Giant bubbles, real dinosaurs, the Wild Wild West… Explore the top five children's museums in the country and see what makes them so unique.
As more and more parents look for a way to mix fun and learning, museums are becoming as popular as amusement parks. In fact, youth museums brought in 40 million visitors in 2004, breaking all previous attendance records.
Want to know why? Take a look at what these places have to offer.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
3000 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208 - 4716 · 317-334-3322
Open 10:00am to 5:00pm everyday (closed on Mondays during winter)
$12 · Free Family Nights the 1st Thursday of every month from 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Come Here For:
The largest collection of artifacts of any children's museum in the world.
All Aboard! A hands-on adventure on a 1890's river town, complete with its own railway depot and 35-foot long steam locomotive.
The coral reef and underwater mini-submersible.
The only 30-foot tall water clock in the US, completely made of hand-blown glass.
The 350-seat Lilly Theater, the only performing arts venue in the state specifically for kids, with presentations ranging from Native American dances to classics such as The Velveteen Rabbit.
An authentic Indy car children can climb into.
A 1900's main street where children can visit century-old stores, including a print shop, schoolroom, historical toy and clothes, a candy counter, and even a mid-1800's log cabin.
The museum's main attraction is the newly opened Dinosphere, a faithful recreation of life in the Cretaceous Period, complete with a hands-on dig and a fully-operational paleontology lab. Visitors are transported 65 millions years back in time through clever use of sounds and lighting, real palm trees, and a night sky worthy of a planetarium.
The exhibition encourages active participation through the use of computer stations, educational games, and sensory displays. Among the highlights of the exhibition are dinosaur eggs, a baby dinosaur, and Bucky, the first teenage Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) ever put on exhibition and the sixth most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found.
Dinosphere also houses a 66-million-year-old dinosaur skull of an unidentified species. The dragon-like animal has a flat-head and long horns and is believed to be unique to North America. "The discovery of this fossil was a Cretaceous surprise - we never suspected such a creature existed," says Paleontologist Dr. Robert Bakker, who heads the study of the remains.