Over the last several months, the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, California has launched three new sections, several of which are years in the making.
The popular children’s museum — which draws families from all over the Bay Area and beyond — launched its brand new Try It Studio and How Things Work sections, as well as a newly designed and completely remodeled Tot Spot. The new areas focus on experiential learning, play for younger kids, and early STEAM education.
The Try It studio focuses heavily on STEM and the arts, with exhibits intended to help kids as young as 3–5 explore topics including 3D printing, 3D modeling, music, and the like. The exhibits include tables with a variety of geometric objects with which kids can play, a projector and camera which blends virtual and physical environments, and a giant music box that kids can “program” by moving large wooden pegs, and can use to play popular nursery rhymes and short songs. Bonus points if you can get it to play “Baby Shark.”
Another popular area of the Try It studio is a section of the wall with a variety of locks and fasteners. Kids can open and close tiny pretend doors, turn locks, experiment with screws and screwdrivers, and otherwise explore hardware that would normally be off-limits. If you spend about half your day screaming at your child to stop attempting to open the front door, this section is for you. The studio also features a classroom and 3D printers. You can never start makers too young.
The new How Things Work section includes a variety of exhibits featuring everyday objects which have been cut in half so that children can see their insides, and better understand how they work. These include objects such as a billiards table, a piano, a guitar, a model car, an oven, and a fire hydrant. If you’re an engineering type or enjoy disassembling device, you’ll probably enjoy this section just as much as your kid.
A popular exhibit in the How Things Work section is a see-through toilet filled with real water. Kids can flush the toilet and visualize how plumbing systems work, learning more about their own homes. If you’ve fielded hundreds of your kids’ questions about the minutiae of plumbing and toilets — or had to repeat the phrase “Wait, you can’t flush it again until the tank refills” 1,000 times — you’ll appreciate that this section lets your kid flush the toilet as many times as they want, and provides a visual demonstration of why flushing in rapid succession doesn’t work.
The final new section is the revamped Tot Spot. The Tot Spot is geared towards smaller kids under 42 inches tall, but bigger siblings are allowed to enter as helpers as well. The new Tot Spot features more natural, gentle geometrics forms and padded surfaces, making it accessible to new crawlers and young toddlers. It includes a wooden and rope-based tree which kids can climb, as well as several gently inclining wood staircases, a large waterbed-like section on which kids can stand and jump, and many natural objects for curious kids to explore. It’s the perfect place to start socializing your pandemic baby.
Bay Area Discovery Museum follows Covid-19 procedures, and reservations are required to enter the museum. The Tot Spot is currently open to members only, and reservations must be made in advance for this section — visit the museum’s website to sign up. Masks must be worn by those over 2 years old, and certain sections of the museum have capacity restrictions to prevent crowding.
The new sections are an exciting addition to one of the region’s best children’s museums and are definitely worth a visit with your budding engineer or artist.
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