The Louisiana Children’s Museum is opening its massive blue doors to families who have been affected by the oil spill along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Residents of Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Terrebonne parishes are able to participate in a “Family Fun Day” free on Saturday and Sunday at the museum in New Orleans.

Inside, children can participate in the many hands-on exhibits and galleries that include batting cages, rope climbing, an “art trek” with painting and crafts and a majestic rocking house made of old boxes.

Just up the rainbow-colored stairs is a city planning exhibit and a mock Winn-Dixie store where children can shop and check out their own “groceries.”

Julia Webb Bland, executive director of the museum, said that in times of crisis the importance of family interaction and the emotional health of children is very important, but that the children aren’t the only ones who benefit from events like Family Fun Day.

“Parents are stressed,” said Bland. “The children pick up on this energy and become stressed themselves. It can actually relieve the parents to see their children playing.”

She also says the nature of the oil spill makes residents unsure of when the problem will be over.

“It’s like a slow-moving hurricane,” she said. “We know it’s coming, but we don’t know what the extent of the damage will be.”

Tammi Menard brought her young granddaughter and grandson to the museum from St. Bernard Parish, which was heavily affected by the oil spill.

She said the event at the museum was “awesome” because children in her area don’t have access to recreation with the spill rendering their parents unable to work.

“Kids want to go places and do things,” she said. “Most people couldn’t even afford the gas to come here today, and there’s no transportation on the weekend to load them up and bring them here.”

She said the Family Fun Day was a chance for people in the affected parishes to take their minds off the current struggle.

“There are some people who just need to get out,” she said. “My family couldn’t usually afford to get out and do this.”

The museum wanted to offer a reprieve for parish residents while ensuring their mental stability. About 20 families took advantage of the offer on Saturday, but more were expected for Sunday.

Valerie Wajda-Johnston, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Tulane University and resident child psychologist at the museum, was on hand Saturday to help families cope with stress brought on by the oil spill.

Wajda-Johnston said when disaster happens it’s very important for parents to communicate with children at the child’s level of understanding. She suggested encouraging children to ask questions about the issue and answering them with facts.

She said that parents should be honest about what they are feeling with the children but to always reassure them that they will be taken care of.

Wajda-Johnston said the psychological well-being of people in ordeals like the oil spill is undervalued and as the oil spill continues, stress will be more of a problem.

“I’m not sure anyone realizes the stress that is going to be the fallout from this incident, much less how the children are going to see that,” Wajda-Johnston said.

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