A Quaint Corner

I thought I had a brilliant idea this week; I would pack up the girls and drive to Altoona to visit  A Quaint Corner Children's Museum and along the way E, my 8 month old, would nap and be ready to play when we arrived! But how does the saying go about how to make God laugh?  45 minutes of screaming, crying baby later we arrived in Altoona; nerves fried we decided we needed a break before heading to the museum so the girls and I got some lunch, walked around for a bit then headed to 2000 Union Avenue to explore the museum.  If, like myself, you are not familiar with Altoona you will have to use your GPS to get here; nestled near old factories, train tracks and warehouses, A Quaint Corner is not an easy find and parking is minimal so be prepared to circle the block.  But admission is only $2 for anyone over the age of 2!  The museum is housed in an 1890's three-story, brick mansion, with French doors, carved hardwood throughout and stained glass windows.

Loading her cart at the Grocery Store

The Museum is laid out on all floors of the house, including the basement.  It's mission is to spark the imagination of children and nurture growth through play!  When we arrived we were immediately introduced to the daughter of one of the Museum's staff so with her new friend in tow M ascended three flights of stairs and began her afternoon of play.  The girls decided they would go shopping at the grocery store, they chose their items carefully and headed to check out with a cart filled mostly with icecream, waffles, and bananas!  The grocery store is equipped with several shelves of food, a hanging produce scale, two cash registers, carts and money.  The money was the biggest hit, the girls handed each other their groceries, happily paying $127 dollars for a gallon of milk!

Examining an X-ray

They then became veterinarians at the Animal Hospital.  Ever since we took M to see the Bodies exhibit in Toronto, she has been fascinated by bones.  We have read books on bones, colored pictures of skeletons and just about every odd shaped, white rock she finds is a fossil!  So when she found an X-ray and working viewer she was beside herself.  She kept turning it on and off, switching films and studying the images seriously trying to determine what bones she was seeing.  This alone was worth the price of admission and if I hadn't eventually pulled her away to view the rest of the house she would have never left!  We met back up with our new friend in the Theatre room where the girls dressed in many different costumes and used the small stage to put on a show complete with dancing, music and singing!  E was also able to pull up on the edge of the stage and "dance" with her sister while playing (banging on) a xylophone! Here we met up with a young boy dressed as a policeman, he wanted to play the guitar but it did not have strings; angrily he put it down and said it was useless.  My Mommy pride swelled as M picked it up and said it was "for pretend" and began to play it for us in her one-girl acoustic jam!

Playing the giant pipe organ

In the science room we explored different pitches on a giant pipe organ, manipulated music by playing the air (breaking a laser beam transmitting a signal) and bent light using refractors.  The girls then wandered into the art room and settled in to create "masterpieces"!  Though M spent more time organizing the art supplies and rearranging chairs then actually creating she did leave with a collage made from buttons, yarn, foam stickers and pictures she cut out from a magazine.  As they were working the young policeman came running into the room to announce that he had found "the best room EVER!" Such a find could not be ignored and M took off after him.  When I met up with them they were in a completely empty room with one wall covered in what seemed to be a dry erase board with small LED flashlights hanging in front of it.  Nothing was happening as M flashed the lights on the board and I didn't think it even came close to being the best room ever.  But the policeman insisted we would love it!  He ran over and pulled the door shut behind us, filling the room with total darkness. He then grabbed one of the lights and began drawing on the board -- drawing with glowing, fluorescent light!  OK I got it, this was the best; we drew camp fires, practiced our letters and thoroughly enjoyed covering the wall with glowing graffiti!

There is nothing fancy about A Quaint Corner, the exhibits are simple and the rooms are not large but if your child loves using her/his imagination, meeting new friends and being creative then it is well worth the trip!