Wyndee Fields

When I was a child, circa 1979, was the Children's museum in Jacksonville Florida. It was such a joy to explore the displays they had.

I remember walking into the building and being in awe of the allosaurus skeleton towering in the left window. Straight ahead, hanging down from the 5th floor ceiling, was a biplane looking as if it were going to land right there in the building. To the right, there was an open, hands-on aquarium with starfish and other sea creatures. Over by the restrooms, there was another fish tank with a concave area where I could stick my head in and feel like I was inside the tank right along with the fish.

This was just a hint of the adventure that was awaiting me on the other 4 stories of this awesome museum. The stairs were open to the lobby as they spiralled their way up the building, but they were not the only way to maneuver the many "rooms" of the building. There were back ways and boy were they fun to explore.

I don't remember exactly the order in which one explored as there were permanent rooms as well as revolving ones, but I was never bored! When I walked into a room, I was transferred into a new world. There was the dark room with a dock leading to a ship complete with a navigation wheel waiting to be turned and a captains quarters down below to explore. I could go over to the Egypt room where I came face to face with real mummified cats. If I was real brave, and I am, I would go up the platform to see the "real" mummy displayed. I would go out into an open area where there were, what seemed like thousands, of stuffed wildlife on the walls above, ready to pounce on me if I lingered too long. There was the health room where I crawled into a mouth many times and crawl out of the ear. Of course, I saw what was inside while I was there. I could spend hours exploring the log cabin display, the general store, or study the half hewn Indian canoe they always had there. There were many more rooms, but you get the idea.

I begged to go as often as I could and it always took some coaxing by my parents to get me out. This is the stuff of childhood memories.

Unfortunately, somewhere around that time, the place caught on fire and the inside was gutted. It was never the same since. I went back one time after they reopened it and it was a major disappointment. Oh sure, the allosaurus was still there, but gone were the imaginative displays and what replaced them were homogenized and pasteurized "education". This was the beginning of the end of true learning. The displays were reflections of a coming trend of "scientific" hands-on learning. I have not been there since (it is now the MOSH museum) but I have been to the sister museums in Tallahassee and St. Petersburg. As educational as they may be, they lack the imagination that creates a true learning experience for children. I doubt that any child attending these museums would have such a lasting and warm memory as this museum did for me.

Do yourself and your children a favor. Think about what kind of memories you want your children to have of their learning experiences and create that environment for them. They will cherish those memories as I do mine.