Children’s Creativity Museum is Now Open

Zeum is now closed but has come back as Children’s Creativity Museum. After over 5,000 guests attended the grand re-opening, another special event was held. Several local bloggers, including myself, got a private look at the new branding of the museum while getting hands-on at the many old and new creativity stations.

Immediately you will notice the new, brightly-colored mascots. While kind of strange, they are very cheery and give the museum something tangible to be identified with. The new name is much longer but people can easily figure out what type of facility it is by just the name alone.

Much of the museum remains the same with just a bit of a facelift. Other parts show a better use of space with new activities to offer and things to discover.

My daughter’s absolute favorite area was the DIY (Do It Yourself) area. The project being featured at this time allowed you to create your own room/house. This simple idea jumpstarted an overflow of ideas as markers, wine corks, fabric scraps, tape, bottle caps, and stickers were laid before us. The only reason we moved on from here was because it was time to eat and for the planned presentation.

After filling our plates with some munchies, we settled in to listen to the museum’s executive director, Audrey Yamamoto. There was a brief overview of why the museum felt it was necessary to re-invent itself. Up to this point Zeum had been a kind of ‘local gem’ that few knew about and even fewer visited. With aims of becoming an established Bay Area family favorite some changes were thought of and implemented. Now residents all over are being invited to learn, play, and create.

After that we only had a bit more time to explore the facility. My daughter and I finished our DIY rooms and put them in our cubbies near the front. The staff provided wonderful support and kind encouragement at each area. We also had a chance to do a few things that normally have a huge line such as that lovely green screen you see me boogying in front of. I tried to get my daughter to do music video but she had NO desire to sing in front of people, though there was only 1-2 other families there. The animation area, where you create your own clay figures and stop-motion animation, is our favorite part but we need a minimum of two hours for that and we only had about fifteen minutes left.

We like Zeum before and we like Children’s Creativity Museum even better. While my daughter is too old to take advantage of their new Early Birdles program, I’m sure she’ll enjoy watching and testing new apps by featured developers during another program.

Be warned: Make sure you allow plenty of time for yourselves when you visit and be prepared to have just as much, if not more, fun than your kids!