Trekking into the rainforest’s darkest depths at the Kids Discovery Museum, phobics of a certain type may be reminded of the words of that most famous of American archaeologists, Indiana Jones:

“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”

At the risk of betraying the editor’s primordial hang-ups, passing the cold, slimy, slithering creature in the aquarium near the museum’s front door is good for a shiver or two with each visit. Unless, of course, you’re a kid, in which case you have an innate fascination with all things exotic and weird, and the colder and slimier and slitherier, the better.

What’s coiling around the imagination of local youngsters these days are the many wonders at the Kids Discovery Museum – “KiDiMu” in the colloquial. Since opening its doors on Madison Avenue last April, the nonprofit learning center has wildly exceeded attendance projections. While organizers expected about 11,000 youngsters and parents to come through the doors in the first 12 months, the gate will easily double that, reports Cheryl Dale, executive director. It seems the center’s elaborate displays dovetail nicely with the rainforest education curriculum for area second-grade students, making it a field-trip destination for every elementary school in Kitsap County. With a certified science teacher now on staff, Tuesday classes are completely filled with kids, including homeschoolers working on their science education.

KiDiMu is also a good time – visitors have come from 34 different states and five countries – with some families turning up every single day. Arts and crafts programming changes every day; an array of activities are still under development, with new programs to be introduced in March covering everything from yoga to cooking.

“We’re just trying to expose the kids to as many things as we can, and take advantage of all the talents we have on the island,” Dale told us this week. “I think of the rainforest as just the backdrop of what we do. I think of us as more of a community center with lots of things for kids to do. It’s fun.”

Readers should by now have noticed (thanks to the fliers papering the town and promotions sponsored by this newspaper) that KiDiMu on Saturday will sponsor a rare visit by the legendary Bill Nye the Science Guy. Nye, who became a Seattle television icon by putting a whimsical spin on the sometimes dry world of scientific inquiry, will have shows for the whole family at 1 and 4 p.m. in the Bainbridge High School gym. This fund-raising event – assuming you buy a ticket – will cover a few months’ worth of expenses for the museum. Tickets will be available at the museum through Saturday morning, and at the gym door just before showtime.

Opening the program is the Reptile Man, said to be traveling with a slithering companion some 20 feet in length, flanked by big screens to make big snakes bigger still.

Shiver.