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Children's Exhibits

Discovery Museum, 2018

Acton, Massachusetts

Four dramatic play environments and a special exhibit for 0-3 year-olds and their families.

Built by Truro Designs, costumes by Kevin Harper

Photography by Matthew Clowney

Bessie's House facade

The children's exhibits are housed in a recreation of "Bessie's House," the original Victorian house where the old children's museum once was. Photo by Greg Shupe.

Play train

Visitors are greeted by a play train with wheels that turn, a light that shines, and a bell that dings.

Train table

Crawl under the multilevel train table and pop up in the middle for a 360 degree toy train experience. On the column are conductors' vests hung up on railroad spike hooks.

Get your tickets!

Buy and sell tickets, update the train schedule, and chart routes on the train map.

Ticket window

Exchange tickets for tokens and keep your tokens in a little built-in hatch.

All aboard!

The train interior has plenty of room for passengers and is wheelchair accessible. Conductors' vests come in two sizes so everyone can play.

Engineer at work

Ring the bell, stoke the fire, pull the levers, and turn the cranks.

Train interior

Real vintage instruments and a fire that glows and crackles make the train interior come alive.

Train table

Build your own track and tell your own train stories.

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All aboard!

The train interior has plenty of room for passengers and is wheelchair accessible. Conductors' vests come in two sizes so everyone can play.