Site Plan View photo »

Upper level plan View photo »

Seafood City
What is it? What Tony’s Seafood might look like if Pee-wee Herman ran the place.
What’s in it? The “fish” from the last exhibit come here to be weighed and sold.
What’s it about? Most children’s museums have a grocery store, which tends to be a popular exhibit. “We have a seafood market instead of a grocery store.”—Stevens View photo »

Pet Vet
What is it? A clinic for nursing toy animals back to health.
What’s in it? Fake animals and chances to learn about the real ones, perhaps through partnerships with the LSU AgCenter or a local 4H Club; a real chick incubator. On the left, notice one of several reading nooks found throughout the museum.
What’s it about? “They get to practice nurturing skills and empathy.”—Stevens View photo »

River Deck View photo »

Mississippi Tug/Small World Air
What is it? A chance to role-play as a pilot or a riverboat captain.
What’s in it? The tugboat could contain a simulator similar to what riverboat captains use to train. On the right, you can see the Story Tree, a safe climbing structure that’s two stories tall.
What’s it about? “I feel like so many of our children never leave Baton Rouge. This will let them imagine, if they could get on an airplane, where would they go?”—Stevens View photo »

Our Small World
What is it? A space designed to change about every three months or so to reflect a different culture that exists in the Baton Rouge area. Members of each culture will participate in the exhibit’s creation.
What’s in it? A kitchen and dining area showing traditional foods, a room showing games children in another culture might play and a child’s room where kids can dress up boy and girl dolls in culturally appropriate attire.
What’s it about? “We want to point out the similarities between cultures, as much as the differences.”—Reb Haizlip View photo »

Lower level plan View photo »

Festival Court View photo »

Crawbaby/Fish Tales
What is it? An aquatic-themed exhibit inspired by childhood memories of going fishing that came up repeatedly in the brainstorming sessions.
What’s in it? On the left, a padded enclosure shaped like a pond with lots of soft sculptures and surprises that small children can crawl over, under and through. On the right, a pond with shallow water where kids can catch toy fish, which can be put on hooks that lead to a conveyer belt into Seafood City.
What’s it about? For one thing, they can learn a bit about the environment, “what does and doesn’t go in the pond.”—Stevens View photo »

Pizza Café
What is it? A place where kids are encouraged to play with their food.
What’s in it? Everything they need to make and serve fake pizza, possibly made from felt or wood pieces stuck together with Velcro.
What’s it about? Reading, math and role playing. “For them to be able to pretend to run a pizza restaurant, it’s something that they’ve seen, they’re familiar with it, they know what goes on there, but you put them in charge.”—Stevens View photo »

Car Care
What is it? A child’s idea of a repair shop.
What’s in it? A tool cabinet, which could contain both toy tools and the real thing, possibly a real older car if someone’s willing to donate one and a ramp for toy car races that double as gravity experiments.
What’s it about? “One of our goals is for kids to be able to use real stuff.”—Stevens View photo »

Building section View photo »

Bridges/ABC Building Company
What is it? Two exhibits in one. On the left is an arch project that can only be built with the cooperation of a few kids and at least one adult. Then they can knock it down. On the right, blocks for building whatever strikes their imagination.
What’s in it? Giant foam building blocks, an architect’s room in the back, a closed-off area where staff can help kids use real tools and a replica of the Interstate 10 bridge crossing an acrylic Mississippi River. The river is an organizing element that runs through the entire first floor.
What’s it about? Quantities, shapes, motor skills, imagination and teamwork. “Blocks are an ideal teaching tool.”—Stevens View photo »

Art House
What is it? A place to make “extreme art” in ways that would get kids in trouble if they tried them at home.
What’s in it? Paints, modeling clay, a station where children can make their own coloring books and a car they can paint.
What’s it about? “There’s no better way to get the creative juices flowing.”—Haizlip View photo »

Far Out Hair Salon
What is it? A salon, filtered through a child’s imagination.
What’s in it? Mannequins with wigs the kids can shape, replicas of those big hair dryers you can sit under and a computer terminal where children can experiment with pictures of themselves with different wacky hairstyles.
What’s it about? “We just thought there were a lot of opportunities to have fun with it. Kids love to imitate things they think their parents do.”—Kelli Stevens View photo »