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Posted by Susan Carney May 19, 2008 |
We took our three year olds into Philadelphia on Saturday to visit the "Please Touch Museum", which, for those of you not from this area, is a mseum dedicated to kids 7 and under that offers a variety of exhibits that are completely hands-on and kid friendly.
Driving in from a far more rural area, entering the city is always a study in contrasts. My kids are spellbound by the tall buildings, the trains, the river, the Philadelphia Zoo "Zoo Balloon" that hovers gently over the expressway as we speed past. My daughter spots the radio towers each time, and we still laugh about the trip into the city when our son turned his head and shouted excitedly, "There's more city on this side!"
We love that they are so easily thrilled, and so eager to learn and absorb new things. We know there is a day in the future when we will probably have two sullen teenagers sitting in the back seat during any mandatory family trip. They will likely be hooked up to their ipods and tuning everything else around them out. But we are trying our best to keep that day as far in the future as we can. We want them to be engaged, interested, and involved.
We try to capitalize on any opportunity to point out something different and unusual, to involve them in discussions, to ask their opinions, to expand their horizons. We believe that exposing them to the world around them, both the unusual and the everyday, is what will help to keep their curiosity alive. We know there is always "More on this side!" and we can't wait for them to experience it.