Several months ago, I heard that a group of people were organizing to support the development of a Children’s Museum in Savannah. I was vaguely interested – I want to encourage the arts, and I’m always looking for something fun to do with Camille. But in my mind, a museum was a place to hang art or display objects that cannot be touched, and I wasn’t sure how exactly a children’s museum would work.

Then a friend told me about the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry, and it sounded like a lot of fun. I had an opportunity to visit Jeff, Michelle and Stella when they were on a trip to Charleston last week, so we decided to all go check it out.

AND IT WAS AWESOME!

Tucked into what appeared to be an old warehouse in downtown Charleston, was a haven of fun where kids can learn, explore and imagine. I don’t know which exhibit was my favorite. Camille and Jeff liked this one, where you learn about the natural water cycle and how we use dams and other mechanisms to control water. Camille was a bit young for the lesson, but she enjoyed playing with the boats and plastic sea creatures while Jeff tried to float a barge through the play town without flooding the crops (I think Jeff liked it as much as the kids did).

We also loved the room with a huge shrimp boat, complete with nets you could cast over the edge to haul in plastic fish and shrimp, and scales to weigh your catch. They even had rain boots and ponchos for the kids to wear.

Then, it was on to the pretend grocery store, with kid-sized shopping carts and all sorts of healthy (fake) food on the shelves. Camille would’ve put everything in her cart if I let her (girl, I know the feeling – never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry), but I encouraged her to stick to the 6-item limit and take her cart to the super-cool checkout, where Uncle Jeff was waiting to ring her up.

Camille Goes Grocery Shopping from Ginger on Vimeo.

There was an infant/toddler play area too, with lots of tunnels and soft blocks and baby dolls, even a few comfy chairs for nursing mothers. Stella was quite happy in this room too!

One of my favorite exhibits was the castle/medieval room. Kids climb the spiral staircase to find miniature medieval beds, benches, and even costumes. Camille snagged this wizard getup and marched around the castle, happy as could be.

If we lived in Charleston, we’d be getting a museum membership. Better yet, I need to find out who’s organizing the effort to bring a children’s museum to Savannah and get involved. We need one of these!