Neighborhood-Kids All Local. All for Kids. All the Time.

Exhibits & Learning

•   Heritage Flight Museum's Future Flyers a Hit
  

  At each of the Heritage Flight Museum’s monthly fly days, Education Coordinator Rosie Currier puts together an aviation-related activity for young visitors to participate in. Often this is making a card with a few words of support for a local soldier, known by someone at the Museum, who is currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. In November, with Thanksgiving fast approaching, kids and parents made cards for CW2 Dustin Engelhardt, now on his third deployment.

•   Lightcatcher's Family Interactive Gallery
  

  Since the Whatcom Children’s Museum at the George S. Graham Building closed its doors last winter, local families have missed the great opportunities for art exploration and learning that the facility provided in our community. At the grand opening of the Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher on Saturday, November 14, 2009, Bellingham families will get to see the new children’s museum facility and discover that this state-of-the-art gallery was worth a yearlong wait.

•   Whatcom Museum's Lightcatcher to Open
  

  The creation of a facility that can simultaneously house both world-class art exhibitions and a permanent arts-and-activity gallery for families was no small undertaking. Keeping the whole thing "green" provided yet another challenge. Instead of viewing these stipulations as obstacles, the Whatcom Museum embraced such guidelines with aplomb. Their efforts will be unveiled at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Lightcatcher, on Saturday, November 14, 2009.

•   Rare Cold War Fighter to Come to Bellingham
  

  A rare 1950s era Cold War fighter will soon be on the way to the Heritage Flight Museum at Bellingham International Airport. The historic F-89 Scorpion, formerly operated by the Montana Air National Guard at Helena, Montana, was being used as a training aide by an aviation maintenance school at the Helena Regional Airport but is no longer required by the school.

•   Once in a Lifetime Flight Over Bellingham
  

  Along with several other members of local, Bellingham media, Neighborhood-Kids.com writer Theresa Carpine had the opportunity to take a flight on Sentimental Journey during its 2009 visit to the Heritage Flight Museum. You can read more about the aircraft itself in B-17 Lands in Bellingham August 14th. The aircraft was scheduled to arrive at noon on Friday, but the unpredictable Northwest weather prompted the crew to arrive a day early from Tillamook, Oregon.

•   B-17 Lands in Bellingham August 14th
  

  Regular fans of Bellingham’s Heritage Flight Museum have an extra reason to visit this weekend when a fully-restored Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress returns to Bellingham International Airport on Friday, August 14, 2009 at noon. Restored and operated by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, the B-17 'Sentimental Journey' first visited the HFM two years ago. During this year’s visit, fans of flight have the opportunity to tour the World War II era bomber.

•   History in Flight at Heritage Flight Museum
  

  A Bellingham diversion that is truly great for all ages is the Heritage Flight Museum. From little kids fascinated with planes in flight to aficionados of space travel to the veterans that flew these aircraft for the United States armed forces, everyone in the family has something to enjoy at the museum. Major General William Anders helped found the Heritage Flight Museum in 1996 to honor military veterans and preserve military aircraft for flight.

•   A Unique Program at St. Francis Childcare
  

  When I arrive at St. Francis Childcare, the center is buzzing in preparation for a family night with activity centers, food, and games. A unique component of this family night is that families and staff will be joined by the residents of the nursing home in which the childcare center is housed. Opportunities to interact with the kids are why many of the residents have chosen St. Francis Extended Health Care.

•   WWU to Host Educational Youth Programs Winter Quarter
  

  Western Washington University’s Youth Programs will be hosting four upcoming academic enrichment programs for youth during Winter quarter, from a Friday night sleepover, a full Saturday to explore a topic of interest, or a daytime program sponsored by the Girl Scouts. Kids can become crime scene investigators, treasure hunters and more with these great programs that allow kids to experience the excitement of learning in college classrooms and labs.

•   Children's Museum Currently Closed
  

  On December 31, 2008, the Whatcom Children’s Museum closed the doors of the George S. Graham building on Prospect Street. The Children’s Museum, which opened to the public in 1989, has occupied this location since 2000. The future home of the Children’s Museum is currently under construction. The Lightcatcher Building will house the Whatcom Museum’s fine art galleries as well as an interactive gallery for kids and families.

•   Flight Museum Opens in New Location!
  

  Bellingham's Heritage Flight Museum opens the doors at its new facility on Saturday, 17 January 2009. Doors will open to the public at noon, with a formal program scheduled to start at 1:00pm. Events include a welcoming address, guest speaker, Color Guard presentation, and more! “We are really excited about our new place, and the tremendous possibilities it opens up for us… like being open more than once a month!” said Director of Programs, Kate Simmons.

•   Bergen Embroidery Provides Museum Apparel
  

  The Heritage Flight Museum is pleased to announce the support of Bergen & Company Embroidery Works in their continued fundraising efforts. Bergen is providing an Online Store where fans of the Museum could order their own clothing with the Museum logo. In addition to hosting the site and managing sales and orders, a donation for each use of the logo will be given to the Museum.

•   Egyptian Art Inspires Whatcom Educators
  

  Teachers and parents hoping to squeeze in history lessons this fall can start with an ancient Egyptian mural currently on display at Launching Success Learning Store in Bellingham. While admittedly an artist’s forgery of the real manuscript, the unusually large, hand-painted artifact was a gift to the store by Bellingham resident Sven Schroder. “I simply thought teachers would enjoy seeing it and Launching Success seemed to be the logical location,” Schroder explains.

•   Heritage Flight Museum Prepares to Move
  

  Bellingham's Heritage Flight Museum is moving again, to a longer-term facility located on the main road to the airport! HFM's Directors are pleased to announce that they have leased a newly constructed hanger from Tek Construction at 4165 Mitchell Way at Bellingham Airport. In order to complete the move as quickly as possible, the Museum will not be holding their monthly open houses, nor any other major public event, for the remainder of 2008.

•   Why Kids Will Love A Trip to the Library
  

  When I was a kid, libraries always filled me with a sense of wonder and possibility. But I know that not all kids are as easily captivated by books. To find out what resources at the Bellingham Public Library might be help get your kids excited about reading, I spoke to Bethany Hoglund, Bellingham Public Library's Children's Programming Specialist, and she had some useful tips for getting the most out of your family's library experience.

•   History of the Bellingham Public Library
  

  Every year since 1958, the American Library Association celebrates the second full week in April as National Library Week. Neighborhood-Kids.com encourages local families to celebrate this event by learning a little bit about the history of Bellingham libraries. Before the current library facilities were built, before the town of Bellingham even existed, there were two reading rooms organized in Fairhaven and New Whatcom in 1890 and 1891, respectively.

•   The American Museum of Radio and Electricity
  

  Kids are naturally curious. Just about everything they experience is new and exciting. And once they reach the age of two, they become expert inquisitors, capable of asking “why” until you’re blue in the face and can only manage a strained, “Just because!” in order to bring the madness to an end. If you’re looking to encourage your child’s natural appetite for knowledge, and find people who will actually be able to answer some of their questions, head over to the American Museum of Radio and Electricity.

•   All Aboard for the Railway Museum
  

  Whether you're a model train aficionado, a preschooler obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, or a history buff looking to learn more about the trains that traversed Whatcom County at the turn of the twentieth century, the Bellingham Railway Museum provides information and entertainment to a diverse community. Its sights and sounds will captivate the whole family!

•   A Trip to the Marine Life Center
  

  If eelgrass isn’t actually seaweed, what is it? What’s the difference between kelp crab and Dungeness crab? How do sea stars move around? The answers to these questions, and other interesting facts about local sea life, can be found at the Marine Life Center. This aquatic exhibit near Bellingham Bay has lots of sea creatures for kids to see and touch. And you can’t beat the price.

•   "By the Bay" at the Children's Museum
  

  Ahoy, mateys! 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.”

•   The Planetarium at Western
  

  A little-known gem on Western Washington University’s campus is the Planetarium, located on the third floor of Haggard Hall.