It
isn’t hard to stay busy in Chicago. In addition to the multitudes of relatives
and friends that stopped by to meet Mikus for the first time and catch up with
Lauris and me, we also took advantage of some of the family fun the city has to
offer. Although Lauris is happy with a big cardboard box and some matchbox
cars, his favorite place might have been the Children’s Museum. There are
several locations in the Chicago area but as we were meeting an old friend of
mine with her children, convenience dictated we meet at the Navy Pier location.
The
Museum is very well-thought out, and
really has activities for every age. It is split into many rooms, each
with a different theme, and most rooms have a play area within for smaller
children. It was a relief to be able to put Mikus down and know he hasn’t
crawled off somewhere while I’m playing with Lauris, and I even got in some
chat-time with Cathy.
Our
first stop was the fire truck area, complete with fire boots and coats for the
kids to put on, hoses to hook up, fire poles to slide down and a command center
to operate. As a former firefighter I can vouch for the authenticity of the set
up: I was surprised at the detail, and how much to do was packed into very
little space. We also spent some time in the building area, which had only
boards, nuts, bolts and washers and depended solely on the child’s imagination.
Or the parent’s patience, whichever runs out first….
The
“little town” room was great, and Cathy’s oldest had just as fun a time as the two two-year olds. With a gas station,
general store and post office, the kids were pushing around shopping carts,
practicing paying for groceries and doing their own thing for over an hour. The
dinosaur excavation was not as age appropriate. I helped Lauris “find” some
bones but he wanted to pull them out and look at them, and since each bone is a
part of a larger picture and therefore remains in place he quickly lost
interest. Mikus wanted to eat the sand.
I
believe the greatest asset of the children’s museum is their water room. The
kids don little rain jackets before entering the room filled with all sorts of
water-related activities. One wall is for “water art”, another has jets
squirting into the air that can be redirected, split and capped with various
pipes and tubing. The centerpiece is a long river with flowing water that
allows children to learn about lock mechanisms, water pressure and the power of
flowing water through pulleys, gears, spinning wheels and the placement of
barriers. While the older children experimented with diverting water flow and
pumping stations, Lauris had just as much fun floating boats down river,
carrying buckets of water from one place
to the next and getting soaked down to the diaper in no time despite the
waterproof gear.
Every
empty spot is filled with some sort of activity or learning station: giant
dominoes, a bowling alley, catapaults… We drifted into the bug room with its
shadowplay butterfly area, costumes and video-games. Then into the gravity/flight
room where self-constructed flying objects can be hoisted up high into the air
and then dropped to test the qualities needed for longer flight time. Somewhere
in between we took the kids out for a bite to eat, with promises that we would
be back inside before they know it. And they ran around, they played and they
enjoyed the hands-on activities and games that guaranteed that they also
learned something. I caught up with my college friend, so it really was a
win-win situation. Especially that evening when they both slept like rocks!
What an amazing and fun place. I keep hearing such good things about Chicago - there seems to be something for everyone!
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We love Children Museums! We always seem to find one everywhere we go.
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