Children's Activities at the Clay Center

(Yep, the title is boring......)

This is for all you parents out there. You know that feeling when you have been stuck indoors with kids too many days in a row? When you are itching to find something for your kids to do? When you just have to find something to occupy them and hopefully burn off some of that never-ending energy? Why not try out the Clay Center? There are three floors of entertainment with lots of special activities that do a great job of breaking up another monotonous day stuck at home.

The Clay Center is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and on Sunday from noon to 5 pm. They are closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday. Smart pass admission, which includes access to the galleries, film, and planetarium is $13.50 for adults and $11 for children. Admission to the galleries only is $7 for adults and $5.50 for children. This can get expensive for a family of 6 (it cost us $36 for admission to the galleries only). Annual memberships are available for individuals for $55 or for families for $75, a great deal considering it would pay for itself with two visits.

While walking up to a rather elegant looking building with several unique and fascinating sculptures out front, I thought that these four rambunctious, laughing kids behind me would surely terrorize this quiet, upscale museum. Not so. As we entered the doors, no less than three employees with bright smiles and a palpable excitement greeted us. As I paid admission, the employees got down on the kids’ levels and took them over to the display set up by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources with a number of containers holding my worst enemy…snakes. My children eagerly stepped up to the man holding a snake and immediately wanted to touch the snake. They learned about venomous and non-venomous snakes, and got to hold a large snakeskin that was found in the forests of West Virginia. As a reward for their bravery, they received bright yellow stickers proclaiming “I touched a snake today”. Sadly, I received no such sticker.

Straight back from the front doors is an area that is part of the Clay Center’s Avampato Discovery Museum. This area contains Kidspace, which is designed just for those kids under the age of 5. Your toddlers and preschoolers will delight in the huge indoor tree house, where they can climb, slide, run, crawl, and jump to their heart’s content. There is a giant ball pond filled with over 10,000 plastic balls that can be “shot” from the upper branches of the tree house (I learned about this neat trick when searching for the origin of all the small blue balls that kept mysteriously bouncing off my head). The balls can also be tossed into buckets, or just jumped in from the edges of the “pond”. Another fun area of Kidspace is the “spider symphony” where kids can engage in physical and cognitive play by “playing” a number of different instruments to hear their unique sounds. Kidspace also caters to the needs of families, with a special nursing room for moms and babies, and a Big Kid Room, designated for older siblings. The Big Kid Room contains a number of bean bag chairs, a couch, and a TV with a variety of DVDs. My 8 year old actually thought this room was rather boring and wanted to climb in the tree house, but the employees at the Clay Center are very strict on the age limit of 5 and under. Every Wednesday, preschoolers are invited to Wee Wednesdays to enjoy story time and crafts designed just for their age. The themes change weekly and are based on popular children’s books. These activities are included in the cost of the gallery admission.

Directly beside Kidspace is Earth City. Earth City is a unique indoor sand and water discovery area, which was a huge hit with my kids. It is designed to teach children about West Virginia’s geology. There are many hands-on exhibits that teach about tornadoes, geysers, dams, waterfalls, and more. My eight-year-old enjoyed the tornado and geyser exhibits, while my three-year-old twins just thought it was fun to get wet and dirty in the water and sand. Either way, it was a great play place and was very entertaining. There is an area of Earth City, aptly named the Cavern of Time, that has performances of live science demonstrations and occasionally shows educational films. The subject of the presentations changes monthly.

Outside of Earth City is Health Royale, an area designed to teach children about the workings of the human body in a fun and entertaining environment. There are several “games” including a mountain climber game in which the child has to select healthy, low fat foods to keep the climber from falling off the mountain. There is an x-ray machine that has x-rays of everything ranging from the human body to snakes. The main attraction of Health Royale is the large “Hollywood Squares”-inspired game show. Visitors play along while answering questions relating to health, diet, drugs and alcohol use, exercise, and more. The game show “host” is Skully, and the guests are Funny Bone, Coach Heart, Queen Intestine, and others. This is a very popular attraction, which recently won a coveted Thea for “Outstanding Achievement Award for Museum Attraction.” Other recipients of this award include Universal Studios and Disney.

After Health Royale, we headed downstairs to the Gizmo Factory. This are features more than 30 exhibits to teach children about physical science. It is a hands-on area and the several employees and volunteers that were in the area encouraged my kids to do anything and everything to learn more about science and engineering. The area is geared more towards school age kids, but my 3 year olds enjoyed it as well. There is a full body pin screen, which was a huge hit with kids and adults alike. Many adults (myself included) laughed loudly as we tried to out-do our kids with the most creative “pin design”. There were also exhibits to throw a ceramic pot (digitally!), design a roller coaster, and make beautiful music on a laser “string-less” harp. In a small room off of the Gizmo Factory, we discovered Exploration Station. This area includes a number of hands-on building activities and we were told the programs change often. This area teaches how engineers design and build structures and then encourages the kids to attempt to build temples, pyramids, and other structures out of blocks.

Another amazing and exciting area of the Clay Center is the ElectricSky Theater. This is a 61-foot domed screen that features both planetarium shows and giant screen films. Currently showing for the planetarium show is “Rocket Men: A Brief History of Rocketry.” This show looks at rocketry from ancient times into the future. The planetarium has a star-ball with more than 10,000 stars. Each planetarium show is approximately 45 minutes and is followed by a live seasonal star talk. Currently showing on the giant screen film schedule is “The Alps.” This is showing through July 9 and shows spectacular views of Switzerland’s natural beauty, along with a “ride” through the mountain villages, a bungee jump off Verzasca Dam, and following a climber as he climbs one of the steepest peaks in all of Europe. The film runs approximately 45 minutes.

Aside from these “staple” activities at the Clay Center, there are many more ever-changing activities that kids can participate in. For example, on the second Saturday of each month, a “Fun Lab” is held in one of the classrooms. The theme is different every week. On May 8, they will be creating masterpieces from pasta and beans. On June 12, a Critter Mini Zoo will be held, where children can meet the Clay Center’s animals including snakes, lizards, tarantulas, etc. My kids would love this, but I think I will be waiting outside. The cost of this activity is included in the gallery admission.

There is also an After School Explorers Club. This activity takes place on Thursdays from 3:30 to 5:30 and is designed for children from grades 2 through 6. Activities include demonstrations, hands-on experiments and crafts. The next upcoming activity is called “Make it Work!” and will be geared around challenges dealing with magic carpets, warp speed and a human knot. Sounds interesting. Cost for this workshop is $12 for members and $15 for non-members.

Of particular interest to school age children are the numerous summer activities planned. There are several Summer Discovery Day Camps and even a Camp-in. The Camp-in has been named “Space Night at the Museum” and will run from 6:30 pm on Friday June 18 until 10 am on Saturday June 19. Admission is $40 per person and will include a planetarium show, a giant screen film in the ElectricSky Theater, space themed workshops and a dance party. Also included are snacks and breakfast. This sounds like it would be a very special, exciting night perfect for the whole family. Imagine camping with your family under a sky of 10,000 stars. All in a comfortable air-conditioned, bug-free room.

There are several summer day camps that are offered at the Clay Center. My daughter has signed up for the Vet Camp, which will be July 6-9 for two hours each day. Her goal is to one day become a veterinarian and at this camp, she will be able to interact with live animals, learn how to help animals, and meet a real vet. She is very exciting and I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for her or any other animal-loving child out there. There are also upcoming theater-themed workshops, film-making workshops, science workshops, and art workshops. The cost for these day camps is $45 for members (per person) and $55 for non-members (per person).

If you (or more likely, your child) decide that you must absolutely take home a piece of the Clay Center, luckily there is a gift shop available for your perusing. The BB&T Little Shop of Wonders has items that cannot be found anywhere else. Whether you would like chocolate covered crickets, crunchy salsa larvae, sea monkeys, or a simply super-high bouncy ball, this is the place for you. Even if you choose not to purchase anything, the gift shop is a unique experience in itself and you browse through their selection of one-of-a-kind items. Also, each Saturday and Sunday, the gift center holds an interactive event they call “The Finale.” At this event, children and gift shop staff rip open the packages and play with items from the gift shop. The kids can compete in a number of games including slinky races, gyroscope battles, and bouncy ball contests. What a fun way to end your visit!

If your child still hasn’t gotten enough science, the Clay Center also offers birthday party specials. You have your choice of the basic package or the deluxe package. The basic package includes a private party room, gallery admission for up to 10 children (one parent per child is also included), a 10% discount at the BB&T Little Shop of Wonders, and a free gallery admission pass for each child to be used at a future visit. This package is $50 for members and $75 for non-members. The deluxe birthday package includes everything in the basic package, plus a private (age-appropriate) science demonstration and a special Clay Center gift for the birthday child. The price for this package is $100 for members and $150 for non-members.

As you can see, the Clay Center has designed a good portion of their programs to entertain and teach children. It is rare to find an establishment that can offer so many activities to adults while at the same time, completely catering to children. I would recommend a visit to anyone with children of any age who is looking for something different to do, whether they are just looking to get out of the house, expand their minds, or burn off some of that never-ending energy.