Small Town Charm
Small Town Charm teaches children about community roles and their connectivity through educational activities and role play. 
Phase I features six exhibits including a farm to table series and a medical series. The Farm to Table series includes a Farm, Grocery Store and Resturant. The Medical Series includes a Hospital Baby Nursery, a Doctor's Office and a Vet Clinic.
Watch for the Bank Exhibit coming soon!

From Farm To Table - This exhibit will feature a garden where children can plant and harvest vegetables, amazing apple trees for picking, a barn with nesting chickens where children can harvest eggs, and more!  The focus will be on collecting food and distributing to the store and table.

Grocery Store - Featuring produce from the agriculture exhibit, children will enjoy shopping for pantry items with real metal shopping carts.  A large well filled with dry beans will enable children to select and weigh beans.   After shopping, a small-scale checkout counter with a cash register will be the spot where children can count out pretend money. 

Restaurant - Generously sponsored by Burger King of Columbia, this exhibit is composed of a chef's station, tables and chairs for guests, replica menus, and food from the garden and grocery store.  Little chefs will love to create lavish meals, and you will enjoy "tasting" their creations!  An ice cream stand, located nearby, will be just the spot to cool off after a hard day's work - with a "scoop" of ice cream atop a durable wooden cone!

Baby Nursery -  Thanks to Maury Regional Medical Center, the baby nursery will allow children to try their hand at health professions.  The experience begins when visitors peek through a nursery window and see babies lined up in bassinets.  Dressed up in a doctor coat or scrubs, young doctors and nurses will measure and weigh the babies as well as bathe and dress them.  Pretend parents will be able to rock the babies and learn how to keep babies happy and healthy!

Doctor's Office - The Middle Tennessee Bone & Joint Clinic is the sponsor of the doctor's office exhibit.  Did someone call the doctor?  All children have experienced the doctor's office as a patient, now it's time to be the doctor in this fun role reversal exhibit!  Featuring an exam table, life-size teaching skeleton, medical scales, a light box for viewing x-rays, and several compliant doll patients, this exhibit is bound to prepare little ones for a check-up!

Vet Clinic - Underwritten by our friends at Pet Pals of Maury County, this exhibit allows children to pretend to be the friendly neighborhood vet.  Put on a pint-sized vet coat and stethoscope, grab a clipboard, and take on the role of veterinarian, groomer, trainer, or pet "parent."  With real animal x-rays, an exam table, and all the necessary instruments, children can nurture the neighborhood pets back to health.

 
Educational Goals
  • By transforming a historic downtown building into a "small town", encourage visitors to learn about careers and career-related skills
  • Communicate and relate what it means to be a part of a community through developmentally appropriate, playful experiences.
  • Engage visitors in activities supporting the concept that a community is made up of different people.
  • Advance the idea that in a community, people help each other to solve problems and get things done.
Want a closer look? Check out these pictures and see the fun you're missing!