Get into the Act

At the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, kids don’t just get to learn about the circus. They can actually pretend they’re in the circus themselves, thanks to all of the interactive exhibits found in the site’s Circus Museum and Tibbals Learning Center.

Ever wondered what it would be like to take to the high wire? Kids (and adults) can make like Nik Wallenda and test their balance on the museum’s tightrope. Just a few inches above the floor, it starts off wider than usual but narrows as it goes along. It’s not that hard at first, but by the end both Lindsay and I were wiggling and wobbling (and gaining a whole new appreciation for Wallenda’s recent Niagara Falls feat).

We had a hard time getting Lindsay off of the bareback “horse,” where she practiced her arabesques and other tricks. She also squeezed into a clown car and admired all the sparkly costumes and ornate circus wagons on display.

The Tibbals Learning Center is home to one of the museum’s coolest exhibits: the Howard Bros. Circus Model. The largest miniature circus on the world, it includes eight tents, 152 wagons, 1,300 circus performers and workers, and more than 800 animals, capturing all of the spectacle that surrounded the arrival of the circus in town.

But it’s not just all clowns and acrobats at the Ringling Museum. The site also includes the over-the-top Cà d’Zan mansion, a 56-room Venetian Gothic estate right on Sarasota Bay. Wannabe princess Lindsay was ready to move right in.

The Museum of Art houses the collection of Old Masters artwork amassed by circus magnate John Ringling and his wife, Mable. It’s impressive but might feel a bit highbrow for most kiddos. (And be warned—all the naked statues and cherubs on view might lead to giggles, uncomfortable questions, or some combination of the two.)

Ticket prices for adults are a bit steep at $25, but kids six to 17 are just $5, and kids under six are free. Want to save some cash? Plan your visit for September 29, when the Ringling Museum will be participating in Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day Live! program. Register in advance for free admission for two and you can enjoy the site’s cultural riches even if you’re on a budget.

Wondering No More

I will admit it: That upside down building on International Drive in Orlando has always intrigued me. So much so that I suggested a trip to WonderWorks Orlando during a recent visit to the city. But after I got my husband, daughter, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law on board, I started to worry a little about what we might find there. Would it be wackily whimsical or weirdly woeful?

Luckily, WonderWorks exceeded my expectations. Yes, it was teeming with tourists and summer campers. But it also offered opportunities for many entertaining and educational experiences.

In the course of a couple of hours, Lindsay felt the force of a simulated magnitude 5.3 earthquake, created some monster bubbles, lay (very briefly) on a bed of nails, climbed into a replica Mercury space capsule, and stuck her hand into some icy cold water meant to demonstrate the conditions faced by the passengers on the Titanic.

We all got a good laugh when she posed in full astronaut gear, and again when her body appeared to disappear thanks to a mirror-covered box. And we adults got to put our powers of perception to the test in the Far Out Illusion Gallery, where we marveled at an image of Jesus floating on the wall and other tricks that our eyes and minds played on us.

“I love WonderWorks!” Lindsay shouted as we neared the end of our visit. And I was just happy that our trip to what could have been a tourist trap didn’t wind up being an experiment gone wrong.

Streetcar Simplicity

My daughter knows what a tweet is. She can navigate an iPad with the best of them. So during a recent visit to Tampa, it was heartening to see that she got just as much of a thrill from an old-fashioned form of transportation as from a spirited session of Angry Birds.

We were cruising around the city on the TECO Line Streetcar System, which travels between Tampa’s Ybor City neighborhood and the southern edge of its downtown area. In car-centric Florida, we don’t get many chances to try out different modes of public transportation. So Lindsay excitedly climbed aboard the bright yellow, vintage-looking electric streetcar that pulled up to our stop in Ybor City.

We were the first passengers to board, so we had our pick of the car’s polished wood seats. Soon we began to make our way to the Channel District. My husband and I were happy to let someone else do the driving; Lindsay enjoyed watching the driver as he maneuvered the streetcar down the tracks, tooting its horn now and then to alert cars and pedestrians to its movements.

Thanks to this throwback to the early twentieth century, we were able to cover a lot of ground during our day in Tampa, without having to traverse unfamiliar city streets or search for parking spaces. And Lindsay got a taste of what life was like before everyone just punched coordinates into their own GPS devices.

Want to read more about our day riding the TECO Line Streetcar System? Check out my story in the July/August 2012 issue of RSW Living (free registration required).  

Forging a Pint-Sized Patriot

“Mom, did George Washington really live here?” my daughter, Lindsay, asked me as we stood outside the picturesque stone house set amidst a cluster of towering trees. While many spots along the Eastern Seaboard love to lay claim to the fact that the first prez spent a night under their roofs, this place provided more than just overnight accommodations for Washington. The general lived here for several months during the Continental Army’s 1777-1778 winter encampment at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.

We saw where Washington held strategy sessions and where he laid his head after a long day of commanding the troops. Much of the house is original, so as we went up and down the stairs we were using the same banister George himself had used, which I thought was pretty cool.

What Lindsay was most intrigued by was the contrast between Washington’s somewhat swanky sleeping quarters (a cushy bed, a pretty rug underfoot) and the huts made from logs and mud that the soldiers shared along Valley Forge’s lines of defense. As she peered into a few replica huts, she noticed the dirt floors, very uncomfortable-looking bunk beds, and the darkness that resulted from a lack of windows.

These were a few stops we made as we took the self-guided driving tour of Valley Forge National Historical Park in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. A ranger-led walking tour was also available, but that might have been pushing it with a five-year-old. But Lindsay did thoroughly enjoy the Once Upon a Nation storytelling benches at a couple of spots along the driving tour, where we learned about the first official celebration of George Washington’s birthday and the German word for “stupidhead” (told to us during the tale of how Prussian army officer Baron von Steuben helped train the Continental Army).  

I’m a self-proclaimed history nerd, so I’m glad to see that my daughter is developing an appreciation for our country’s past. And Valley Forge was a great place to nurture that appreciation, with its historic buildings, impressive statues and monuments, pretty scenery, and ample leg-stretching opportunities. Plus, if offers some interesting perspective on the perks of being in power. 

Just Pretend

“What would you like for lunch?” my apron-clad daughter asked me as I sat in a little booth in a replica train dining car. After I made my selection off of the laminated menu, Lindsay scurried off to the “kitchen” to prepare my “meal.”

The Bucks County Children’s Museum isn’t huge. And a tween-ager might get a little bored there. But the under-ten set can definitely give their imaginations a good workout at this recently opened spot in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Lindsay spent lots of time in the museum’s Town Square section, home to the train car as well as a general store exhibit where kids can shop or play cashier. In the post office area, she carefully sorted postcards into their proper P.O. boxes, begrudgingly handing over the mailbag (and her orderly handiwork) to another little one who wanted to give postal delivery a try.

With shovel and brush in hand, Lindsay dug for “fossils,” uncovering artifacts like a wagon wheel and a conch shell used on the Delaware Canal. After a few trips down the slide at the indoor tree house and a stroll through a small-scale covered bridge, she created her own car using bins of Lego-like blocks, then gave her vehicle a test ride down two hilly tracks.

This is exactly the kind of place I wish I had close to my hometown. With its reasonable general admission prices ($7) and membership rates ($75 a year for a family of four), the museum offers a fun, fantasy-filled, budget-friendly spot at which to spend an afternoon.    

On the Same Page

I love the library. I always have. I still have fond memories of attending story hour at the library in my childhood hometown, of making my way to the special space over which an amazing children’s librarian presided.

I’ve been known to visit libraries during my travels. And not just world-famous ones like the New York Public Library. But smaller, more community-centric ones like the library in Bridgton, Maine, into which my husband, daughter, and I strolled during a summertime day trip to the town. And every time we visit my in-laws in Pennsylvania, my daughter pays a visit to the Warminster Township Free Library.

We frequent the library when we’re not traveling too, checking out books and taking part in some of the free programming offered for kids. We’re blessed with two great libraries in our current hometown of Venice, Florida, the Venice Library and Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Library. Both offer all kinds of free kids’ activities, from story time and Lego clubs to screenings of popular animated movies. Lindsay is particularly partial to the arts-and-crafts sessions, where she’s made a cute little owl out of a toilet-paper roll, a fashion-forward Father’s Day card, and other masterpieces.

Of course, all those books also prove a big draw for her, just as they do for her mom. I’ve got a little library lover on my hands. And someone who’ll willingly wander with me into any library we come across in our travels. Who knows what kind of program or activity we’ll find waiting inside? And if all else fails, we won’t have any problem finding something good to read.

Wet but Not So Wild

Lots of the hotel pools at the Walt Disney World Resort have waterslides that twist and turn and splash riders into the water below. But if you have a kiddo like mine who’s not known for being brave, the pool area at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort is a great place for little ones to test the waters when it comes to slipping and sliding.

The children’s water play area includes three waterslides sized just right for kids under 48 inches tall, two standard slides and one tube-style slide. Kids splash down into a shallow, contained area, so there’s no need to worry about them navigating deeper waters or crowded pools.

There’s water squirting out from all over the pirate ship–themed play structure; kids can even control the level of spray in most places by turning wheels that reduce or increase the flow. The whole time they’re playing, a huge bucket fills up with water overhead. When a bell starts ringing, that signals that the bucket is about to tip over, spilling its contents all over anyone below. Some kids relish this soaking; others (like my daughter in her younger days) run away from the dousing.

On our most recent trip to Caribbean Beach, Lindsay braved the slides at the main pool area, including an 80-foot-long one that traveled inside a faux fort. But she still spent lots of time skipping and splashing through the children’s play area, even standing in the path of the spilling bucket a few times. She may be getting bigger, but she’s still able to appreciate when good things come in small packages.