Childrens Museum of the Low Country

On Thursday of our summer trip to the IOP, we decided to take a break from the heat and sun and head to downtown Charleston to the Children's Museum. Always a favorite for the kids, we though it would be a nice break on Thursday afternoon after nap time. John, Emily, and Walker drove the truck, while the little ones and I took the van since we needed to divide up after our visit. When the little ones and I arrived, we headed straight for the ball room. John and the big kids had not arrived yet, but the little ones started the fun without them.



Since the ball room was such a hit, we stayed there for quite a while, even after the big kids arrived. Walker and Emily seemed to enjoy going up to the top of the steps and letting the golf balls go down the ramp the most. Ansley really enjoyed the ramp on the far side where she tried to get the ball in a hole and Bailey liked trying to get balls in the buckets.



After the ball room we moved on to the water room where the girls really enjoyed painting on the board with water and Walker really seemed to like the makeshift water city. In addition, the kids enjoyed a boat race with their little plastic boats.



Next we moved on to the crab boat where all of the girls really liked pulling up the crab net and pretending to catch crab. Following the crab boat we made it to the market where all the kids filled up their carts with pretend food. By no surprise Ansley filled up a cart with fruit. After the kids were shopped out, we headed to the art room for a project. While we were there, they announced they were having science time, so I took Emily and Walker out to the front patio where they set up an experiment involving baking soda and vinegar to make rockets. The kids had a great time seeing the film canisters explode with the reaction.

Once we were done with science time, we headed back inside for a few minutes in the art room before it was time to leave for the reunion finale dinner.

The SC Children's Museum

Thursday morning we made our way downtown. It was rainy so we thought we would enjoy a fun morning at the SC Children's Museum. We parked in the parking lot by the visitors center and walked over to the Children's Museum. The Children's Museum of the Lowcountry is Charleston’s hands-on learning environment designed just for children ages 3 months to 12 years and their families and includes 8 interactive exhibits. When we first arrived, we went to the Raceways exhibit, which is a room where they can race golf balls through chutes, hoops and loops as you experience the laws of motion and physics first hand! This was probably one of Emily's favorite exhibits. Next we moved on to the WaterWise room where they can race a boat down rapids, paint with water on a large black board, take control of the water cycle and build an understanding of water’s importance in our lives. After WaterWise we briefly went into the Lowcountry Shrimping room where kids can discover the life of a Lowcountry shrimper. Take the wheel of our 30-foot replica shrimp boat and guide it through stormy seas, cast a net and weigh your catch on the dock scales. Next we were on to Creativity Castle. In this room kids are able to create a recycled art masterpiece, or make a special craft based on our weekly art room theme. This was probably Emily's second favorite room. While we were there, Emily and I painted and glued stuff on some pages of paper. Next we were on to the Castle Stories room where John put on a puppet show for the kids. In that room kids are able to immerse in medieval life. Read a book on King Arthur’s bed, dress up in a medieval costume or cook a feast in the castle kitchen. All five of us went up to the top of the castle to play. Finally we stopped back by the Raceways room for Emily to play a little before leaving. We walked back towards the parking garage and happen to see a cafe called the Green Tea. We stopped for some sandwiches before heading back to the IOP.