In a previous blogs I mentioned that you would regret traveling all the way to Hawaii and not visiting the state’s most famous tourist attraction–Pearl Harbor Naval Base. The base is home to the USS Arizona, the USS Utah, the Battleship Missouri, the USS Missouri Memorial, and the newest addition to the area, the Pacific Aviation Museum on Pearl Harbor’s Ford Island.
What I failed to mention in those blogs is that youngsters (age 5 and up) have the opportunity to get more out of their visits by enrolling in special summer programs. Pearl Harbor’s Educational Summer Programs are designed to teach children about the history of aviation in the original WWII hangars on Ford Island at the Pacific Aviation Museum.
Some of the programs include:
Keiki Air Cadet Program. This program includes a 90-minute tour of the museum by guides trained to get curious young minds excited about learning. Cost is $5 per person.
Flight Lab Experience. Children age 7 and older can participate in this program, which includes a 2 ½ hour tour of the museum and its interactive exhibits. It also features a stop in the Education Center’s Flight Lab, which is equipped with individual flight stations that bring to life actual aerial combats that occurred in Hawaii and the Pacific. Cost for this program is $8 per person.
“Just Plane Fun” Group Program. This program caters to children 10 and older in groups larger than 10. Price per person is $10 for a 4-hour tour, lessons, and time in the Education Center’s Flight Lab.
This summer is also historic in that it is an Olympics year. To celebrate the Doubletree Hotel Alana-Waikiki (along with 150 Doubletree hotels nationwide) is offering its young guests the chance to experience the 2008 Summer Olympic Games from the comfort of their hotel rooms.
The hotel is giving all children who stay at the hotel from June 2 through September 1 a kidsCAREpak filled with a sling backpack, soccer Hacky Sack, Frisbee, crayons and an Olympic-themed activity book and playing cards. The gift will be handed out to kids ages 3 to 12.
Related Articles:
Spending Memorial Day at Pearl Harbor
Visiting Pearl Harbor’s Newest Attraction
Pearl Harbor: An Unforgettable Trip
Hawaii’s “Not So Famous” Military Memorials
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl