Everything
at Sprinkles' Children's Museum was just the right size for
3-year-old Amanda Hartwell.
She went to pedal around the mini-carousel, then to slip on
a pink dress from the costume corner, then to tickle the baby
baby grand piano keys, then to shop at the market.
"They like the freedom to be able to go from one thing to
another," said Amanda's mother, Dianna Hartwell. "I think it
sparks their imagination."
Five days a week for three hours a day, it's not unusual to
see children tugging adults through the museum. It's common to
hear clanging cymbals, banging bongos and children's screams
and squeals within the 5,000 square feet of the museum.
But many Jacksonville residents don't know about
Sprinkles'. They don't know that housed in the basement of the
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum on the southern edge of
Springfield is an indoor playground that attracted nearly
20,000 visitors last year.
Another Sprinkles' Children's Museum is being planned for
the Mandarin Landing Shopping Center at San Jose Boulevard and
Interstate 295. Museum Director Cheryl Alleman, who doubles as
Sprinkles the Clown, expects the new museum tothe first
week in May.
 |
Isabella Russo
(left), 2, and classmate Kierin Keith of Palms Preschool
and Childcare Center in Jacksonville Beach play in a toy
vegetable stand at the museum.
-- Will
Dickey/Staff
|
The second Sprinkles'
museum will simulate a miniature city with kid-sized shops for
children to pop into and role-play careers.
"When they know the choices, then they'll know what kind of
education they will need," Alleman said.
The concept of "when I grow up" is something both museums
will share.
| Sprinkles'
Children's Museum is at 101 W. 1st St., in the basement
of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. The museum isfrom 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Cost is $3 a person. For details, call .
|
The
Sprinkles' museum in Springfield includes a Shands
Jacksonville Kid's Career Center where a Sesame Street
Ernie doll is the patient. Children dress up as nurses and
doctors, look at real X-rays and inspect medical instruments.
In other areas, they can lift foam weight sets, buy and
sell plastic fruit or ride a colorful horse on a carousel
powered by pedals.
About 12 years ago, Alleman moved to Jacksonville and
convinced her parents, the Karpeles, toanother branch of
the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum here. The California
family runs eight libraries across the country, rotating
manuscripts every few months. At the moment, original music
scripts by Beethoven and Mozart are on display in
Jacksonville.
Third-graders were old enough to visit the library, read
its items and comprehend the words. But Alleman, a mother of
three, wanted to offer younger visitors something more lively.
She traveled the country and visited hands-on museums for
ideas. Just over two years ago, space once donated to a
community college for English language classes became
Sprinkles' Children's Museum.
"They need to be personally involved," Alleman said of
children. "If it takes play to make it fun, then so be it."
Staff writer Alliniece T. Andino can be reached at
or via e-mail at aandinojacksonville.com.
