A Visit to Wow! Children’s Museum

I talk about my visit to WOW! Children’s Museum dedicated to engaging children and families in creative learning experiences. This bright, colorful interactive museum is in Lafayette, Colorado, near Denver .

“We specialize in highly interactive programs for small groups that give each child an opportunity to explore art, science, and culture.”

updated November 12, 2025

I’ve cover some heavy topics here, but this post is lighter, something fun.

On a visit to my son’s home in Colorado, we had fun exploring a children’s museum.

If you live near or visit the area, I recommend it for young kids- and their parents and grandparents, too.

WOW! World of Wonder Children’s Museum

The fun starts even before you go inside; look what greeted us on the outside wall- a carrot garden with a bunny, robin, and mice.

  • a white rabbit painted on a brick wall
  • a red and black bird painted on a brick building
  • 2 mice eating carrots in a garden-painted on a brick wall

“We specialize in highly interactive programs for small groups that give each child an opportunity to explore art, science, and culture. “

SIGN-WOW!WORLD OF WONDER CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
entering the WOW WORLD OF WONDER CHILDREN’S MUSEUM Lafayette, Colorado

WOW, WORLD OF HEALTH

Of course, my favorite part was the Kids Clinic, sponsored by the Children’s Hospital of Colorado . Signs describing the various rooms and activities are written in English and Spanish.

“How tall are you?”

Exhibits to show kids the bones and other body parts.

Even some real xrays-with fractures!

Visit WOW! Children’s Museum

WOW! Children’s Museum is dedicated to engaging children and families in creative learning experiences. This bright, colorful, interactive museum is in Lafayette, Colorado, near Denver.

My grandson and I are exploring movement.

WOW! plays a critical role in our community by providing informal play experiences in a safe and educational environment.

We offer a variety of program formats to meet the diverse needs of our community – from drop-in programs for children as young as 2 years old to outreach programs at local schools.

Within our Museum walls, children explore exhibits about a variety of subjects, including STREAM, art, music, dance, theater and practical life.

We connect children to caregivers, families to families, and people to the place we live. By working with local musicians, artists, educators, and storytellers, we’re connecting children with the rich resources available in our community, and helping teach them about their world.

WOW!’s mission is to serve the entire community by providing a quality Museum experience for children and families of all backgrounds and abilities.
a play workbench for kids with miniature tools-kids interactive museum
“What will you build? at this workbench, complete with tools.

Our Sensory Friendly Playtime is designed especially for children with autism or sensory processing disorders and their families. The Museum turns down sounds and lights on exhibits, provides special adaptive equipment like weighted vests and headphones, and has an occupational therapist at the event as a resource for families.”

Mom, Dad, and their son are creating a design with colored cylinder pegs.

I’ve enjoyed sharing some of the fun I had with my grandchild and his parents on a much-anticipated visit. We had planned a trip several months ago, but it was cancelled due to COVID.

Thank God they all recovered; his parents were vaccinated but he was not. We are thankful that the vaccine is now approved for kids his age.

Post Images

I took all of the photos in this post. The captions are quotes from the museum’s website. This is not a sponsored post.

a balloon suspended in the air

Dr Aletha

Your Museum Memories

When was the last time you visited a museum? What did you enjoy about it? What did you learn? What was the worst part?

Maybe it’s time to visit a museum again. There are so many options as far as subject, location, cost, time, and formats. You can even visit some museums online.

Visiting a museum with an objective in mind may help you get more from it. On the other hand, going without preconceived ideas may reveal surprises and unexpected benefits.

The National Endowment for the Humanities gives these suggestions for

How to Visit a Museum

Exploring the HEART of health, fun, and learning

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Dr. Aletha

Holy Hot Mess: Finding God in the Details of this Weird and Wonderful Life-a book review

Throughout her book, Hot Holy Mess, Mary Katherine Backstrom uses weird and wonderful stories from her life to explain what she has learned about God’s grace, how it works in her life, and how that grace can work for all of us.

Holy Hot Mess

finding God in the details of this weird and wonderful life

by Mary Katherine Backstrom

note: This post uses affiliate links to sites that may pay a commission used to fund this blog. The photos used here are for illustration only and are not associated with the author or the book.

I read health and medical books for my own education and to review for this blog. Sometimes I choose something non-medical just for fun. So when I saw this book at the library, it seemed a good choice to escape the medical world for a few hours.

I became a little nervous on page 3 when the author mentioned in college she had dated a “shaggy-haired soccer player named Ian, who was premed” but I kept going. The next page she mentioned that he had “finished his training”.  I was suspicious but kept reading.

Finally, the truth came out; this soccer player Ian guy grew up to be an emergency room physician and her husband. Next, she threw in CANCER and COVID. By then I realized I had picked another holy hot mess health book; there was no turning back.

MK’s weird and wonderful life

Although I’m well past her stage of life, I found Mary Katherine’s book funny, touching, and engaging.  Mary Katherine, MK, had a rather ordinary upbringing, living with her single mother, two siblings, and pets, cheerleading in high school, then off to college ( which she didn’t take seriously). She fell in love, got married, had two children, and lived happily ever after.

Well, not quite happily ever after. That’s why she calls this book HOT HOLY MESS; that’s what her life has been like, and still is. She often (and still does) felt like an outsider.

But she always managed to find soulmates who accepted her for who she was. She also met Jesus who accepts her as she is and she wrote this book to tell us about Him.

A hot mess

When I picked up this book I assumed it was one of those books that she describes on page 210; those written by a

“woman who likes to poke fun at herself for her life being a hot mess. We find solidarity in owning up to our relatable rough edges. That’s why there are so many popular bloggers with mom buns and trashed out minivans. There’s a particular level of mess that plays well to the masses earning a badge of “realness”. God forbid your mess looks like a divorce, poverty, or severe depression.”

But, God

Mary Katherine hasn’t been divorced and she’s not in poverty although money was tight for her family after her father left. She admits to struggles with anxiety and depression as well as some other hot messes that I won’t spoil by revealing here.  Mary Katherine is as real to her readers as she is to her God.

My edges aren’t neat. And I don’t exceed any standards: societal, biblical, otherwise. I’m an impatient parent. An imperfect spouse. An inconsistent churchgoer. I’m a crash dieting, emotionally fragile wreck, who spends as much money on therapy as tithing. I have a very hard time loving myself. All I see is a hot mess Mary Katherine.

But, God. He views me through a different lens entirely.

MK

Throughout her book, Holy Hot Mess, Mary Katherine Backstrom uses weird and wonderful stories from her life to explain what she has learned about God’s grace, how it works in her life, and how that grace can work for all of us.

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

Your life is the backdrop of God’s greatest miracles. Your mess is the clay in his hands.

MK

Other books by Mary

Mom Babble: The Messy Truth about Motherhood

Crazy Joy: Finding Wild Happiness in a World That’s Upside Down

MK on Facebook

I found her on Facebook at Mary Katherine Backstrom, where she promotes her books and shares her views on a lot of other stuff .

You may not agree with everything MK says on her page, or in her book, but she will entertain you and may challenge you to confront the holy hot messes in your own life, with the same honesty, courage, and surrender to what God wants to do in your life.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels.com

Her husband, Ian, has taken a “sabbatical” from clinical medicine, having lost the “joy of practicing”. I can relate, I have experienced that in my career. Medicine is a demanding profession, and sometimes the hardest demands come from within.

I’m going to follow along his journey, I hope he finds his way back to joy and satisfaction in the work he trained for. Here’s what he’s doing instead.

While I have beeen taking a sabbatical from clinical medicine, I have been spending a lot of time coaching at our local CrossFit gym. I know that fitness and CrossFit specifically sometimes get a bad rap as they are often associated with superficiality, body negativity, and unsafe movement.

In my experience this couldn’t be further from the truth. Fitness and specifically functional fitness (which CrossFit emphasizes) is medicine when delivered and practiced appropriately.

It rehabilitates our bodies, minds, and souls. It also allows for the discovery of deeper truths through the medium of competition and pushing the limits of our physical bodies.

Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com
update August 7, 2024

Several months after writing this post I read on her Facebook page that Mary Backstrom and her husband Ian divorced. I am sad divorce has taken yet another marriage and children who deserve better. I offer my prayers for peace and healing to this family.

exploring the HEART of health in books

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

an open book with pages folded to make a heart

Dr Aletha

These books are also available at

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We believe bookstores are essential to a healthy culture and they are dedicated to the common good.

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