Travel NC With Kids: Iredell Children's Museum Offers Creative Play in Signal Hill Mall

Children's Museum in Signal Hill Mall

Folks in and near Iredell county have probably visited Signal Hill Mall in Statesville and have seen the unusual swiss cheese looking windows peeking into the Iredell Museum's Kids@play housed there. Although small at 1700 square feet, this children's museum includes quite a bit of creative and fun play for a variety of ages and abilities.

Hands-on Learning at Iredell County Children's Museum

Creative Way to Teach Kids About Senses

The first display that my kids noticed was near the back of the main room. It is a huge wooden face with eyes, eyebrows, glasses, and a nose. The kids can go inside of this unusual display through a tunnel behind the eyes. Everyone will quickly find buttons to push that will make a variety of sounds and the kids can learn a little about echoes and other sound-related concepts. My youngest particularly liked the button that would sound like a baby crying.

Learn Creative Ways to Make Music

Musical Trees Teach About Pitch

One of my favorite displays is the musical trees. Place a small plastic ball on top of one tree, and it will bounce lower and lower on wooden "branches." These branches are different lengths that produce different pitches. If you listen closely, you will recognize a tune as the ball makes its way to the bottom of each musical tree.

Imaginative Fun in Kids@Play in Iredell County NC


Learn Laws of Motion in Children's Museum	© Katrena

I remember being told so many times as a child to look with my eyes and not my fingers. This museum encourages kids to look with their fingers as they have the opportunity to place their hands inside and feel a hidden object and see if they can guess which object they are touching in the display. This one looks like a huge hand and encouraged my kids to think and use their sense of touch. My second oldest child particularly likes to explore with her whole body, so lots of hands-on educational opportunities get a thumbs up from her!

Have Fun at Statesville Children's Museum

Work on Hand-Eye Coordination

Learn About Science at Children's Museum

Kids can also learn about movement, centrifugal force, inertia, energy, heat, and many other science-related concepts as the colorful signs on the wall capture lots of information about the how and way things work in the museum. The displays are colorful and enable the kids to try out those concepts in a concrete way...and, of course, have fun!

Be Creative While Learning

The back room was a particular favorite of my youngest child. She quickly found a variety of puppets and immediately made herself at home lining all of them up for a story. She grabbed a book from the collection provided and gave the puppets quite a tale!

Encourage Art and Fun

One wall in the back room is a huge chalkboard, where the kids can create their own creative and colorful works of art. There were also tables with chalkboards on them so that the kids could write and draw on them also.

Explore and Learn

The Statesville Children's Museum offers various art activities at the craft table that may be based on a current holiday or season. We also found musical instruments, puzzles, and other hands-on items like an abacus at another table in the back room. My oldest was excited to get a chance to play the xylophone. Dress-up clothes are also in the back room, and the kids are in for a surprise if they decide to look at themselves in the mirrors back there because they distort shapes in various ways.

Kids@Play in Statesville NC

Iredell County Children's Museum

My kids particularly liked an area where they could play with sand or clay (I'm not sure which it was) and make small castles, fill cups and spoons, and make interesting shapes with the utensils provided. The small manual train set gave them the opportunity to learn a bit about magnets and construction.

Learn About Animals and Nature

The area in between the two rooms has a nature and wildlife theme and the kids love watching the live fish in the tanks. They can look at various types and sizes of shells and information about wildlife. I particularly liked learning about unusual qualities of hermit crabs.

Find Friendly Staff at Iredell Museum for Kids

I found the Iredell Museums Kids@Play to be friendly and full of fun things to do. My kids are different ages, and it was nice to have a small area where they could all find something that they enjoyed playing where I could see each of them. They probably tried every noise maker in the place, and the lady working at the desk was very kind and offered help and tips throughout our stay. Just in case you are wondering, the kids weren't required to remove shoes in this museum. I guess my kids sort of felt at home here!

Colorful and Fun Setting Encourages Creative Play

Iredell County has two additional museum associated with the kids@play, including an art museum and a heritage museum. You may wish to read more about them at the Iredell Museums official web site. The Children's Museum of Iredell county first became incorporated in 1981 and has moved locations several times, but this non-profit organization continues to serve the learning needs of children in the area through the use of various programs, including this interesting museum that offers a creative, hands-on learning space.

Look for more creative and fun family-friendly places at the Travel NC With Kids site map.

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Iredell Children's Museum Offers Creative Play in Signal Hill Mall

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