Like most moms I know, I consider our area's children's museums a staple in my rotating repertoire of awesome rainy-day activities. So when I received the assignment to visit a few museums outside this realm – places that aren't just for kids – I wondered how my children were going to respond.
My 5-year-old son, Nathan, and 3-year-old daughter, Caitlyn, ventured off the beaten path with me to visit four King County museums in one week, and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Given the right mix of interactive activities and parental encouragement, my kids were getting their dose of history and having fun, too.
This week: The Wing Luke Asian Museum
Happily nestled in its new home in the International District, The Wing Luke Asian Museum is a treasure trove of Asian-American culture, art and history. As you walk in, the high-beamed ceilings, colorful wind-chime sculpture and natural wood of the 100-year-old East Kong Yick Building offers a great ambiance. There is plenty to see in the various galleries, but I recommend that families start out with the fabulous new exhibit "Cultural Transcendence" and the interactive KidPLACE area.
With a focus on experimental media, the works in "Cultural Transcendence" offer people a chance to be involved in the artistic process. This was a big hit with my kids. Nathan and Caitlyn took turns carefully spinning the crank on an old-fashioned music box, which (somehow) projected music notes up on the wall for a cartoon bird to interact with. In the installation art "Shin'm," the kids slipped on a jacket with light sources at the end of the sleeves and pointed around the dark room so that "bubbles" of light followed their movements. This exhibit runs through June 19.
KidPLACE is a rotating exhibit and, as the name suggests, is family-friendly. Until July 3, it explores how different Asian cultures celebrate the New Year. We watched a TV demonstration of how to make the Japanese confection mochi (and later picked some up at our local Asian supermarket to try). We marveled at the lion dance costume and played the dice-rolling game "Lucky Chess."
It was here that I had an Aha! moment: It isn't just what kids learn from the exhibits, but what you talk about as a family that helps bring it all home. In the car ride over, I told the kids we were going to learn about the different cultures of Asia. I also described what the word "culture" meant. A few hours later, Nathan formulated a wish for the new year, which I was to write and hang on the rack in the KidPLACE entryway. He wished that "everyone would be together…all the different cultures." And that really said it all.
Taryn Zier is a freelance writer based in Lake Forest Park and mother of two avid museum-goers, ages 3 and 5.
