Just because the kids are out of school for their holiday break, doesn't mean 'tis the season for kids to be without reason. Actually, the holidays are a perfect time to exercise the mind, discover art and explore culture in and around your city.
In fact, did you know there are more than 200 museums in the United States that are designed specifically for kids? Whether it's a short drive or a flight across the country, you'll find some extraordinary exhibits and museums you and your family will enjoy.
To find more opportunities, visit the Association of Children's Museums at www.childrensmuseums.org.
In fact, did you know there are more than 200 museums in the United States that are designed specifically for kids? Whether it's a short drive or a flight across the country, you'll find some extraordinary exhibits and museums you and your family will enjoy.
- "Dinosphere: Now You're in Their World" at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis takes visitors back 65 million years to time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. The exhibit boasts one of the largest displays of real juvenile and family dinosaur fossils in the United States. There is also a functioning Paleo Lab, a hands-on dig, interactive stations and activities, and one of the finest collections of dinosaur art in the nation.
- Information: www.ChildrensMuseum.org
- "YOU: The Experience" at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. This dramatic 15,000-square-foot exhibit, which opened in October, is a celebration of the human body, mind and spirit. "YOU" offers more than 50 hands-on stations that will change the way you and your kids will look at the human experience. When you're there, be sure to check out the giant human heart that will actually beat to your own heart rate. It's as if you're looking into yourself - amazing!
- Information: www.msiyou.org
- The Zimmer Children's Museum in Los Angeles. Disneyland is great, but this world-famous museum is life changing in its scope. The focus of Zimmer Children's Museum is teaching visitors about global citizenship, community responsibility, and cultural sensitivity. The museum promotes values that help make a better society through interactive learning, creative self-expression and art experiences for children and families.
- Information: www.zimmermuseum.org
- The Brooklyn Children's Museum, founded 1899, is the world's oldest museum created specifically for children. You enter the building, located underground in the side of a hill, through an authentic 1905 New York City trolley kiosk. Then you pass through the "People Tube," which connects the four exhibit floors and opens kids to a world of wonderful opportunities. Brooklyn Children's Museum collects cultural objects and natural-history specimens...to date, more than 30,000!
- Information: www.brooklynkids.org
- Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is, in a word, breathtaking. While not strictly a children's museum, the Met is one of the largest and finest art museums in the world, with more than two million works of art spanning 5,000 years of world culture. A trip to this amazing facility will spark childrens' artistic curiosity and give them an appreciation for the arts that would be hard to duplicate in any other setting.
- Information: www.metmuseum.org
To find more opportunities, visit the Association of Children's Museums at www.childrensmuseums.org.
