CALM and Museum offer summer fun

mussummer032: Museum adventures for childrenIt is not too early to start making plans that will include your children in activities to entertain and educate them through the entire summer. The California Living Museum (CALM), located between Lake Ming and Hart Park and the Kern County Museum located at 3801 Chester Avenue in Bakersfield have joined forces to provide an entire summer of weekly, fun activities for the children, beginning June 7 and concluding August 26.

It kicks off on June 7, when the museum begins hosting its “Summer Day Camps” with two intriguing events — “Surfin Safari” for children ages 5-8 and “People — Past and Present, A Celebration of Kern County Life” for the 9-12 age group. Both five day camps conclude with a luau for all the children on June 11.

“It’s a blast but educational, too,” said Jackie Brouillette, museum education and volunteer services manager. “History and Space will be part of the program, plus a chance for the children to take tours of different museum exhibits to learn about the past. One day of the week, we will take the younger children to meet with their older peers who will teach them what they have learned during their week at the museum. It’s educational, but our philosophy is children learn best when they don’t realize they are being taught. It is their vacation. So we make sure it is fun for them.”

The museum will also offer five-day summer camps from June 28-July 1, July 12-16, July 26-30, August 9-13 and August 23-26. Other day camp themes include: “Science Safari,” “African Safari,” “Mad Science Workshop,” “Art Safari,” “Art Around the World” and “Space Safari.” Day camp hours are 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Brouillette said space is filling quickly for the day camps which have a capacity for 20 children each. Cost is $75 per five-day session for museum members and $90 for nonmembers. To register or for more information, contact Brouillette at (661) 852-5054. Additional museum information can be found on its Web site, http://www.kcmuseum.org.

When the museum Summer Day Camps are not in session, CALM will be thrilling children, ages 6-12, with excursions into the world of animals and plants at its popular “Zoo School.” The first week of Zoo School is June 15-18, when children, ages 6-8, will find out about “Fur, Feathers, Scales and Exoskeletons,” while their 9-12 age group peers will learn to think like entomologists, geologists, botanists and paleontologists in a four-day session called “Be an...Ologist.”

“Zoo School is an engaging and interactive opportunity for children to see and learn about the animals and plants around them,” said Debby Kroeger, CALM manager. “Children learn specifically about native California wildlife, how each species is fit to survive, and why they are important in the balance of nature. Zoo School is fun and educational.”

Other Zoo School four-day sessions are planned for June 22-25, July 6-9, July 20-23 and August 3-6. Fascinating theme titles include: “Zoopendous,” “Sensing Your World” and “At Home.” Zoo School is in session from 8 a.m.-12 p.m., Tuesday-Friday. Children can be dropped off as early as 7:45 a.m. but must be picked up by 12:30 p.m. Cost is $55 for CALM members and $70 for nonmembers and includes T-shirt, snacks, craft supplies and materials. Kroeger reminds that class size is limited. To register or for more information, contact Kroeger at (661) 872-2256, ext. 12. If you would like to find out more about CALM, check its Web site at http://www.calmzoo.org.
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