La Habra: A Museum in Which Children Come First

* Looking for a new neighborhood to explore? Here are a few suggestions, culled from recent stories. Complete stories can be accessed at https://www.calendarlive.com/go/discover.

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The Children’s Museum at La Habra beckons youngsters even before they get close to its doors. Out front, a topiary stegosaurus points them to a courtyard path with dinosaur footprints and a nest of eggs that appear ready to hatch. It’s an appropriate introduction to a museum that playfully engages young minds without sending them into sensory overload.

The museum (301 S. Euclid St., [562] 905-9693) is housed in a 1923 building that was a railroad station, which enhances its charm, especially because tours of an adjacent 1942 caboose are offered hourly. When it opened in 1977, the museum was the first of its kind in California. Others have followed, but La Habra’s remains one of the best.

An expansion in 1989 increased its area to 12,500 square feet, which is enough space for adventures in science, history, the arts and plain, old everyday fun. The exhibits are delightfully unsophisticated, with common items such as an orange highway cone and a black tire rim helping kids learn about the laws of physics. Every experience is hands-on, as evidenced by the stuffed and mounted animals in the section on North American wildlife. Several have had so many hands on them that their fur has been rubbed away. A wolf now has a removable tongue.

Among the most popular sections of the museum are the toddler play area, complete with tree house, castle and bridge, and the child-size stage, which features props, costumes, scenery, scripts and even a working microphone. As if these young thespians couldn’t already play to the back row.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $4; children younger than 2 are admitted free.

For the ambience of an English pub, try the Cat and the Custard Cup (800 E. Whittier Blvd., [562] 694-3812, which shares a parking lot with Cafe El Cholo (840 E. Whittier Blvd., [562] 691-4618). For Italian cuisine, check out Villa Agnese (2429 W. Whittier Blvd., [562] 691-2868).

Getting there: Take the Orange Freeway north to Imperial Highway or Lambert Road and go west to La Habra.

* A new Discover Orange County will run next Sunday in the Orange County Calendar.