HITHER TO YON : La Habra Museum Shows How the Trek Is Made

If your child’s ideas of transportation are limited to his Big Bird tricycle and the family minivan, maybe it’s time to wheel by “Cars, Trains, Boats and Planes,” an interactive exhibit for children ages 2 and up now on view at the La Habra Children’s Museum.

Through Sept. 8, children can cast off in a fully rigged sailboat, sit astride a cowpoke’s saddle and ogle a gleaming Nash Metropolitan while learning what it takes to get from hither to yon.

Coordinated by museum assistant director Melissa Banning, “Cars, Trains, Boats and Planes” lets children get in touch with a variety of travel methods, past and present. In the automobile section, sketches and models of the Mazda Miata keep company with the ‘50s Metropolitan, while across the way, a racer’s fireproof suit and helmet share a corner with a ’37 Chevy engine.

The four-footed horse and the “iron horse” both get a nod with everything from a leather saddle and horseshoes to a 1885 Velocipede--a small man-powered rail cart used by railroad inspectors--on view.

Two-wheeled motion machines range from a turn-of-the-century “penny farthing” model to a spiffy red Honda; and antique ice skates, roller blades, snowshoes, even an authentic Indonesian pedicab join in a salute to our ever-dependable feet.

If your little landlubber yearns for a taste of the nautical life, he can climb aboard a seven-foot Sabot sailboat--fully rigged from stem to stern--admire the sleek lines of a modern windsurfer or feel the heft of a vintage ‘60s surfboard. (Let’s see a ‘90s poser handle one of those nine-foot babies!)

In conjunction with “Cars, Trains, Boats and Planes,” the museum is offering a series of participatory workshops. On Saturday, California Highway Patrol officers will host a Bicycle Rodeo featuring tips on bike safety, and on Aug. 11, Amy Khoury, a McDonnell Douglas flight crew integration engineer, will discuss how astronauts live and work in space.

Both workshops begin at noon and are included in the admission price.

What

“Cars, Trains, Boats and Planes,” an interactive exhibit on transportation.

When

Mondays through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Sept. 8.

Where

La Habra Children’s Museum, 301 S. Euclid St., La Habra.

Whereabouts

Orange Freeway to Lambert Road, drive west to Euclid Street and turn right.

Wherewithal

Museum admission is $1.50 for children and seniors, $2 for adults.

Where to call

(213) 905-9793.