Children are climbing in that net structure! Photo of the Boston Children’s Museum via vanderweil.com/
The summer is flying by but there are still a few more weeks or days (for some) left before the school year starts. As Fierce Women and Green Queens, we believe education is the best method to changing the world for the better and that there’s always a way to have fun while doing it! Museums are the perfect example of this philosophy and will provide a great way to keep your kids entertained this summer.
One of my favorite memories from childhood was our 8th grade trip to Boston. Besides being super psyched to get away from school for a day, what I remember most is having so much fun at the Children’s Museum. Even though we thought we were so grown up, we ran through that place playing, listening, touching and learning. The Boston Children’s Museum is still one the most popular in the country, and one of the few green museums (though the list is growing!). It is also the second oldest, founded in 1913 by the Science Teachers’ Bureau. Take a visit there this summer and check out the newly-opened amazing NASA and Smithsonian exhibit, “Our Sky,” where you can create a human sundial, touch the moon and explore the constellations. There’s also “The Green Trail,” a 6,000 foot exhibit which teaches children about recycling, lighting conservation, and being green in their daily lives.
Children’s Museum Indianapolis (via planetterry.wordpress.com)
Indianapolis boasts the #1 must-see children’s museum according to Forbes and Parenting. The Children’s Museum Indianapolis is the largest children’s museum in the world. Built in 1925, it now gets over a million visitors a year and sits on 29 acres of land so bring your sneakers and strollers! Some of the highlights are the “Dinoscope Paleo Prep Lab” where paleontologists work on real fossil bones discovered at dinosaur digs, and “Carousel Dreams and Wishes” featuring a restored carousel from 1917 where you can go for a ride. The museum, in collaboration with National Geographic, holds the permanent exhibit “Treasures of the Earth” which is the 7,400-square-foot exhibit showing visitors what it’s like to be an archaeologist digging for ancient artifacts in Egypt, China and the Dominican Republic.
Houston Children’s Museum (photo via Destination360.com)
If you’re in the south, or just passing through, make a stop at the Children’s Museum of Houston. It was founded in 1980 so is much newer than some of its counterparts but still has some “wow” factor. One of the best exhibits is “Kidtropolis, USA,” and this is why:
It “mirrors a real city, “complete with its own city hall, municipal building, mercantile center, bank, news center, market, diner, art school, and even a vet clinic. Children can even elect a mayor, run for office and decide what ordinances to pass!”
That seems like a clever and creative way to help kids understand civic engagement and how communities work. There’s also a massive “Ecostation” an indoor/outdoor environmental exhibit with a pond, native plant garden, woodland area and research center. Visitors can participate in insect collecting, footprint identification, leaf rubbings and something called “nature journals” that my inner child got excited about. It’s also almost entirely powered by solar energy with a special exhibit dedicated to solar power.
There are over 200 children’s museums in the United States so you don’t have to travel far to visit one. Click here for a list and enjoy some learning and laughter with the young folks in your life.
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