Museum gives kids 'passport' to different cultures

By: SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 28, 2004 11:03 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Wearing a pink-checkered dress and her hair in pigtails, Ally Rose moved her hands up and down Saturday afternoon as she listened to a xylophone player perform the music of Thailand.

The 6-year-old Valley Center girl was spending her birthday at the Escondido Children's Museum, where the music and dance of Thailand were featured in "Passport to the World," a program in a series of Saturday afternoon events at the museum.

"They were good," Ally said of the dancers she saw. Her favorite part of the performance was "when they put their hands together and spinned around."

Since April, the children's museum has offered a program each Saturday afternoon with a different theme for each week of the month. The first Saturday is devoted to science, the second to backyard wildlife habitat, the third to "serendipity" ---- which involves mostly different kinds of crafts ---- and the fourth to "Passport to the World," said Marlene Beard, a volunteer who helps coordinate the museum's Saturday programs.

Exposing children to different cultures has been an important element of the museum since it began, Beard said. Officials want to provide children with something different than what they find at other children's museums.

"I guess we just sort of feel this is a very important part of our lives now," Beard said. "That we need to know more and more about the world and different peoples of the world."

Lisa Rose, 40, of Valley Center, Ally's mother, praised the museum and Saturday's program.

"I thought it was really interesting," Rose said. "I thought it was great for the kids to see another culture."

Rose said she had never been to the museum before Saturday, but that she plans to begin volunteering there.

"I think it's a great place," Rose said. "The kids are having a great time."

Rickelle Nelson, 4, of Escondido, also appeared to have fun at the museum.

After her mother picked her up, Rickelle moved her hands slowly back and forth like the Thai dancers she had just seen. She said her favorite part of the performance was "the dancing, the music and the fingernails."

The "fingernails" were long, red attachments placed on the fingers of the dancers performing the Fon Pootai. It is a dance of the Pootai people from northern Thailand, said Daranee Olson, who teaches Thai dances at the Thai Buddhist Temple of California in Escondido and led Saturday's performance.

Rickelle's mother, Teri Nelson, 45, of Escondido said Rickelle did not take her eyes off the "fingernails," watching closely until the dancers removed them.

Ally and Rickelle were among about 20 children and 15 adults who watched the performance.

Beard said the series began after the museum moved into its new location in Studio 1 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.

The museum has offered many group activities during the week ---- including hosting different classes during the school year and going to classrooms ---- but developed the new series to strengthen its weekend offerings, Beard said.

"Our Saturdays were sort of lacking," Beard said. "We thought by offering something very special like this on Saturday, we might be a little more noticed."

The Saturday programs are free with the $5 price of admission to the museum, Beard said.

The children's museum is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, and the special programs start at 2 p.m. The start time is scheduled to move to 1 p.m. for programs in October, November and December, Beard said.

For more information on the children's museum, call (760) 233-7737 or visit www.escondidochildrensmuseum.org.

Contact staff writer Scott Marshall at (760) 631-6623 or smarshall@nctimes.com.