Chasing Toddlers Through "Their" Museum
Written: Jun 12 '01 (Updated Jun 12 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The Children's Museum at Navy Pier is a wonderful experience for children.
Cons: It's a little confusing if you haven't been there before.
The Bottom Line: Families with small children will find this the most entertaining and educational experience of their trip to Chicago, provided they include the Children's Museum in their trip to Navy Pier.
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| education1's Full Review: Navy Pier |
My son and daughter-in-law have a family membership for the Children's Museum at Navy Pier which admits two adults and two children for a year. When we the grandparents, our son and his 19 month old boys entered the gift shop of the Children's Museum, it was quite obvious that Hunter and Fletcher had been there before as they were jumping with excitement in their stroller! When we got into the museum we quickly understood their excitement!
Hunter's first choice was a Sesame Street room with a display of corner mirrors, surrounded by a padded play area with soft blocks. Hunter assumed one pose after another in front of the mirrors,laughing out loud as he watched his reflection!
After this time with Hunter, my assignment changed to Fletcher who went from "The Treehouse" room where he enjoyed walking through a short tunnel in the middle of a tree, but lost interest in the rest of the room because of the large number of children already playing. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in June at Navy Pier!
Next Fletcher and I visited "The Waterworks" where Fletcher first was willing to play in the water trough that was low enough for him to reach. Soon, though, he moved on to the waterwheel which he watched in fascination for awhile. Then he decide he wanted to pull the ropes which other children had been pulling to dump buckets full of water on themselves and each other. Since there was not a furnished raincoat small enough for a toddler, it became necessary to get him out of that room before we both got soaked. Whoops!
After the Waterworks, we entered a room called "Safe & Sound", which, for Fletcher, consisted of an Ambulance!(actually the front end of the ambulance with real steering wheel, etc.) The only problem here is that Fletcher, being a take charge baby, climbed right in and pushed out of the driver seat an older child so he could drive the ambulance! What's a grandmother to do? After a short "turn" for Fletcher, I rushed him out of this room as well.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me Hunter and Dad were in the "Inventors' Room" where there were computers for kids of all ages to play with and model airplanes being launched from the ceiling. This fascinated Hunter, as well as Dad.
Our visit probably lasted an hour (you try keeping up with an active 19 month old for that long!). Fletcher and I were exhausted so we all left for the day. Later, from my daughter-in-law, I learned that the secret for taking toddlers is to go into one of the toddler rooms (the Sesame Street room and the Treehouse, for example) and latch the gate so they have to stay in one area.
When I was not chasing Fletcher or Hunter, I observed a number of creative and fun activities for older children including arts and crafts, drama and computer activities in the Inventors Room. Other reviews will give you much more information about these older activities. I also recommend that you visit their website (www.chichildrensmuseum.org) to give you a better idea of how to plan your visit. Of course, if you can go on a weekday, there should be a slimmer crowd.
Admission is $6.50 for everyone one and up, with a special senior adult rate of $5.00. Since my husband is over 60 we let him be the "third" adult and saved $1.50. Also, we parked at Navy Pier garage at $15 per car, but the museum reimbursed us $5.00 of our parking charge.
I definitely recommend a stroll along Navy Pier combined with a visit to the Children's Museum. The Lake is beautiful and we saw some gorgeous boats! We were in Chicago for a long weekend-primarily to visit with our son's family. This
trip to the museum gave us a lot of fun time with the grandchildren, but we all slept well that night! I definitely recommend it for families with young children. It's both fun and educational! Have a great chase!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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Epinions.com ID:
education1
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Member: Jackie Jones
Location: Conyers, Georgia USA
Reviews written: 89
Trusted by: 40 members
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