Three-year-old Jasper James stood over a pool, casually placing random objects in it, seeing if they’d sink or float. At one point, he tried placing toys on a wooden plank of wood to see if it made a difference.

Jasper was one of many kids and parents who visited the Children’s Museum of Central Oregon free pop-up museum Saturday, in the basement of the Riverhouse Convention Center.

Hanna James, Jasper’s mother, said visiting the temporary event was an easy choice for a fun weekend activity.

“We’re just looking for interesting science-based things to do with the kids,” said James, of Bend. “We wish that there was a real children’s museum here that was open all the time.”

Saturday’s pop-up museum was one of four scheduled throughout the winter by the Children’s Museum of Central Oregon group, all centered around movement. Saturday’s event, named Waterways, focused on the science of water.

“These kids interact with water every single day. They see water; a lot of them don’t really think about it; it’s just part of life,” Children’s Museum volunteer Kayla Wopschall said. “So we just set up these situations and these spaces where they can stop and think about water and play with it, explore it and understand it on a deeper level.”

The mini-museum’s activities included a boat-building station where kids could race their creations, a City of Bend-sponsored model showing how stormwater draining works, and a virtual scuba diving experience where visitors could strap on a virtual-reality headset and visit a coral reef in Belize or swim alongside humpback whales off the California coast.

Two exhibits were sponsored and operated by local private schools Cascades Academy and Seven Peaks School. Cascades Academy’s activity had kids pour colored water into funnels that took the liquid through complicated pipe mazes, including portions with air-locks.

“You look at this little one figuring out water, and properties of water in different containers, and I think that’s so important for kids to learn in a hands-on way,” Cascades Academy Director of Admission Barb Cartmell said.

At Seven Peaks’ exhibit, kids collaborated to design paper bridges over tubs of water and tried to place small blocks or pennies on them to see if the structures held.

“I believe it’s important because it gives them an opportunity to use the creative side of their brain and really problem-solve and work together,” said Seven Peaks pre-kindergarten teacher Kristen Brannan. “They really have to use communication with each other and be risk-takers when things don’t work.”

According to Wopschall, the Children’s Museum’s eventual goal is to have a permanent museum space in Bend filled with hands-on activities for kids.

She said the group of volunteers is fundraising for the building through events, grants and private and corporate donors. The group is trying to raise $3.5 million, which will cover the museum’s creation along with its first two years of operation.

A children’s museum in Central Oregon is needed considering the area’s influx of families, Wopshall said. Bend has been without a children’s museum since Working Wonders Children’s Museum closed in the Old Mill District in 2009 during the Great Recession.

“As we grow, and we have so many little people here, (a museum) would be an integral part of any community,” she said. “It’s fostering that experimentation and that early-childhood education an informal way.”

One way the group has raised funds is through “innovation sponsors” like Seven Peaks and Cascades Academy, which not only provide exhibits for these pop-up museums, but also financially contribute to the Children’s Museum’s goal.

Seven Peaks Director of Advancement Tracy Jenson said her school is “all about supporting innovation in Central Oregon.”

“This is the future; we’ve got to prepare kids to be curious inquirers and be ready for a future that’s unknown,” she said.

Wopschall did not disclose how much money Seven Peaks and Cascades Academy contributed to the fundraising effort, but she said the cost of running each pop-up museum is less than $2,500.

As with similar pop-museums the group has hosted in the last few years, she expected about 900 parents and kids to visit throughout the day.

Bend resident Dale Riggs, whose 14-month-old daughter Elsie was enjoying Cascades’ funnel exhibit, said he thought a permanent children’s museum in Bend was “really critical.”

“Any of the parents here, they would all agree that there’s plenty of sporty and outdoor activities, but we’re really missing the more project-orientated and education-oriented activities, especially indoors in the winter,” he said. “We’re very excited for it to go permanent.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7854, jhogan@bendbulletin.com