Something new has sprung to life in the MSR Maker Lab at the Modesto Children’s Museum, MoChiMu. It’s imaginative. It’s interactive. It’s immersive. And like all things about the children’s museum in California’s Central Valley, it’s local.

When the new Sound Canvas experience marks its grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 22, the museum will gain even more color, movement, and music than usual. The participatory experience invites children and families to stand before a massive, wall-sized digital canvas. When a guest raises their hand, a streak of watercolor follows their movements, “painting” a pastel line of watercolor across the wall. Visitors can paint with pink, yellow, or teal (determined by where they stand in front of the canvas) while sophisticated, custom-built software tracks their arm movement, splatters the wall in projected paint, and blends colors together.

MoChiMu is at 928 11th St., Modesto and Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The first half of the exhibit’s name refers to another feature: it produces sensory-friendly ocean sounds and wind chimes that increase in intensity as participants move. Sensors that track guests’ movements also track the ambient energy level in the room, meaning the Sound Canvas reads the number of people in the makerspace, amping up its atmospheric audio to match – a perfect fit for the Maker Lab, which is where the museum hosts birthday parties.

“The Sound Canvas is an absolutely incredible addition to the museum,” said Director of Education and Experience, Brian Krosnick. “It’s unusual for a museum as young as ours to already be growing and expanding, but we fell in love with this multisensory experience that really started as an homage to our region’s new designation as The Dos Rios Arts & Cultural District, thanks to the work of the Stanislaus Arts Council, the City of Modesto, and Visit Modesto.”

The exhibit, whose development was made possible by The Porges Family Foundation, has another local tie: it was designed by young people at Digital NEST – a regional nonprofit that helps young people across California build careers in tech through hands-on training, mentorship, and community support.

“We were so immensely lucky to work with the Digital NEST team,” Krosnick said. “They developed this concept from scratch and designed every line of code custom for us. The result is this incredible, digital interactive that we hope will inspire families to fall in love with creativity and wonder.”

The experience is also unique because the technology is not hidden away. Instead, the custom-built computer that powers the experience is on full display, with clear sides and a dazzling interior light display that shows off the Digital NEST team’s work and gives visitors an inside look at how such an interactive experience is powered.

“It’s a work of art,” Krosnick shared, “and a work of technology, all wrapped up in one.”

Learn more about Modesto Children’s Museum at modestochildrensmuseum.org or by following @modestochildrensmuseum on social media.