Exhibits at New Children’s Museum Anything but “TRASH”

Posted on by Real Mom Time (RMT)

“Machine Project” by Mark Allen literally helps turn cash into “TRASH,” a set of interactive art exhibits on display now at NCM.

What kid doesn’t like garbage? I know mine does for sure anyway (remember this post?)! T’s obsessed with trash trucks, dumping toys with toy trash trucks, sorting trash from recyclables, and even helps at home with taking out the trash. Not to steal lines from Oscar the Grouch or anything, but T loves trash, and he loves it because it’s trash.

“TRASH” is still on display at the New Children’s Museum in San Diego, CA. Yes, TRASH is art, and the kids LOVE it!

This is just one of several areas for the kids to dig into TRASH at the New Children’s Museum (NCM).

T was looking for a photo of his last visit to the New Children’s Museum where he helped to create a large collage with recycled materials and other pieces of trash. He didn’t find it. It had been too long since his last visit.

But look what I found when we got home! This is a photo of the collage T helped create on his visit to the New Children’s Museum with Grandma in June 2012. Thanks for sending the photo, Grandma!

So when we were in San Diego a couple of months ago and had a chance to swing over to the New Children’s Museum (NCM) before a game at PETCO Park, I was ecstatic to learn that their special exhibition devoted to all things “TRASH” was still ongoing. T had already attended NCM once with Grandma Beep earlier in the summer, so he knew it was still there, too, when he saw their bright yellow signs on approach at the main entrance.

Some general information about TRASH at the New Children’s Museum (NCM).

Each exhibit at NCM features a stack of “What Can I Do Here?” cards organized by age range to help your child navigate the different exhibits and activities. Absolutely brilliant!

T had a blast firing fake flies (covered with Velcro) at phony piles of garbage (made of felt) with a cannon made from recycled materials (cardboard tubes and rubber bands). Nothing stinky about that, RMT’ers!

T climbs up, on, and into “Play-Fill” by artist Chris Sollars, just one of the 12 interactive art exhibits that make up TRASH at the New Children’s Museum.

RMT’ers, these hands-on exhibits are anything but garbage. Yes, many of the artists who created them used and incorporated varying components of trash or recycled materials (cleaned and disinfected prior to use, of course), but you’d never know that from viewing and exploring most of them. These artists definitely have a knack for turning one person’s trash into a treasure trove of endless good times for kids. T could have painted the junkyard car for hours. He could have fired pretend flies at piles of pretend compost for even longer. And the kids go ga-ga for the garbage-bin indoor play yard area.

Kids can paint a junkyard car at the New Children’s Museum. I am unsure if this is part of the museum’s permanent galleries or part of TRASH (featured special exhibition).

Believe it or not, there are a few rules at the New Children’s Museum. But just a few… the main rule is that kids have fun “thinking, playing, and creating” (part of NCM’s overall mission statement).

A very happy T enjoyed painting the car at the New Children’s Museum.

Layers of paint cover the junkyard car at the New Children’s Museum. The museum chooses a different color each day for the kids to paint with, and they leave the paint layers on sometimes for weeks at a time.

I tried to find out how much longer TRASH will be piled up on display at NCM, but I cannot find the information. I am going to keep trying though because I feel as if this is going to get hauled out of there pretty soon (TRASH has been there for more than a year now). Yeah, OK, so we were a bit late to this trashy party, and I am even later in posting about our junkyard adventures. Sorry! But with the long holiday weekend coming up, I figured some of you might be looking for something new to do. Hopefully I’ve introduced at least one or two of you to the wonderful New Children’s Museum in downtown San Diego. And since T still asks to go to “the TRASH place” when we are down there, I thought maybe your kids would enjoy a trip to the TRASH place also. Just make sure you don’t wind up at the dump!

T inside of “Rain House” by Ernest Silva at the New Children’s Museum.

The New Children’s Museum in San Diego is open Monday, 10am–4pm; Tuesday, 10am–4pm; Thursday, 10am–6pm; Friday, 10am–4pm; Saturday, 10am–4pm; Sunday, 12pm–4pm. Closed Wednesdays. Admission is $10 per person one-year-old and up (seniors and military with ID are just $5; click here for more details on planning your visit). However, the second Sunday of every month is FREE for everyone thanks to Target. The museum is at 200 West Island Ave., San Diego, CA, 92101. You can find information about parking here. The museum is also accessible by the San Diego Trolley‘s Green Line (Convention Center stop), Amtrak, and other local bus routes (click here for more information on public transit).

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4 responses to “Exhibits at New Children’s Museum Anything but “TRASH””

  2. Wow, looks like a lot of fun for the kids! I wish more stuff like this was around when I was a kid. I wonder where they get their loads of trash and garbage from?

    -Land Source Container Service, Inc.

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