Our Little Rock Star

Hannah's 3rd grade class went on their first field trip of the school year. It was to the Children's Creativity Museum or formally called ZEUM Museum. It is an interactive arts and technology museum for kids.

Hannah's third grade class

It's located on Fourth Ave in SF in the Yerba Buena Center next to the gorgeous merry-go-round/carousel. It's open Weds through Sunday from 10am-4pm. Admission is $11 per person and under age of 2 is free. They have specific areas for little ones and I can't even describe the super fun things they get to do that is art and technology related... let's just say ipads, huge screens and music. Need I say more? You just have to go check it out..

But for the elementary age and up kids, there are workshops they can spend literally all day in. The first is the Animation Studio.

Softening the clay to mold into a blob

The kids were able to make Blob videos (due to time constraints they used clay to make blobs). If we were here longer they could have made clay people and animals for their videos. Basically they get to learn the basics of stopmotion animation by creating their own clay characters and bringing them to life on the screen. Afterwards you get to take home the movie they created either on a DVD or send via email.

Hannah working on her second video with classmates, Michelle and Sabrina.

The students were able to make two videos: Below is Hannah and her classmate Alex's video called "Drive and Fly." (Sorry no music added.)

This one is called "The Bully and the Friend"

The second workshop they participated in was the Music Studio where they got to sing and record their own video... karaoke style!

Hannah, Sabrina and Michelle singing "Dynamite"

You can pick a song from their 2000+ song selection and dress up to get into character. Performances are behind a green screen and they get to pick their own background and are recorded and put on a DVD for you to take home. It's a great way of expressing themselves and building creative confidence. They learn a little bit of Garageband and develop a musical understanding as well as exploring technology to create their own original work .

Below is Starlight's debut music video, "Dynamite"

Other workshops you can take part are the Community Lab where you use Creatura to 'fingerpaint' on an ipad and it becomes to life on screen'; Design Studio where you can create self portraits, a poster for your animation, or a cover album for your music video; Innovation Lab where you can invent something with just a few materials that the museum provides; and lastly Imagination Lab is for ages 3-6 where they can explore freely in their Sprial Gallery  and Cloud Gallery.

You can check it out here: Children's Creativity Museum

As you can see.. this museum is not only for kids... adults can have just as much fun and learn along with the kids. I loved it so much that I definitely will take girls here for a "summer field trip". Anyone what to join us?

Plus there is a great cafe next door to the museum, along with a bowling alley, outdoor playground, and tons of shopping in the area... Bloomingdale's, Century Theater, Target, and the Metreon Center. Something for everyone! AND it's BART accessible!