by dinosaurs,
another huge fossil display as it would have been found in the
ground and various other glimpses of these ancient reptiles.
But the emphasis in the museum is on getting the children
involved and so there's a sand bin where children can play
archeologist, sifting through the sand to find their own fossils.
There's another play area where the youngsters can dress up in
dinosaur costumes and romp around making horrible sounds that
they're sure the pre -historic animals would have made.
The other major exhibit currently on display is a section called
On The Street Where You Live which is at the rear of the
museum. Here along a winding path children can see the story of
everyday things around them. There is a traffic light with the
controls that make the lights change exposed for viewing. There
are mail boxes with explanitory signs, storm sewers, a bathroom
with all the pipes showing, walls with electrical wiring showing.
There's a hot water heater cutaway to show the interior. (One
can look at this in two ways: either it may save the kids from
doing it to your own home or it may give them ideas).
Elsewhere there's a display of things that people have found
on a stroll near London and a Targe display of Indian arrowheads
found in the area.
Participation is a big part of the museum. This summer there
will be a series of weekly workshops in the Recycle Centre of the
museum which will mean the area given over for dinosaurs will
be contracted slightly. The workshops will cover such things as
making music from cast off articles, making puppets, and
creative drama workshops.
When September comes the dinosaur exhibition will be
PLEASE
TAKE NOTE
HANDICRAFT & FLOWER
SHOP
WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE MONTH
OF JULY BUT WILL OPEN AGAIN
AUGUST 1.
IN THEIR NEW LOCATION
20 JOHN ST., WINGHAM
Right behind the
Toronto Dominion Bank.
SEE YOU THERE.
r Summer
is child's play:
Outfit them all '\;
Infant to
Size 14
in Canadian -made
fashions from:
HANSEL & GRETEL
The Corner Cottage for
Children's Wear
BLYTH 523-9613
July 1979, Village Squire 5