New components challenge children

The new Power of Play Children’s (POP) Museum located within Sci-Port Discovery Center opened to the public Monday, Nov. 21.

The museum is designed for children 8 and under, providing opportunity for them to explore, solve problems and discover innovation, said Sci-Port President and CEO Ann Fumarolo.

“POP allows us to expand the Sci-Port mission and grow with our visitors,” she added.

“It will truly be a community hub for exploration in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM),” said Power of Play Manager Christie Rodriguez.

While the nation has seen an increased focus on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, Rodriguez said, art is being recognized as playing a critical role in success for the other areas.

“There is an artistic component to science, technology, engineering and math,” she explained. “There are collaborative, creative and critical thinking elements in art, which is why we’re moving to STEAM, as opposed to just STEM.”

Every single exhibit in the POP museum provides an opportunity for children to be exposed to one or more of the STEAM components.

For instance, the Maker Space, sponsored by Harrison Paints, combines both art and engineering as it encourages children to make new things using familiar household items such as yogurt containers, chopsticks, recycled paper and egg cartons.

Using familiar items in new and unexpected ways prepares children who are 8 and below for critical thinking and problem solving and also helps to build their confidence, Rodriguez said.

The museum is designed to start conversations that might not have begun otherwise, to build kindergarten preparedness, to promote relevancy and provide accessibility.

In addition, the various spaces at the museum encourage children to think about their experiences in other places.

“We want families to interact within the space, but also to take their experiences home with them and out into the community,” Rodriguez said. Toward that end, the POP museum is designed as a miniature Shreveport-Bossier City, with each space in the museum sponsored by and replicating an area business. “These are places children can recognize within the community.”

For example, one space in the museum replicates Selber Bros. Department Store, which back in the day was “the shop” in Shreveport-Bossier, Rodriguez said. This space provides opportunity for children to walk the runway, dress mannequins, create clothing and build sets. Children are challenged to use different shapes and textures to build a design, experiencing the design process, from creation to revision to finishing touches.

The museum also has a space called The Duck Pond, for children aged 2 and under.

“Parents with young kids can relax while the young ones explore the space on their own,” said Rodriguez. The area is a clean, sterile environment that provides sensory development and gross motor skills development.

There are a total of 19 spaces in the museum to include, aside from those already mentioned, Chase Bank, Brookshire’s Grocery Store, a café (currently for sale and in need of a sponsor), Southern Hills Vet Hospital, a water table, a barn, a garden, a house by Hamilton Builders (kids can actually build a house), a treehouse, a fire and safety building, a newsstand, a performing arts area, a putting green, a dentist’s office, and a nursing nook for breastfeeding moms.

The POP museum is about 10,000 square feet and has been in the works for about two years, Rodriguez said, who came to Sci-Port from the Children’s Museum of Houston.

“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from mothers who have 4-year-olds and below,” she said.

General admission to the POP Museum is $7, and a membership to POP starts at $130.

POP is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

POP is the third attraction housed within the 92,000-square-foot science and entertainment center that is Sci-Port Discovery Center. Also included in Sci- Port is Louisiana’s Science and Space Center (what visitors normally think of when they think about Sci-Port) and Louisiana’s only IMAX Dome Theater.

Louisiana’s Space and Science Center includes over 200 hands-on exhibits, interactive programs and demonstrations and the Sawyer Space Dome Planetarium.

The IMAX Dome Theater immerses guests in award-winning films through state-of-the-art technology.

Sci-Port’s accolades include Best Science Attraction for Kids in Louisiana, Attraction of the Year in Louisiana, and one of Parents magazine’s top 10 science centers in the nation.

Sci-Port is a member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, the Association of Children’s Museums and the LA Space Consortium. The Center is located at 820 Clyde Fant Parkway on the downtown Shreveport riverfront.

– Tammy Sharp

For More Information:

For information regarding hours, IMAX showings or special programs, call 424-3466, toll free at (877) 724-7678 or visit sciport.org.