Boston Children’s Museum
The Boston Children’s Museum is filled with hands-on interactive exhibits and activities that entertain kids while they learn about the world around them. But what does that really mean? Here are three concrete reasons why kids love this museum – and why you should visit it when you’re in Boston:
1. Fascinating exhibits for all ages. Almost as soon as you walk into the museum, you’ll see the “New Balance Climb” – a gigantic 3-story high maze of tunnels, platforms, ledges, tubes, and chutes, made child-safe with lots of netting. Kids from about 3 to 10 love to spend hours climbing through it and perfecting their balancing skills.
But that’s only the beginning. Junior builders can make all kinds of things at “Johnny’s Workbench,” a construction area filled with real tools and supplies generously donated by Home Depot. Over in the “Science Playground,” younger children explore the world of bubbles while their parents relax and snap photos of the iridescent spheres floating through the air. Slightly older children test what happens when they drop golf balls into cylinders and tracks – not realizing that they’d demonstrating concepts such as momentum and velocity that they’ll encounter later in science classes at school.
Even the youngest museum goers – infants and toddlers – will find an exhibit area just for them where they can safely work on their crawling skills and enjoy the movements of a water bed.
2. Special programs. At “KidStage,” the museum’s performance area, professional actors and museum staff stage performances with music, dancing, and comedy. Best of all, kids in the audience get to participate and experience being on stage themselves. Lots of other special programs are also hosted here, so you never know what you’ll find to enjoy.
3. The Boston Children’s Museum store. In addition to offering a big array of reasonably priced games, puzzles, science kits, and books, the museum store has an extremely popular “recycling” center. Area businesses donate scraps – everything from pieces of fabric, paper, and plastics to bits of wood, twine, and other building supplies. The selection changes constantly, which is part of the fun as you find treasures for your next art and craft projects. You fill up a bag and pay by the pound.
The Boston Children’s Museum is open 363 days a year, and is located in the South Boston Waterfront area, a short 5-10 minute walk from Boston’s South Station and downtown Financial District. Best for children up to about 10 year old.
Tags: Dictionaries, Libraries, Museums