by Heather Jenkins

In addition to being a Local Girl, I am also a Local Mama to two (and a half!!) little boys.  While I love going out and listening to some of our local bands play, I am also very interested in what Cape has to offer in terms of family entertainment and activities.  With that in mind, I began to look for different, fun, local activities that people with children would enjoy.  However, as every parent knows, as fun as we think an activity or place is, if our kids don’t like it, we are in trouble! So I will be using my little boys as guinea pigs to get a better idea as to how kids think about the place/activity. Also, of concern to me is the cost of an event or place.  It seems as if everyone is tightening their purse strings a little bit and I am no exception.  It is with these objectives in mind-free/inexpensive, fun, and local-that I have set out on a mission to find child friendly activities in and around the Cape Girardeau area.

One of the best places to take children is the Southeast River Campus. The River Campus has traveling art shows as well as plays and other events throughout the year.  The exhibit that is showing right now is the Lego exhibit by Nathan Sawaya.  It is absolutely incredible! When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was a gigantic T-Rex skeleton in the middle of the room.  It was 20 feet long and took over 81,000 Lego bricks to create.  My boys kept running from sculpture to sculpture, pointing and talking excitedly.  They were amazed at how the same Legos that they play with could be turned into such big, awesome things.  In addition to the T-Rex, there were several different sculptures and portraits.  That’s right-I said portraits.  The artist actually made portraits (including a self-portrait) complete with Lego frames.  He also created an anatomically correct heart out of the little bricks.  Another sculpture that stood out was a pencil.  This was no ordinary pencil though! It started at the bottom with only about 4 bricks and then grew to several feet in height.  It was taller than me! I am not sure who enjoyed the exhibit more-myself or my boys.  They loved it because it is a way of looking at their normal, everyday toys in a new, exciting, and unexpected way.  I loved it because it is unusual, shows creativity and can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.  While people aren’t allowed to touch the sculptures for obvious reasons, there is a little play area set up outside of the museum with what else - Legos! This exhibit is definitely something that every family with children should go see.  The cost is absolutely free and the exhibit runs until February 20, 2011.  If interested in more of Mr. Sawaya’s work, you can visit brickartist.com.