It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and not just because of the holidays. After a year of anticipation, Port Wonder is set to open in February. 

Port Wonder is the wave-shaped, 25,000-square-foot building that was erected on the lakefront this year. Its halls will house the new Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Nature and Science Center. The combination of the two museums has created a youth education hot spot that offers a variety of interactive exhibits and activities.

The $20 million lake-front project was announced in 2018 and broke ground in June 2021.

In a November Visit Lake Charles release, Children’s Museum Executive Director Allyson Montgomery said each Children’s Museum exhibit will “offer a unique blend of sentimental favorites and brand-new installations, designed to inspire wonder and curiosity in children of all ages.”

The Children’s Museum portion of Port Wonder will feature four main galleries: Nature, Health, Tech and Cityscape. 

The Nature Gallery will offer young guests a “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” experience, Montgomery told the American Press during a tour earlier this year, featuring giant nature elements. Highlights include an interactive banana spider exhibit, an anthill climber and an interactive alligator’s nest.  

The Sportsman’s Paradise section of the nature area will offer kids a chance to explore local industries like fishing and crabbing. The area will also feature a pollinator garden and a water table designed to teach about the water cycle.

Guests will be able to tactically interact with the body’s senses and systems in the Health Gallery. The classic interactive “Mr. Bones cycling exhibit” will return, where kids hop on a bike next to Mr.Bones to learn how their skeleton functions. There will also be a digestive maze and a heartbeat exhibit.

The Tech Gallery will showcase several STEM exhibit areas, such as a Tinker Lab that will offer weekly interactive STEM activities. The gallery will also feature a chemistry section where visitors can explore the principles of chemistry and learn about local industry.

The City Gallery will be a miniature city for children, complete with the Lighthouse Climber, Kid’s Port, Sunny’s Market, Cowboy’s Cafe, Safety Square, a News Station, Waterside Vet Clinic, Pujo Park, and the Dance Hall.

An inclusive playground will also be located outside the Children’s Museum.

The Children’s Museum will have baby and toddler space with soft play materials called Calcasieu Crawlers, and two dedicated nursing areas.

The LDWF Nature and Science Center will showcase a variety of local species and provide insights into the work carried out by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

 The “Intro to Louisiana” room will introduce visitors to the state’s diverse habitats and feature interactive exhibits on native wildlife species. The center will include several tank exhibits. To name a few, the 1,500-gallon Bayou Tank will be a freshwater aquarium, the 6,900-gallon Cameron Jetty Tank will house brackish water species, and a 2,900-gallon touch tank will allow guests to interact with stingrays and other non-native species.

An interactive Barrier Island exhibit will let visitors create waves and explore the role of barrier islands. Other exhibits will focus on the LDWF Rigs to Reef program, the work of marine biologists, a fishing game, a fish hatchery wall, and an interactive microscope.

Outside the center, guests can enjoy a fishing pier, which will be free to use.