PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

Play is work and work is play, they say. The Habitot Children’s Museum offers kids a quality opportunity to learn and explore through imagination and discovery. A hands-on learning center, the museum includes such sites as a toddler garden with wooden carrots in holes, padded tunnels to crawl through, and a miniature café and grocery store to navigate through. Children around age three and above can spend an unfathomable amount of time playing in a their-size world.

The short 20-minute drive to the museum, located in Berkeley, is absolutely worth experiencing this popular and well-run establishment. The Habitot Children’s Museum even hold its own special exhibits, such as the Fire Station display where kids can touch, move things, climb and jump (and learn as children do best). Other special exhibits include Train Week, where children can run trains at a brand new train table, ride on miniature trains, play with mini BART trains, and even create a boxcar. They can participate in the Day with the Dentist exhibit, and listen to professional dentists talk about teeth health, receive gift bags, make and decorate a giant toothbrush, and play toothbrush limbo. Learning doesn’t get much more fun than this.

Habitot is a great venue for special events, camps, and classes. The museum is a fun and creative way to spend a birthday. Birthday party rental options includes a 2-hour rental for up to s75 guests for $325; a birthday room rental at the cost of $16 per child; and private parties for 30 guests for $295. The museum also holds special classes for both children and parents. Classes for children include such focuses as ceramics, drama, carpentry, and cooking. Parents can take CPR classes and become certified, can learn about anger management, or can learn how to potty train their child. Habitot holds week-long seasonal camps in winter and spring, which includes art, music, stories, dramatic play, and of course free exploratory play and snacks.

For such a great experience, deciding to make the drive is a no-brainer. And the ride back will seem even shorter with a fun discussion that will inevitably ensue. Let your children (and their imaginations) run wild.