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children's museums

Museum of the Rockies Review – Bozeman, Montana

September 8, 2014 by danawyyc 9 Comments

Location: Bozeman, Montana     http://www.museumoftherockies.org/
Address: 600 West Kagy Blvd

Day Pass Cost: $14 adult, $9.50 kids 5-17, 4 and under is free. (You may be eligible for free or reduced admission if you have a pass to a Science Center elsewhere)
Food Services: Limited but there are vending machines downstairs.
Age Range: All ages.
Estimated Stay Length: 90 minutes to half a day.
Worth the Trip?: Absolutely. The dinosaur exhibits are excellent, the children’s discovery centre is great for younger kids and they have interesting travelling exhibits too.

Gordie’s Review (5 years old): “I liked playing with my new friends.”
Nicky’s Review (2 years old): “Fish!” (She loves the fishing game in the Children’s Discovery Centre)

Overall: 

Bozeman is about 90 minutes away from Yellowstone National Park. The Museum of the Rockies makes a great stop on the way to or from the park. We went 2 years ago and enjoyed it so much we came back again this year.

Martin Children’s Discovery Center

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

This section is located upstairs and is geared towards kids 8 and under.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT - talkinginallcaps.com

It features the science of Yellowstone National Park and is actually better than what is available inside the park. There is a ton of things to play with, touch and even smell.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

At the front you can pick up a backpack filled with things you can use to explore the centre. It is fun but totally not necessary for you to enjoy your time there.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT - talkinginallcaps.com

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT - talkinginallcaps.com

There’s an area just for kids 2 and under with age appropriate toys and soft mats to crawl around.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

Nicky liked it there both as an infant and a 2 year old.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT - talkinginallcaps.com

In the center there’s a model of the Old Faithful Geyser. The noise can be a little startling when it ‘erupts’. If think this may bother your kid, it doesn’t run between 10-noon daily. There is another geyser that you pump by hand too.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

There’s a number of other hands on features that help explain the science of Yellowstone to kids as well.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT - talkinginallcaps.com

They also have a mini model of the Old Faithful Inn with books and dress-up clothes. Gordie really enjoyed playing there with another kid he met while we were there.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

On the other side the have a campground with lots of fun accessories.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

On this visit our kids’ (2 and 5 years old) favorite thing was the fishing bridge. The have fishing poles with a little magnet on the end that you can use to catch the fabric fish. They would have happily played their for ages.

Siebel Dinosaur Complex

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com This is really the main attraction of the Museum of the Rockies. It houses one of the largest collections of dinosaur fossils in the world. Even if you’ve been to a dinosaur museum before, you will not be disappointed. We’ve been to the Tyrell Museum in Drumheller and the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, DC – this exhibit is of comparable quality.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

The museum houses the most T.rex specimens in the world (currently 13) including the largest T.rex skull in the world (Custer T.rex). At the time of this post the Custer T.red head is not on display as it is currently part of the travelling dinosaur exhibit in Japan.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

One of the other highlights is the amazing displays on the growth and behavior of the Triceratops. That was my favorite part for sure. So interesting!

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman MT - talkinginallcaps.com

Some of the displays showed the dinosaur bones or muscles on one side and what the dinosaur might look like when it was alive on the other.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

In each exhibit they also have kids areas set up with books and toys that fit the theme of the exhibit.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

Paugh Regional History Hall

This exhibit features historical items and stories from the region from early exploration through World War II. Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com I found this area to be a little less well suited to younger kids, but the large relatable artifacts like planes and other vehicles help hold their interest. Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com There is also a children’s area with books, toys and costumes.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

I really liked the house exhibit set up inside like an actual house with cut outs so that you could see the different rooms inside.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

The Enduring Peoples exhibit is found between the History Hall and the Dinosaur Complex. It feature the life and culture of the Northern Plains Native Americans. No photography was allowed in the exhibit at the time we were there. 

Special Exhibit: Geckos – Tails to Toepads. Closed September 7th

The Museum of the Rockies has a large area for travelling exhibits as well. On our first visit they had an exhibit on Napoleon. This time it was about Geckos.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

Inside the exhibit you could see enclosures featuring many different kinds of geckos. The kids loved trying to find the geckos in each one. Some of them were pretty tricky.

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com

Living History Farm

Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com In the warmer months (this year has extended dates to celebrate the 25th anniversary – May 24 – September 21) just outside the museum, you can find the Living History Farm.  The historic Tinsley house was relocated to the museum grounds and now serves as a window into the past. You can see costumed interpreters, bake and cook using recipes from the 1890s, grow an heirloom garden and work in the blacksmith’s shop. This year (2014) admission of the Living History Farm is free (regular admission still applies for the rest of the museum. Museum of the Rockies - Bozeman, MT -talkinginallcaps.com Have you been to the Museum of the Rockies? What did you think?

Filed Under: Montana, travel Tagged With: children's museums, Museums, Road Trips, Science Centre, Traveling with Kids

Outside Washington, DC – Baltimore and National Harbor

March 27, 2013 by danawyyc 3 Comments

While we were visiting Washington, DC, we also took a couple side trips. Although Washington has a ton to offer, the weather wasn’t particularly nice while we were there this February and we wanted to make sure we found some places where the kids could play freely. Early on our trip went to the Children’s Museum in nearby National Harbor. In addition, our return flight was from Baltimore Airport (one of the three airports that serves Washington, DC), so we decided to spend the day there just before we headed home. We visited two attractions in the Inner Harbor area – Port Discovery (Baltimore’s Children’s Museum) and the Baltimore National Aquarium.

National Harbor, Maryland

(20 minute drive south of Washington, DC)

National Children’s Museum

National Children's Museum Location     http://www.ncm.museum/

Address: 151 St. George Boulevard – National Harbor, MD (10 miles from downtown Washington, DC)

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “I liked the car ramps. And the crane.” Nicky’s Review (11 months): toys!

Day Pass Cost: $10 for children over 12 months and adults. Seniors $8, under 12 months are free.
Food Services: None. No outside food is permitted.
Age Range: under 8 years old.
Stay Length: 2 hours to half a day.
Worth the Trip?: Your kids will definitely have a good time.

Overall: The National Children’s Museum is the closest Children’s Museum to Washington, DC and had recently opened (Dec 2012) just two months before our visit. On top of it being very very new, we also ended up going on a Sunday during a long weekend. This was definitely not ideal planning. When we got there in the morning, the museum was at maximum capacity, but they offer timed tickets so we wandered off to have a snack and returned at our time 45 minutes later. It’s worth noting that the line-up had disappeared by this point. If you are going on what might be a busy day, I’d recommend going in afternoon if you can.

National Children's Museum

The 3 & Under area is designed for kids under 3 feet tall. There is a climbing structure that toddlers will love, a food truck perfect for pretend play, and tons of small toys, like trucks and building blocks. There’s a infant section too that is in the separated by a low soft wall to help keep the little ones from being run over. Nicole found it a little overwhelming while she was in there because it was so busy. Gordie actually loved it, he thought the food truck was really fun to play in and loved that they had a bunch of cars to play with too. He’s older than the intended age-group so I think it would be unlikely for your kids to lose interest in this area before they get too old for it.

National Children's Museum

The rest of the play space is is designed for kids 3-8 years old. It’s split up into two sections – Our Town and Our World.

Our Town

This section is set up for kids to learn through play using familiar city themes. Gordie loved the firetruck set – it has costumes, a play set that looks like the front of the firetruck and even a little window that goes ‘on fire’ complete with a fire alarm.

 National Children's Museum

National Children's Museum

They also have a cargo loading area with a crane that Gordie thought was awesome. He talked about this days afterwards.

National Children's Museum

National Children's Museum

There are a number of other different centres in this area – a store, a pizza parlor, an election area/post office and a bunk bed quiet area.

National Children's Museum

Our World

This section has different centres to help kids explore the differences in how people around the world, live, cook, travel, and dress.

National Children's Museum

The What we Eat section has different kids of cooking equipment set up along the wall. This was really popular – the kids loved pretending to cook.

National Children's Museum

This section also had different puzzles set up that show different kids of meals from around the world.

National Children's Museum

Gordie’s favorite area was the travel section. They have different cars you can put together and then try to run down the different types of ‘roadways’. The only problem with this is that it’s really only designed for the cars to roll down the tracks and Gordie really wanted to be able to play with them and drive them back up. This wouldn’t be as big of a problem on a less busy day.

National Children's Museum

National Children's Museum

National Children's Museum

The also have a building section about different types of housing and building materials, and What We Wear has dress up clothes featuring special occasion clothing.

National Children's Museum

National Children's Museum

Baltimore

(1 hour drive NE of Washington, DC)

Port Discovery – Children’s Museum

Port Discovery Location     http://www.portdiscovery.org/

Address: Inner Habor –  Baltimore, MD

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “I liked the climber.”
Nicky’s Review (11 months): toys!

Day Pass Cost: $10 for children over 12 months and adults. Seniors $8, under 12 months are free. Re-entry is allowed if you leave your bracelet on. Food Services: No food or drink is permitted in the exhibit area but there is an area where you can eat a bag lunch.
Age Range: 0-10 years.
Stay Length: 2 hours to half a day.
Worth the Trip?: Your kids will definitely have a good time.

Overall:

Port Discovery is ranked as one of the top Children’s Museums in the US. It’s the biggest Children’s Museum I’ve been to – we only saw about half the exhibits   before we had to leave for dinner. Some of the exhibits look a little tired, but others are brand new.

Port Discovery

In the centre of the museum is a 3 level climber – Kid Works which is designed for kids 5 and up. The climber is pretty cool – Stephen took Gordie up and he loved it. The one problem with taking little kids, is that it has a number of exits onto the different floors so it’s pretty easy to lose your kids if they are not old enough to roam around alone.

Port Discovery

Port Discovery

On the main floor, they have a gas station and grocery store which provide great opportunities for pretend play. Port Discovery

Port Discovery

On the 2nd floor they have a wooden train that you can pretend to drive with a crane that you can use to load cargo from the shops just above it. There’s nothing really spectacular about it, but it was definitely Gordie’s favorite part. (what else would you expect from a little train fan?) Port Discovery

On the third floor, they have a diner where kids can pretend to make and serve food. Gordie thought this was pretty fun too. A couple times he’d pick up the ‘olden days phone’ and take an order for the train for sandwiches and then go to the kitchen to make them. Port Discovery Tot Trails is one of the best toddler areas I’ve been too. It’s beautiful throughout with ocean and forest themes. They have a soft area for babies and a spot with ramps and small steps to challenge crawlers and early walkers. Port Discovery On the other side, they have a Mountain Trail, where toddlers can climb in and around – it looks great but it is hard to photograph. They have a little interactive ‘pond’ which Nicky found captivating and a spot where you can catch little fabric ‘butterflies. Port Discovery

Port Discovery   They also have a neat block area, a quiet area and a spot for sand play too. Port Discovery There are a number of other exhibits that we didn’t even get to (a number of which were aimed at school-aged kids). If you are looking to do something with the kids while you are in Baltimore, this would be a great pick.

Baltimore National Aquarium

Location     http://www.aqua.org/visit/baltimore

Address: Inner Habor –  Baltimore, MD

Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): What was the best part? “Seeing all the fish!’
Nicky’s Review (11 months): “fish!” (signing)

Day Pass Cost: $30 for adults, $21 for ages 3-11, under 3 is free.
Food Services: There are a few cafeterias.
Age Range: all ages.
Stay Length: 2 hours to half a day.
Worth the Trip?: Maybe. The cost is high but if your kids are interested in fish, dolphins and sharks, there’s plenty to see.

Overall: The kids loved the little fish tank at the Natural History Museum so much I thought that it would be fun to take them to the aquarium. I’d heard some good things about it and it really is huge, they have everything you’d want in an aquarium. I have to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I had been to the Georgia Aquarium when it first opened, and they have a lot of large ecosystems set up that you can along by or even under. I wasn’t expecting much and was really blown away. At the moment, the Baltimore aquarium is more of a traditional aquarium with smaller separate aquariums. There are currently doing some renovations on one of the levels – black tip barrier reef will be coming summer 2013.

National Aquarium It does have plenty to offer though, and tons and tons of fish and other water creatures. In the main part of the aquarium, each floor represents a different kind of habitat and geographic location. National Aquarium

National Aquarium

National Aquarium   They have lots of little eco-systems set up for the different fish to swim around in. National Aquarium One of the things I thought was really neat is how they have it set up so part of the ecosystems is below the water but they also have the above water area visible as well. National Aquarium

National Aquarium

National Aquarium National Aquarium   The top floor has a rainforest area complete with tropical birds.National Aquarium They even have a section with a number of different sharks including ones that look like Bruce from Finding Nemo. The dolphins, Jellies Invasion and the Discovery Centre are in a 2nd area down a corridor. I’d suggest checking when the dolphin shows are going to be when you get there so you can plan your trip around it and don’t miss out like we did. National Aquarium

National Aquarium If you are planning on going it’s important to know that you can’t bring a stroller. If you don’t have your own carrier, they have front and back carriers that you can borrow when you check your stroller. Since we had two little kids, I found this limited the amount of time we were able to spend at the aquarium and so we missed the Australian glass pavilion completely and didn’t manage to catch the dolphin show. We had a good time, and the kids both loved seeing all the fish.

Have you ever been in the Washington, DC area? Did you take any side trips?  

Filed Under: travel, Washington DC Tagged With: aquarium, children's museums

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About Me

I'm an experiential playground expert and mom to three young kids. I live with my husband in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When I'm not looking after people, I'm reading all the YA fiction I can get my hands on and am attempting to learn photography. My laundry-folding suffers due to more interesting pursuits.

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