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
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.
Visitors are greeted by a play train with wheels that turn, a light that shines, and a bell that dings.
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.
Buy and sell tickets, update the train schedule, and chart routes on the train map.
Exchange tickets for tokens and keep your tokens in a little built-in hatch.
The train interior has plenty of room for passengers and is wheelchair accessible. Conductors' vests come in two sizes so everyone can play.
Ring the bell, stoke the fire, pull the levers, and turn the cranks.
Real vintage instruments and a fire that glows and crackles make the train interior come alive.
Build your own track and tell your own train stories.