Bowers Throws a Learning Curve

Santa Ana is a rainbow of different cultures. And rain or shine, kids of all ages can learn, eat and shop under an umbrella called Bowers.

10:30 to noon: Bowers Kidseum opened in December, like an 11,000-square-foot holiday present to local children. Now they can play with games and toys of kids from other times and places.

Children everywhere enjoy playing dress-up, and grown-ups do too, so start at the theater area dress-up trunk. One child put on a head-to-toe bright yellow lion outfit; a nearby adult looked like a Zoroastrian priest; I donned a hat perfect for the rain forest and wore it until I left.

In the Time Vault were a hoop and dart game (Native American children near Fresno developed their hunting skills by trying to throw a long dart through a rolling hoop) and a rope with the lasso knot already tied that put all adults within range at peril. (My own freedom was briefly curtailed.) In the Cultural Discovery area, masks and animal heads, and musical instruments such as the small slit gong, were a smash with the youngsters.

Cracked Pots--in which broken pottery is repaired with masking tape--one of a dozen Explorer Backpack activities--was popular with older kids, but we do that one at my house a lot anyway. “Then this should be a breeze for you,” Kidseum manager Joe Queen said with a laugh. The Rhythm of the Band backpack is also popular but was being repaired. “The two that got thrashed last weekend are still up in my shop,” Queen said. “I’m Mr. Fix-It, too.”

All backpack activities come with a guide that parents can read aloud; enjoyment increases in direct proportion to the attention span of the child. The totem pole activity without any reading lasted about 2.8 minutes.

We passed on “The Boy Who Lived With the Bears,” a taped Iroquois folk tale playing in the storytelling room, but watched “Peach Boy,” as read by Sigourney Weaver and based on a Japanese tale, one of several Rabbit Ears Movies (motto: “We all have tales.”) showing at a Movie Fest in the community room.

Weekend art lab activities (noon to 3 p.m.) recently included Dough People and Korean Bird Kites; upcoming labs focus on Akuaba Dolls (this Saturday and Sunday) and Adrinka Fabric Designs (Feb. 11 and 12).

Outside, Kidseum volunteer Fermin Leal led international games including a perpetual motion Bolivian handkerchief game and a Native American rattler game in which a hunter seeks a snake shaking a rattle; both players are blindfolded. “OK, you’re going to be my snake,” Leal said to a young volunteer. “What’s your name?” “Snake!” he responded, getting right into the role. Parents played too.

Kidseum admission (which also includes admission to Bowers Museum of Cultural Art) is $4.50 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, $1.50 for children 5 to 12, and under 5 free.

Noon to 1 p.m.: We got the last available table at Topaz Cafe, housed at Bowers Museum. And no wonder. Every bite was a stimulating experience, cross-cultural or otherwise.

Lunch entrees include grilled salmon filet on white beans with wild mushrooms and rosemary pesto ($12.50) and Chinese chicken salad with chicken pot stickers and a sesame-garlic-ginger vinaigrette ($9.25). Coconut beer batter shrimp topped with papaya salsa and spicy orange marmalade on a bed of exotic greens ($10.50) was a recent special. More than special and offered every day was a hot white chocolate and raspberry souffle ($4.95).

A select-your-own three-course Sunday champagne brunch (that souffle is one of the dessert choices) is a bargain at $12.95, $6.95 for children. But the big news at Topaz Cafe concerns the little ones the rest of the week: All items on the kids’ menu (chicken tacos, grilled cheese sandwich, quesadilla, macaroni with cheese) are an astonishing 99 cents--including an ice cream cone!

1 to 1:30: In the Gallery Store, just across the Bowers Museum lobby, books as diverse as “Black Velvet: The Art We Love to Hate” and “Tuva or Bust!” will engage the grown-ups, while on five shelves of children’s books can be found such titles as “Peppe the Lamplighter” and “Fireflies for Nathan.” Activity books include “Mexican Girl and Boy Paper Dolls” and cut-out-and-wear “Ancient Faces” from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ethiopian Magic Scrolls are $50, Zuni fetishes such as armadillos, parrots and horned toads are up to $100, and an actual African shield with an actual spear hole is $850. But kids will enjoy lots of stuff for $5 or under: tiny Guatemalan worry dolls (47 cents); Prickly Pear Pops ($1), a Southwest treat in case the ice cream wasn’t enough; Peruvian finger puppets ($3.50); Kidseum patches ($5), and a cultural icon in the making, Bowers milk bottle caps (23 cents).

Spendthrift Valentine’s Day suitors might consider Zulu love letters ($5), which are basically beads hanging on a safety pin, message-encoded, of course.

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3-HOUR TOUR

1. Bowers Kidseum

1802 N. Main St.

(714) 567-3600

Open Tuesday through Friday, 1 to 4 p.m. (and 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for tour groups); Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

2. Topaz Cafe

2002 N. Main St.

(714) 835-2002

Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

3. Gallery Store

2002 N. Main St.

Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

PARKING / BUSES

Parking: There is free parking in lots on the southwest corner of Main and 20th streets and behind the Kidseum.

Buses: OCTA Bus 53 runs north and south along Main Street with a stop at 20th St.; Bus 60 runs east and west along 17th Street with a stop at Main Street.