Gates

Courtyard gates at Marbles.

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is in the air, and on the wall at Marbles children's museum.

 

Marbles

Marbles is a children's museum in downtown Raleigh.  

Great for kids, but difficult to drag them out when it's time to go home.

The pirate ship is a favorite.

 

Color Pop Corner

This little area is called "Color Pop Corner".  At Morgan St. and Blount downtown Raleigh, it is the creation of the Marbles Children's Museum.   It's part of the new expansion of the museum.  See here for more info.

Teach your children well...

This month's theme is "Teach"

The motto for the Marbles Children's Museum is: Play is our favorite  way of learning.  Instead of "teaching" the philosophy is to get out of the way and let children learn through play.  And they do play!

Theme day: Young at Heart

The theme this month is "Young at Heart".  Who is younger than a child!  These two were playing in the dress up and dance play area at Marbles Children's museum.  There aren't two of the set, instead there is a mirror on the side wall that makes it look like you're seeing double.  

Musical Stairs

The stairs at Marbles Children's Museum look cool, but the best part is how they sound.  Each stair plays the note that you step on.  It's easy to play a scale, or arpeggio, and simple songs are not too hard.  But playing a song with a big jump from one note to the next is not too easy...

Lots of Dots

This is a view of the first floor of Marbles Children's Museum from the second floor lookout.  The purple dot in the center is a device where kids can race coins around faster and faster until they fall into the center hole.  It's a model for Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, but don't tell the kids, it'll spoil their fun...

Flower Power

This flower turns round and round, powered by the solar panels on it's leaves.  It seems like the flower petals could have been a wind generator, and it could have done double duty.  It sits in the demonstration garden at the Marbles Children's Museum.

Marbles

Raleigh has an amazing children's museum called Marbles.  It's right downtown on Moore Square.  Their philosophy is that children learn through play.  And the kids do play!  The noise level can get unbearable for an adult at times.