Autumn’s alternating flavors of glory and gloom in this corner of the mitten can present a challenging kind of duality for jaunting parents. The carefree bliss of summer has split for another eight months. And, to make matters more complicated, we parents of school-aged tykes are faced with the challenge of keeping the little ones not just entertained, but constructively and (gasp) educationally occupied. What to do, what to do? Thankfully, we in the D have within our grasp the kind of options both inherent to any major metropolis and unique to our fair city.
Island hopping
It seems silly to have to say it, but if you haven’t been to Belle Isle recently, it’s worth an outing. Yes, the aquarium is closed, and that’s truly a shame. And true, the rejuvenated giant slide is closed for the season (mark that down as another pre-Labor Day must-do). But as the leaves start to turn, the park itself is just gonna get even prettier. A picnic lunch, crisp air and a truly kick-ass playscape are nice-to-haves for an afternoon of fun.
The playscape, for the record, is not the hulking wooden beast you tamed as a kid, but a multi-colored plastic maze of swings, slides, tubes and tunnels with a boo-boo-proof foamy mat floor. It’s also the home of the merry-go-round to end all merry-go-rounds, which thrill-seeking tykes can’t get enough of.
Throw in spectacular views of the city while lollygagging under the hypnotizing effect of watching the river flow by, meandering through the botanical gardens (ooh, pretty flowers!) and the newly-revamped nature center (full of lively dioramas of stuffed Michigan-native wildlife), and there’s really no better place to boondoggle when the sun is shining.
You might just catch a late-season downboound freighter headed fully-loaded for Cleveland. In fact, check in at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and see the rescued bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald among the maritime artifacts and displays. OK, the kids might not dig that, but there’s an awesome ship’s steering wheel that they can try out.
The great indoors
When the weather gets ugly, there are some great go-to indoor options.
It may seem obvious, but it’s worth mentioning that the New Detroit Science Center (5020 John R) is a real gem. It’s one leg of the indoor trinity when traipsing about the university area with kiddos that also includes must-stops at the DIA for creative workshops, shows and gallery crawling, as well as the Detroit Historical Museum (see below). Anyhoo, gone are the dated exhibits of those wacky ’80s, and in their place is a state-of-the-art tactile, learnin’-whilst-playin’ wonderland. From the SBC Children’s Gallery’s immersive hands-on environment of crawling, climbing and computing to engrossing robotics and life sciences demos, it’s a day well spent.
The IMAX theater alone is worth the trip. Even if you’re not technically in the great outdoors, the spectacularly-rendered Forces of Nature, which shows on weekends takes you and yours to the heart of that vulnerable feeling when you’re facing down a stormfront and much more. It’s $7 for non-member adults and $6 for kids 2-12, plus a couple ducats more for the IMAX and planetarium shows. But you’d have blown that much at Blockbuster or whatever if you’d stayed at home anyway, right?
For the Thomas fans
Often overlooked in favor of its showier neighbors, the Detroit Historical Museum (5401 Woodward) offers one thing the others can’t for the generation of kids raised on Thomas the Tank Engine — the marvelous Glancy Trains. Ten or 11 trains (it’s easy to lose count) representing multiple eras of rail travel are set cruising around a landscape of vintage re-creations of circus life, old-time railway bridges and tunnels and a dizzying array of flying apparatuses and scene-setting replicas like period billboards, ads, cars and more. While they’re ogling the action, kids can press a bunch of unlabeled buttons like so many Pavlovian experimenters.
Just around the corner in the museum’s basement is the immersive-and-kinda-eerie “Streets of Old Detroit.” The life-sized diorama of Detroit’s alleyways and thoroughfares from its 300-year history not only offer visions of wax museum barbers from the 1800s about to get to stropping, but also free reign for rambunctious tyke feet to test out their cobblestone-hopping skills.
Move over, Elmo
Museums are something any city shouldn’t take for granted, but more rare still are those institutions that a city can truly call its own. One such hidden gem is Detroit’s PuppetArt Theatre (25 E. Grand River). There really isn’t room here to expound on all the large and small virtues of PuppetArt (that’ll have to be saved for another time), but suffice it to say that this museum and theatre dedicated to the living preservation of puppetry is driven by its stewards admirable passion and loving curatorial touch.
Performances at PuppetArt are Saturdays at 2 p.m. Show up early and take some time moseying through the impressive and inspiring museum of puppets from around the world covering more than 100 years of, yup, puppet art.
But more than that, the shows themselves — performed by a troupe led by puppeteers trained in the Soviet Union — include rich introductions of story context and history in a cozy environment. And the theater is dedicated to presenting puppet shows from around the world — from African tales to celebrations of Jewish folklore, Asian myths to classic European puppet fare. You can make your own puppet afterward, too, if you’re so inclined. Call ahead because spots in the intimate 70-seat theater go fast, and they can’t guarantee seats if a show’s pushing sellout — and most do.
It’s $5 to get in for kids, $7 for adults. Spring the extra couple bucks and go for the after-performance workshop. It helps tie the whole experience together if you go home with your very own puppet.
Found art
Meanwhile, on the East Side, another uniquely Detroit joint has been making art from detritus for the past couple years. Ecological of mind, creative of spirit, Detroit’s Arts & Scraps makes complete sense in a city like Detroit. Our shops, factories and fabricators produce an obscene amount of byproduct. And, luckily, not all of it begs for SuperFund status. Some of it can live again as art. That’s where Arts & Scraps comes in.
The shop (16135 Harper, near Cadieux) offers by-appointment group workshops (like, oh, birthday parties, for example) where formerly cast-off pieces of Styrofoam, paper, rubber and unique tchotchkes are recombined by little hands into something lasting. Who knows, you could be nurturing the next Tyree Guyton.
A store featuring the raw materials for making projects is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. And they also boast the Scrapmobile, in case you’d like them to bring the art to you. Righteous, funky and productive at the same time (and not totally expensive, either), it certainly beats another trip to another dollar store.
Arts & Scraps will be hosting a community sidewalk sale Saturday, Oct. 1, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so swing by and donate or purchase items (anything but clothing) to help support their programs.
This is the second installment of editor-at-large Chris Handyside’s ongoing exploration of family fun in Detroit.
If we’ve missed one of your favorite spots, drop us a line and let us know. If you missed the first installment, click here.
Learn more:
PuppetArt
Detroit Science Center
Detroit Historical Museum
Arts & Scraps
Belle Isle
The Dossin Great Lakes Museum
All photographs copyright Dave Krieger