REAL-LIFE PLAYING MUSEUM LETS KIDS ACT LIKE MOMS, DADS.Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer LANCASTER - A new nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. intends to provide a place for youngsters to have fun and learn at the same time. In a former office on Lancaster Boulevard, Kid's Time Children's Museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs that stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are of the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley lets children handle a real cash register, shop for groceries, check out an X-ray, play dress-up, flip burgers and use real tools. ``It's really nice; it's a really good place to go for the kids,'' said Andrea Perovich last week as she helped her 4-year-old daughter, Alyssa, into a pink, sequined se·quin n. 1. A small shiny ornamental disk, often sewn on cloth; a spangle. 2. A gold coin of the Venetian Republic. Also called zecchino. tr.v. dress on the museum's upper floor. ``We'll be back. It looks like they have doors down there for future exhibits, so we'll come back and see what's new.'' Downstairs, 4-year-olds Jonathan Olsen and Kaden Sanchez sat in the semidarkness sem·i·dark·ness n. Partial darkness. Noun 1. semidarkness - partial darkness dark, darkness - absence of light or illumination cloudiness, overcast - gloomy semidarkness caused by cloud cover of a ``cave'' under a carpeted apparatus for children to climb, listening to recorded animal sounds. ``It's fun,'' Jonathan said. ``I think it's pretty nice. It looks clean; and it's wholesome whole·some adj. whole·som·er, whole·som·est 1. Conducive to sound health or well-being; salutary: simple, wholesome food; a wholesome climate. 2. fun,'' said Jonathan's mom, Miriam Olsen. Located at 820 W. Lancaster Blvd., the museum encompasses 5,300 square feet, with only half of that space currently being utilized and the rest planned for future exhibits. There is a party room for birthdays and a small gift store that sells educational items. The nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. enterprise is run by Danielle Rothe, a former special-education teacher and mother of children 2 and 4, who come to work with her at the museum. Rothe said the museum offers kids learning through playing. ``It's role playing role playing, n in behavioral medicine, learning exercise in which individuals assume characters different from their own. The individual may also be asked to simulate a particularly difficult situation and apply the characteristics that are common to his ... in a safe way, and it's all learning. Any time a kid plays, it's learning anyways an·y·ways adv. Nonstandard In any case. Adv. 1. anyways - used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement; "Anyhow, he is dead now"; "I think they're asleep; anyhow, they're quiet"; "I ,'' explained Rothe. ``They're learning how to run a cash register like mommy does, they're learning to grocery shop like they do every day anyway, but they get to do it. They're using their imagination. Here they're allowed to pick up a hammer and hammer nails, they're allowed to pick up a paint brush and paint the walls.'' Parents are encouraged to play with their children, and fathers seem to especially like it, she said. ``He's the one that's never sitting down, he's the one that's behind the counter, he's the one that's flipping burgers, he's the one that's painting on the wall,'' she said of a father. Rothe said she opened the business on a whim whim n. 1. A sudden or capricious idea; a fancy. 2. Arbitrary thought or impulse: governed by whim. 3. A vertical horse-powered drum used as a hoist in a mine. . A resident of Palmdale for three years, Rothe had been driving her kids to a children's museum in Pasadena. ``I was sick of doing the drive,'' Rothe said. She had first visited a children's museum in Palm Springs, where her mother lives, and was hooked. ``I walked into a children's museum and said we need one up here. And there have been several women who've walked in here and said, oh my gosh, I've wanted to do this.'' Rothe said she is drawing no paycheck for the first year, and all of her help is volunteer. But operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales are $5,000 a month, which she is hoping to cover through admission fees, memberships, donations and sponsorships by businesses. Because the museum is nonprofit, all donations are tax deductible That which may be taken away or subtracted. In taxation, an item that may be subtracted from gross income or adjusted gross income in determining taxable income (e.g., interest expenses, charitable contributions, certain taxes). . Her father is helping finance the operation for the first year, she said. Her husband is a sheriff's deputy. She originally wanted to offer a drop-off day-care facility but would have had to go back to school to get a license. ``I wanted to help the other mothers because I knew what I was going through,'' Rothe said. ``When I wanted to get my hair cut, and my husband worked horrible hours, it was never convenient.'' Geared for 2- to 10-year-olds, the museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 per person. A membership is available for $15 for an individual or $55 for a family up to four members; over four is $10 for each additional member. The membership allows 12 months of unlimited visits and a 10 percent discount on birthday parties and gift shop purchases. For more information call the museum at (661) 729-1070. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Haley Knight, 8, of Palmdale shops in the grocery store at Kid's Time Children's Museum of the Antelope Valley. (2 -- color) Andrea Perovich of Lancaster helps her daughter, Alyssa, 4, dress up as part of the museum's role-playing activities. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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