For the Reporter

The White River Valley Museum invites families with young children to explore the nine new interactive exhibits that are permanently installed.

With support from 4Culture, kid-sized tents, mystery boxes, discovery drawers and much more are allowing kids to sniff, touch, climb, discover and explore their way through important history lessons and fascinating facts from the White River Valley’s past.

The nine interactive exhibits are beautifully integrated into the already existing permanent exhibits; they are fun for all ages and ideal for pre-school and elementary school-aged children.

They are:

• A Kid-sized Cook Tent – pretend to cook salmon over a fire and peel vegetables.

• A Kid-sized Trainman’s Repair Tent – includes chunky handmade wooden model trains, a child-size workbench, tools and a work apron.

• The Discovery Drawers – reveal the treasures of a 1920s Japanese-American boy.

• Two Mystery Boxes – filled with artifacts to identify by feel, they are designed with small openings sized for little hands.

• Smell ID Game – includes two sets of unique scents.

• Which Shoe Fits – learn about horse shoes, touch horse brushes and examine historic photos of horses at work.

• Penmanship Lesson – allows visitors to use chalk boards and chalk while looking through an antique alphabet book.

The museum path meanders with surprising things to interact with along the way, among them: a 1920’s hat shop (complete with hats to touch and admire), a mercantile, an 11-by-15-foot, real log cabin, and a big red caboose to climb all over.

Entrance to the museum is $5 for adults and $2 for children and seniors. Every first Thursday the museum remains open from 6 to 8 p.m.

On the first Thursday and the third Sunday of every month, admission is free.

Special rotating exhibits occupy the temporary exhibit space, changing three to four times a year. The temporary exhibit, Small Bags & Big Events, 100 Years of Pretty Purses, is on display through June 19.

For more details on the museum and a one-on-one tour of the newly installed interactive exhibits contact Patricia Cosgrove at 253-288-7437 or pcosgrove@auburnwa.gov .

Families can explore these new exhibits and participate in crafts and activities for free at the museum’s Late Play Dates the first Thursday of every month from 6 to 8 p.m.

For more information, call 253-288-7437 or visit www.wrvmuseum.org.