Stevie has sort of a reputation with museums. They sound so good and fun in theory, but usually end up in an embarrassing disaster. By the time Stevie was 5, we’d been to almost every museum in Los Angeles (and dragged out of almost every museum in Los Angeles). And it was about that same time that I gave up trying. Even the Petersen Automotive Museum, which sounds like a slam dunk, just doesn’t hold his interest.
So when we were invited to come see the MOXI, Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, I couldn’t exactly say no… but also went in with very low expectations. I figured Stevie would last about 15 minutes, max. But I loaded the car with snacks and songs that Stevie likes, and we made the haul to Santa Barbara anyway.
Now, Santa Barbara in and of itself, is one of my favorite places to be. Period. The weather is great. The architecture is beautiful. The vegetation and plant life are exceptional. You put this girl in an old, Spanish-style town, covered in bougainvillea and close to the water? Well. You’ll have a happy lady on your hands.
You add in a museum with car racing, toy parachutes, and a giant lite-bright smack dab in between the SB train station and the beach? Turns out you’ll have a happy Stevie on your hands too!
The museum is pretty small. But Stevie stayed in each area nearly 30 minutes because the activities were so engaging. And I loved that his limited fine motor skills didn’t actually limit him at all. He was able to participate without much help (which minimized tantrums). So when I say these activities are good for kids of all ages, I mean it.
We started out playing with pom-poms. You’d stick the pom-pom in a wind tunnel and watch it fly up through a maze of tubes and shoot out the top. Fun.
Then we toyed around with parachutes. These were a slightly upgraded version of the little parachute men you get in a grab bag at a birthday party. Place them on a grate blowing air and watch them fly up high. FUN.
We moved upstairs to a giant race track. You start by building your own wooden car (kind of like putting together thick puzzle pieces). Place the car on a lift that takes it up to the top of the track and then race down against the other wooden cars. SO FUN. (Not to brag, but the car that Stevie I made won a handful of times. Ok that was to a brag. A little bit.)
It was around this time that we started getting hungry for lunch, so we wrapped it up, playing with a few last things and then just walked the 2 blocks from the museum to the beach and ate a picnic lunch staring at the ocean. We even got the see the Surfliner train pass right by. Up close and personal. That was a hit for sure.
So the bottom line. If you ever find yourself in Santa Barbara with the littles, make this stop a priority. If Stevie liked it, everyone will! Guaranteed!*
*Not actually guaranteed.
Do you have a favorite museum in your area?
loves,
jaana