When my friend Christy mentioned Mindport as a good place to bring kids, I have to say I was a bit skeptical. A few weeks ago, we finally met Christy, Gavin and Kaia at Mindport for a few hours of exploration and fun! Mindport is located at 210 West Holly in Bellingham. Parking is metered, so don't forget your change. {Or, in my case, raid a piggy bank.. shhhhh don't tell Mia, I owe her $1.50}
Mindport has varied days and hours of operation {check the website}. We arrived almost 15 minutes early {I am almost always early} and Karen came to the window to let me know they would be opening shortly. The girls kept peeking in the windows and told me they were "cited" to play.
Mia decided it was time for a potty dance, and Karen was kind enough to let us through to use the {huge, clean} restroom before paying {I can't thank her enough}! When we made it back to pay {a mere $2 each, I am still flabbergasted by that price}. Karen got down to the girls' level and let them know they were expected to have fun and that they needed to try their very hardest not to run {which we had to remind them often}. She let me know that there were a lot of buttons {which my kids are experts at pressing} and that most things turned off by themselves. We were then instructed to look up, and were delighted by some wonderful art!
The girls were quick to lead me to water. They found a river with rocks to build dams and little pieces of wood or boats to float. It was awesome {and wet}. A majority of the girls' time was spent here. The creators thought of everything and even put a hand drying station nearby!
Mindport is filled with fun, imaginative, creative {etc} activities for exploration. There is even a tornado {or, as Addy would say "nortado"} that you can put your hand in. You can race scuba divers through tubes, observe an aquatic ecosystem, practice writing with chalk while looking at a mirror, play with ping pong balls in tubes, make fairy music, play with burl jives {one of the coolest musical things I've ever seen}, a musical Allella {another neat creation}, pipe organ and many other equally fascinating things.
I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was so enthralled with everything. Christy and I spent some time trying to figure out the puns on the miniature train's route {Karen was the creator of the train and we were able to ask her questions, which was really neat}. There are manuals next to almost everything {we chose to ignore them, for the most part}so this can be a very educational, as well as fun, experience.
Mia, my shy girl, quickly developed an attachment to Karen, and ran {she does not follow directions well} to her multiple times. Karen was very nice about it, and even kept an eye on her for a minute while I checked out Addy's magnet art. {Seriously, this place rocks, if you haven't figured it out}.
We highly recommend this place for anyone, with or without kids! There is much to be explored within, we barely scratched the surface during our visit. Plus, the price is budget friendly. We will visit Mindport again in the near future... most likely for some rainy day fun!
