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"By the Bay" at the Children's Museum

by Neighborhood-Kids.com12/18/2007 1:47:57 PM

Octopus Lair at the Whatcom Children's Museum.

Kids can learn about the fishing traditions and marine life of Bellingham Bay at the Whatcom Children’s Museum latest exhibit, “By the Bay: Working on the Waterfront.” This interactive exhibit will help kids (and parents) discover a little more about our city’s history, and other mysteries of the Bay and its inhabitants.

Opportunities for exploration and learning exist both above and below the water’s surface. The S.S. Erwin, a submarine, gives kids an understanding what explorers experience beneath the waves. From speakers overhead, the sounds of bubbling water and other sounds inside a submarine add to the authenticity of the experience. But watch out for the giant squid and six-gilled shark on the other side.

Inside the SS Erwin.

Exiting the sub leads you to the octopus lair, with black lights to illuminate the types of creatures that lurk at the bottom of the ocean, and a replica of Tyee.  The steamer tug towed ships all around Bellingham Bay, until the 1950s when it sank near the end of the Cornwall Avenue. While adults can make their way through most of the exhibit models, Tyee is the one place that only small explorers can fit.

With a simple stage, a blue screen and a video camera, young performers can strut their stuff for the Theater of the Deep. There are lots of costumes to don and kids get to see themselves on television in front of an underwater background. Depending on your child, you may have trouble getting your child to take off their fish costume as they investigate the rest of the exhibit.

An old-fashioned fish cannery.

Above the water’s surface, kids climb on board the museum’s fishing vessel with lots of stuffed fish and other sea life to catch. After practicing their fishing technique, they can take their fresh catch to the cannery across the way. There’s also a smaller sailing boat and a traditional “fish n’ chips” café that kids can run.

“By the Bay” combines a child’s love and curiosity of water with our city’s history. Most children are happy to explore and play freely, but the attractions do have plaques with background information about the exhibit, so younger children will need a parent nearby to read this information to them. There are also several television monitors set up around the museum, running videos about large vessel fishing and sharks, both with and without dialogue. A popular attraction is the computer, which features a game helping Freddi Fish solve “The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse.” There is a ten-minute limit per turn on the computer, so make sure your kids are sharing appropriately.

Capt'n Wally's Seafood Cafe.

This exhibit opened mid-fall and will remain open until the WCM's new building is completed, which is over a year away. "By the Bay" is generously sponsored by Trident San Juan Seafoods, the Bellingham Herald, RBC Dain Rauscher, Key Foundation, Starbucks Coffee Company, Elliott Bay Design Group and Ann and Rick Kaiser, Friends of the Museum. Additional thanks goes to Drayton Harbor Maritime, Homeport Learning Center and Whatcom Maritime Association.

The Whatcom Children’s Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday from noon to 5 PM, and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission to the museum is $3.50 per person and free for museum members. For more information about the WCM and this exhibit, or scheduling a tour or party for your child at the museum, call (360) 733-8769.