Originally published at https://www.escondido.org on March 15, 2022.
The Healthcare Heroes exhibit sponsored by Palomar Health brings healthcare discovery to life.
The fun and learning opportunities are endless at the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum. Centrally located in Escondido near Grape Day Park, this indoor-outdoor interactive museum provides unlimited educational fun for children ages 0-10. With COVID restrictions lifted, the museum is open at full capacity and features a redesign that brings even more hands-on activities to children as soon as they walk into this fun-filled space.
“We redesigned the lobby and moved the gift shop, which opened up a new space for an additional exhibit,” said Kathleen Sandoval, the museum’s marketing and events manager. “The new Magnification Station let’s kids use magnifying glasses to look at the littlest creatures and creepy crawlers up close.”
The Magnification Station highlights even the tiniest creatures.
Two additional exhibits are the Kid’s Global Village, Roots Series and the Healthcare Heroes exhibit that was created in partnership with Palomar Health.
The Kid’s Global Village is a revolving exhibit that focuses on a country and provides children with information on how the culture lives and works in that country. Its current spotlighted country is Argentina. Here children can learn to tango, listen to interactive storytelling, create Argentinian neighborhoods in the craft station, and bring home a recipe for empanadas.
The Healthcare Heroes exhibit is an interactive and educational exhibit that is located in the museum’s Our Town: Careers and Community exhibit space and will run through November. It provides experiences that help demystify and calm fears around healthcare for children while introducing them to various medical professions such as doctors, nurses and administrative jobs. Kids can wear white coats, ride in an ambulance, work in an exam room or various specialty rooms. The exhibit gives children a strong sense of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts and how they relate in the medical profession.
A young doctor examines a patient.
“We wanted to create an exhibit in partnership with Palomar Health that would both be fun and educational for families,” said Krishna Kabra, CEO of San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum.
Outside, sensory play includes bubbles, blocks, water play, and more. The paleontology exhibit allows children to dig for bones and feel real fossils. The edible garden gives children a chance to understand where their food comes from and let’s them till the soil, water the garden, and taste the fruits and vegetables that grow there.
Squints and smiles at the bubble discovery station.
Living creatures such as chickens, butterflies and bees show children how our ecosystem works together to keep our planet healthy. Fun Animal Fridays bring an animal onsite giving children a chance to meet them and learn about the life of that animal.
Even though school field trips haven’t resumed, the museum has found a way to get to schools and the outside community.
“When we closed, we started creating Activity Kits to provide virtual learning outside of the museum,” Sandoval said.
These kits provide children and students hands-on learning projects that they can create at school or home. Palomar Health sponsored 3,000 healthcare-focused kits to be distributed to first and second-grade classrooms. A Roots activity kit featuring information about Spain will be distributed to San Diego libraries throughout the month of March and it will include a Picasso project. These popular kits have been widely appreciated throughout the county and Sandoval hopes they will continue to be supported even as guests begin to visit the museum again.
Onsite evening events have also come back to the museum. Nature Night is a new event that is sure to inspire children to develop a passion for all things nature. The family event takes guests on a quest to save the earth while using concepts learned from STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Math) activities.
While many of the play and learn features are standards within the museum, specialty exhibits are introduced about every two months and can be accessed through the museum calendar.
The San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum packs a lot of learning in its relatively compact space making it feel substantial, yet safe.
“One thing parents always tell us is it feels like a really safe environment,” Sandoval said. “Anywhere you sit in the museum, you can see your child.”
Parents are encouraged to play with their children throughout both the indoor and outdoor stations. The museum also provides spots for parents to sit and closely monitor their children if they interact and play with other children at any station.
Around the museum, guests can find Visitor Service Associates, or VSAs, who provide information and can answer questions about the exhibits and the museum. These members also lead programs and work in admissions.
Opportunities for community members to become VSAs or for students who are looking for internships can be found at the museum’s website.
“We are always looking for volunteers,”Sandoval said. “As far as internships, we usually partner with local universities and high schools. We’ve had interns from High Tech High and Classical Academy.”
The City of Escondido is a big supporter of the museum.
“The City provides various grants and funding for the museum,” Sandoval said. “Specifically our Access for All program.”
This initiative is part of the museum’s mission to make the space accessible for all by removing financial or physical barriers to attend the museum. Reduced admission is available for low income and military families.
“The Children’s Discovery Museum is an essential asset to our residents and to the greater San Diego region. We are fortunate to have a leading childhood education impact center in Escondido. The staff and the board of directors are engaged in creating unique and fun STEM education opportunities for children.” said Jennifer Schoeneck, Deputy Director of Economic Development.
Funding for the museum also comes from additional grants, partnerships with local corporations, and private donors.
In addition to all the new and exciting changes that continue to happen at the museum, the board is working on creating a new mission statement and vision that they plan to announce sometime this year.
“There are many new and exciting things currently happening here and we look forward to announcing even more,” Sandoval said.
The San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum is located at 320 North Broadway in Escondido and is open Tuesday through Saturday.