From an early age, kids are fascinated by water.
A new exhibit at Port Discovery Children's Museum capitalizes on that fascination.
Wonders of Water is the name of the $400,000 exhibit, the first permanent one added to the museum since it opened in December 1998.
The new aquatic playground on the museum's third level lets kids interact with water in a variety of ways. They can pump it, squirt it, make giant bubbles with it, play music with it, float boats on it -- just about anything short of bathing in it. And that appeals to kids' natural interest in all things liquid.
"You think of water guns, sprinklers, the garden hose in the backyard," said David Berman, the museum's director of exhibits. "From very early on, water is part of a child's experience. There's an automatic fascination with getting wet."
Built at a cost of $32 million inside Baltimore's former municipal fish market at 35 Market Place, Port Discovery replaced a smaller children's museum at the Cloisters in Baltimore County.
Wonders of Water is the first permanent exhibit at Port Discovery that has water as its theme. It's fitting for a regional attraction that has the word "port" in its name. Its opening this winter is the first of 10 events and programs the museum is holding to commemorate its 10th year.
Berman, who has been on the staff for seven years, said water-oriented activities are popular at many other children's museums, including those in Boston, Houston, Indianapolis and San Jose, Calif. They also tend to require more staffing and maintenance than other exhibits, which may be why Port Discovery didn't have one at the outset, he said.
Wonders of Water consists of components that enable kids to explore water in different ways. The target age range is 3 to 8.
There's a "stream table" that lets kids follow the path of water down a simulated mountain and riverbed, with locks, dams and water wheels along the way; "Block Dock," a tabletop wharf where budding shippers can load boats with Lego blocks representing cargo; "Plumbers' Park," where amateur plumbers assemble pipes in different configurations to create fountains; "Bubble Hoop," a soapy hula-hoop contraption that creates giant bubbles; and "Musical Chimes," where kids can squirt water guns at drums and other musical instruments.
Elsewhere in the 1,600-square- foot space, kids can use squeegees to clean a window or watch a "real time" NASA video presentation of Earth as seen from outer space. A David Letterman-inspired activity called "Will it Float?" invites kids to guess whether an object will bob in water or sink. On the way out, large blow-dry tubes and heat lamps help kids dry off if they're wet.
As a port city proud of its maritime heritage, Baltimore has plenty of other attractions that play up the magic of water. Wonders of Water contains elements of many of them, from the pipes that kids can assemble to miniature boats on a simulated waterway. What sets this exhibit apart is the variety of experiences that kids can have in one relatively compact setting and the direct ways they are presented.
From the start, Port Discovery was designed to be part of a collection of urban attractions, a feeder museum that can whet kids' appetites about a particular subject and then show them where to learn more. If kids show an interest in boats, for example, parents can take them to visit the Constellation or the USS Torsk submarine in the Inner Harbor.
The exhibit was designed by Berman and others on the museum's staff. They received assistance from Filament Design of Reading, Mass., and Boss Display of Columbus, Ohio. Ricardo Cavazos of FormWorks Design in Baltimore and Stephen Hill of STH Design Associates of Timonium were the project's architects.
Berman said the staff is working to address a few problems with the exhibit, including floor surfaces that get slippery at times and a machine that doesn't always make bubbles the way it's supposed to. Staffers warn that kids can get wet in this exhibit and suggest that parents bring a change of clothes for them. The museum also provides slickers and Crocs for kids to wear.
Judging by the way kids and parents were interacting with the exhibit last week, it's getting the desired results.
Joe Lazzari of Columbia said the water exhibit appealed to both his 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. He said his son, Joseph, enjoyed his first visit to Wonders of Water so much that he asked to go back when they returned to the museum last week.
"I like playing with the water and controlling how it moves," Joseph said.
Mike Glasser of Pikesville said his three children had such a good time that "we had to drag them out of there." He likes that the water features are low enough to the floor that kids can lean in and touch water but "don't get soaked."
Ben Glasser, 8, said he had the most fun in the Musical Chimes area.
"I like when you get to squirt the instruments," he said.
ed.gunts@baltsun.com
Festivities
Port Discovery has planned a series of activities, besides its Wonders of Water exhibit, to mark its 10th anniversary this year. They include:
Going Green:
A celebration of St. Patrick's Day and the Save the Earth movement, March 15.
Countdown to Kindergarten:
A day for kindergarten-bound kids and their parents, April 19.
MayFair!:
The spring fundraiser, May 11.
Other events highlighting robots, healthy living and Hispanic culture, as well as a 10th anniversary gala in October, will follow.
Admission:
$11.75 for visitors age 2 and older; free for children younger than 2 and members.
Hours:
9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays; noon-5 p.m. Sundays; closed Mondays, but open 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. today for Presidents Day and other Maryland public school holidays.
Go to:
portdiscovery.org.