To further the children's education, the Summer Splash exhibit has also invited special guest appearances of folk singers, dancers and even a "bubbleologist" to demonstrate the properties of water.

Tom Paxton performed children's folk songs for the Fourth of July weekend, and last week Professor Bubble demonstrated the miracles of surface tension. Next Sunday, the Sea Chanty Singers and Storytellers from the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut will tell children about the New England ocean life, and for its final weekend, Summer Splash will host a beach party complete with 70 tons of imported sand.

"We're going to bring in sand, beach balls, beach games and music to create the atmosphere of a beach right here in Boston," says Eaton. "We won't use the water from the harbor, of course. But we want the beach party to be symbolic of that day in the future when the people of the inner city water areas can use the local water. This all goes along with the Harbor Clean-Up project. We want the water to be enjoyed as clean."

One mother says that she thinks children's museums are great for getting young children active in the learning process but adds that she thinks Summer Splash caters to a slightly older crowd. "We've been to two in the New York area, but this one seems made for older children, ones who are in elementary school or so. I'm not sure how much [my daughter] understands."

If the younger children were comprehending the laws of physics, they weren't about to let strangers in on their newfound knowledge. Questions about how they were enjoying the exhibits usually drew blank stares from the young scientists. When they did answer, they stuck strictly to the empirical. "I'm poking a sponge," said one, who quickly retreated to the comfort of her nearby mother.

Teenagers enjoyed the exhibit as well. As a counselor for the Beth Israel Summer Camp in Worcester, Yael Miller, 17, says she enjoyed the chance to take the campers outside.

"It was so hot in there, and then we saw the water exhibit and said 'let's go.' Of course I've been running around after the kids the whole time in here, but it is alot of fun," says Miller, while two of her co-counselors marvelled over the five foot bubble display.

Donna Boczar, of Sarasota, Florida, whose children were also enjoying Summer Splash, feels that the exhibit is a good learning experience for kids. "I'm surprised at what they're interested in," she says. "I don't really think they think they're learning, but they are."

The ability to pique childrens' interests and teach them without the atmosphere of the stuffy class room is what Eaton sees as vital to Summer Splash's success. If the children enjoy their visit to the water exhibit, then they will ask to come again. But, Eaton adds, were it not for the cooperation of the surrounding business community and for modern trends in child raising, the exhibit would not have been as successful as it has been.

"There are more offices in this area, and with the exhibit's awnings and sign visible, the parents who work near here can see our Museum and may decide to bring their children here," she says. "Also, the area has changed. A lot of business people eat lunch down here and see the exhibit and just decide to walk in. Then they tell others about it."

Eaton also attributes the success of the exhibit to new attitudes toward sun and long days at the beach. "I think more and more parents are beginning to realize that a child's predisposition to skin cancer beings when he is young. So you don't want your child baking out on the beach, but you also don't want him cooped up inside. This exhibit is outdoors but it's shaded and cool, and some parents may be taking advantage of the fact that it's recreational but non-dangerous."

She adds that the Museum planned the exhibit for July without knowing that a heat wave would descend on the city during that month. "The heat has certainly boosted attendance, and we could hardly have planned on that."

The success of Summer Splash, moreover, has made Museum planners speculate on the success of a permanent water exhibit for future summers.

"Let's just say it's a dream that we'll have a water park someday," says Eaton. "It would be wonderful to have a place for art, performances, sculpture, and beach and water that the entire inner city community could enjoy."