Children’s Museum of South Carolina Offers Affordable, Educational Experience
By Christina Lee Knauss
Hawks and owls and vultures, oh my!
That could have been the rallying cry at the Children's Museum of South Carolina in Myrtle Beach on June 24. Handlers from the Center for Birds of Prey in Awendaw brought three live birds of prey to show about 40 kids and their parents who turned out for a special exhibit.
The Center for Birds of Prey is a division of the Avian Conservation Center, and offers tours, discussions and flight demonstrations to visitors at its facility on Seewee Road in Awendaw (off U.S. 17 South , about 80 miles from Myrtle Beach). It also provides medical care, rehabilitation and housing for injured birds of prey from around the region, including hawks, eagles, owls and falcons.
The birds came to the Museum as part of a full calendar of special events going on almost daily during the summer. Events include everything from story-telling and special play and exercise sessions to interactive science and art projects.
Pam Ross, executive director of the Museum, said the events are all part of the museum's ongoing mission to give kids from early childhood through about age 11 an experience that combines fun and learning. The Museum, which opened in 1994, offers a large assortment of permanent exhibits that teach kids about everything from the human body to physics, outer space and nature. It also hosts traveling exhibits, such as "From Here to There," a special display about movement and transportation on loan until September from a science museum in Ithaca, N.Y.
Ross said attendance at the museum is up about 14 percent so far in 2009, as more parents seek out affordable, educational fun for their children. Once they pay the regular admission price, there is no extra charge to attend any of the special events.
Ross said the Museum attracts a large number of tourists, as well as local families, school groups and camps.
The kids who crowded into the discovery room at the Museum got to see a Harris hawk, Asian brown wood owl and a black vulture. Stephen Schabel, educational director for the Center, and Monty Wallace, a member of the center's staff, held the birds for the children to look at, then whistled and gestured to the trained birds so the kids could see the birds fly and the differences in their movement. Schabel and Wallace set up a series of perches across the room for the birds to land on. Some birds were more willing than others - the Harris hawk flew back and forth several times, while the brown owl was a little more nervous and preferred to stay put on Schabel's arm. The black vulture flew back and forth a couple of times, and then was content to pace up and down the floor in front of the curious children.
Cindy and Gary Hale of Athens, Ga., brought daughter Meredith, 3, to see the birds of prey after learning about it while planning their Myrtle Beach vacation online. Gary Hale said his daughter loves birds and got excited as soon as they told her about the birds visiting the museum.
"She's been talking about going to see the 'tweet-tweets' all day," Cindy Hale said.
Meredith watched the three birds intently, and also seemed fascinated with the examples of actual bird feet that were passed around the room during the session.
The Hales said they were glad to find out about the session, and also enjoyed their museum visit overall, including the fact that Meredith got to help make her own souvenir T-shirt.
The Children's Museum of South Carolina is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday. It's located at 2501 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach. Admission is $8 per person, and free for kids 1 and younger.
To learn more about the Children's Museum and check out the full calendar of events, call 843-946-9469 or visit www.cmsckids.org.
Thank you for the sound critique. Me and my neighbour were just preparing to do some research about this. I am very happy to see such great information being shared freely out there.