Step into a snow globe Saturday at the Bishop Museum, which will host a Saturday at Play event full of winter fun for the entire family.
Instead of a starry sky, the museum’s J. Watamull Planetarium will be projecting a snowfall show that will simulate the inside of a snow globe, said Kapalikuokalani Maile, education programs manager at the museum. “Folks can go inside there and look up and feel as if they’re inside a real snow globe,” he said. “It’s going to be really, really cool, and the inside of the planetarium will be decked out in holiday decorations.
“It’ll be something new, and maybe something we return to especially if we continue more of these seasonal offerings, which is what the museum is looking at doing as we move into 2021.”
The Saturday at Play event will also focus on winter themes in general, like “snow, the cold, ugly holiday sweaters, but we’re also looking at what is winter in Hawaii,” Maile said. “We have the seasonal changes that occur and are recognized in tradition by celebrations like makahiki (New Year festival), so during makahiki, there’s different kinds of recreation and games that are played.”
Families can compete in activities like ‘ulu maika, a bowling-type game in which participants roll a disk for distance and accuracy, and moa pahe‘e, a game in which zucchini-shaped darts or slid along the ground at a target. “They are as much games of skill and hand-eye coordination as they are things that allow us to take a break from the usual aspects of makahiki, which are ceremonial and about protocol,” Maile said. “We find that students have played it in school, and so when they come with their adults, they challenge their parents.”
There will also be demonstrations on lauhala, fishnet making and kapa, Maile said, adding that participants will be given a “passport” that will be stamped at the various activity stations, with those who receive all the stamps receiving a goody bag when they leave.
The Saturday at Play activities will be held over two sessions, from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1:30-4 p.m. Visitors can also take the whole day to check out the museum exhibits, including its special exhibit on the history of surfing, as well as a presentation on birds that winter in Hawaii, such as the Pacific golden plover. Admission is $10.95-$14.95 for kamaaina, college students and military; $16.95-$24.95 general. Free for museum members. For information and tickets, visit bishopmuseum.org.
