201901.21
0

Pretend City in Irvine shares MLK Day lessons

by in News

  • Oceana Bakhru, 5, checks her eye brows in a mirror as she prepares to create a self-portrait artwork as part of a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Children create self-portraits out of crafts as part of a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Sound
    The gallery will resume inseconds

  • Solara Bakhru, 3, shows off the self-portrait artwork she created as part of a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • The reflection of Eleanor Kim, 4, center, can be seen as she reacts to her mother during a self-portrait art project during a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Alejandra Bosch, right, of Pretend City reads the book “Whoever You Are,” by Mem Fox to children as part of a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Light reflects off a mirror into four-year-old Eleanor Kim’s face she looks at herself to create a self-portrait artwork during a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • A child creates self-portrait out of crafts during a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Alejandra Bosch, right, of Pretend City reads the book “Whoever You Are,” by Mem Fox to children as part of a Martin Luther King Day activity called Cultural Connection at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday, January 21, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

of

Expand

Oceana Bakhru ran around the Pretend City Children’s Museum, holding a paper face she created of herself with curly black yarn for hair and a string of red for a bow.

“It’s Martin Luther King’s birthday!” Bakhru, of South Gate, yelled as she dashed about wearing a “Lead This Way” T-shirt with the names of prominent civil rights leaders.

At 5 years old, Bakhru might not quite get the significance of the day yet, but making that paper face was a part of the museum’s program for the holiday to teach children why King’s work still matters. Dozens of children gathered at the museum learned that despite differences in skin color or eye color, people share the same smile and feelings.

“You love yourself. You accept yourself. That’s the start to everything,” Alejandra Bosch, a museum staffer, said as she read the storybook “Whoever You Are” from Mem Fox.

Even the museum’s permanent exhibits encouraged the children to explore different cultures to look for similarities and also what makes them unique.

The children pretended to serve up Hawaiian food at the museum’s “Aloha Grill” and visited the museum’s replica of a family home – it regularly changes to represent various family dynamics, this time a vegan Swedish family in Huntington Beach that celebrates St. Lucia Day and Christmas.

“They may not look like your family, but they are family,” the museum’s CEO Leslie Perovich said, tying the exhibit back to the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Sure, the children were often antsy – playing with their seat cushions or bouncing with energy. But as Serena Galloway, Bakhru’s mother, watched her daughter run around the museum, she was all smiles.

“I hope she gets to understand the importance of MLK,” Galloway said. “It’s good to start talking about it.”