Tacoma Welcomes New Children's Museum

Ok well it’s not exactly new, but after a few terrible weekends of rain and snow I needed desperately to find an indoor activity for my kids to do. Remembering the fun we had last year at the Tacoma Children's Museum, I packed up the troops and headed for historical downtown.

When I arrived at my destination, I noticed they had moved. On January 9th, little to my knowledge, TCM had moved from its Broadway home at 1501 Pacific Avenue.

Wow what an upgrade!

The new structure trumps the old building. Set in a historic building the exploration play space is larger and more colorful then it’s prior. Once we entered we found payment policies had changed as well. The admission fees were gone away with. Now the TCM asks for donations for entry. So give as little, or as much as you can afford to play at the children's community center.

Upon entry we noticed the building was broken up into four play spaces they call; woods, water, voyager, and Becka's studio. The woods and voyager area look as those they were designed by tiny child engineers. I image the creators of these play areas sat in a room and really dug down deep to their 8 year old selves to come up with dream land of tree houses, caves, and magic flying machines.

By far, my children's favorite space was the water area. This area is not for the OCD control freak mom. So if you go choose this attraction do it last, grab a bib for the kid, and take a deep breath - they will get wet. My little two year olds sleeves became little sponges of wet fluff within 2 minutes. But she had a blast. Becka's studio is a theme that traveled from the old building. However one change was the painting wall. This area gives children the freedom to do what they can’t at home - color on the walls. Again if you are an OCD mom, take a deep breath and let them have fun. :)

The space is designed to keep a lot of people in but not feel crowed and claustrophobic. Unlike its old location, the new has wide open spaces with high ceilings. There is little need for artificial light as several windows let in beautiful natural light. Being a photographer, I adore natural light in my work as it is the best to take photographs in. So it’s not uncommon for me to notice a space that is lit well. So moms bring your cameras with you as it’s a perfect opportunity to take some great photographs. I've attached a few I took of them playing in the water, woods and paint play spaces as Im rarley without my gear.

After the kids were burned out we followed up our day at my favorite cupcakery Hello Cupcake for a small snack. This little gem is just a few blocks down the road at 1740 Pacific Ave and serves up some of the best cakes I have ever tasted. We like to sit at the bar stools that face outside to the street so that we can do a little people watching.

So the next time it rains, snows, hails or whatever else Mother Nature throws our way - check out downtown Tacoma for some family fun. In fact this weekend calls AGAIN for crummy weather. If you had a good time stop by and tell me on my Facebook wall. Would love to hear about your experience.

- Ang

www.angiecoxphotography.com or LIKE me on Facebook