A few weeks back a friend and I decided to take our children on a little road trip before school started. We loaded up our minivans and made the drive to Indianapolis for a day at the Children’s Museum.
The drive is a fairly easy drive…straight roads, not many hills, and corn fields as far as the eye can see. It took us two hours to reach the Museum. I have not been to the Children’s Museum of Indy since I myself was a child, and I had almost forgotten what a magical place it was!
The fun starts before you even get inside the museum. From the parking lot you can see a dinosaur as tall as the museum with it’s body standing in front of the museum, and it’s head bursting through the window to look at the visitors in the lobby. There’s also a baby dino hanging out with the mama. My kids were fascinated! Sam is still asking when we get to go back to the dini-saur museum. And that is just the beginning of the magic & adventure! I don’t even know where to begin in my description of the museum, there was just way too much to see. We spent over four hours there and I feel like we still did not explore everything there was to explore! Everything about this museum is child-friendly, touching is encouraged, hands on exploration is a must! There is so much for the kids to do and explore here.
Instead of trying to tell you about everything there is to see, you are just going to have to trust me, and head up there with your children! I will give you a bulleted list of our favorite things that we saw or did that day, to help you understand how very cool this museum is!
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars Exhibition was very very cool. Unfortunately, it is only on display until September 6, 2010. I have to admit, this exhibit is the reason I drove two hours to the museum. My boys are big Star Wars fans! We had four young boys with us who were very excited to check out the costumes, weapons, and other items from their favorite movies.
- Barbie, the Fashion Exhibit was another highlight of our trip. Well, not for everyone, but Ella endured the Star Wars exhibit, so the boys had to endure the Barbie exhibit. It was fascinating! So many Barbies, so many outfits! It was cool to see all the changes over the years! And you could design your own outfits, participate in a fashion show, and more! This exhibit will be open until February 2011.
- Take Me There: Egypt is a permanent exhibit at the museum, and I think that this was my favorite of the day. Upon entering the exhibit you board a simulated flight on EgyptAir where the pilot & flight attendant help you learn a few Egyptian words & tell you a bit about the country. After the flight you enter Egypt, you can visit homes, go to the market, all while learning about the history, traditions & culture of Egypt.
- Rock Stars, Cars & Guitars will be at the museum until September 12, 2010. Here you can check out the guitars & cars of music legends, gaze upon one of Elvis’ fantastic jumpsuits, perform in your own rock video, test drive a motorcycle, design and album cover and more! This is a must for the rock & roll lovers out there.
- Dinosphere: Now you’re in their worldwas another great exhibit. So many things to do in this exhibit: dig for dino bones, talk to paleontologists as they work on fossils, protect your eggs from predators & gaze up at the huge dinosaur models.
So there’s a short list, a few highlights if you will. But please don’t think that this is all of the excitement in these exhibits I listed! There is so much more to see, like the carousal, the tree house, the constructions site, the race car, the Chihuly glass sculpture, and the list goes on and on and on. I want to leave a few surprises for you!
I hope that you take my advice and journey to Indy for a field trip with your children! And if you have already been please leave a comment below telling us what your favorite thing was at the museum!
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
3000 North Meridian Street Indianapolis, IN 46208
| Youth (ages 2–17) | $10.50 | |
| Adult (ages 18–59) | $15.50 | |
| Senior (60+) | $14.50 |
Youth under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Youth will not be permitted to purchase admission or enter the museum without a chaperone.
Free Parking, see site for coupons, discount admissions, group rates, etc. Please be advised, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis does not offer discounts for members of the Cincinnati Museum Center.
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Great article. For a shorter road trip we took the kids to the Booneshoft Museum of Discovery. Only an hour away in Dayton and free with your Museum Center membership.
Katie…thanks for the tips on the discounted tickets!
It’s been a while since we visited. We need to go back again. Looks like so much fun. Great post Katie.
We enjoyed the Rock Stars, Cars & Guitars exhibit when it was at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, a while back.
We don’t have kids, but this museum sounds like it is pretty interesting in any case. The Egyptian and Barbie exhibits sound like fun to me, too 🙂
They have (much like in Cincy) a great area for toddlers. My daughter – 18 months old when we went in July – could have spent the whole time there! Well, that and the carousel. However, she didn’t understand why she couldn’t take the barbie with her; she put the barbie in her stroller when I said it was time to move on … Also, for AAA members, you cannot get tickets at AAA Cincy but if you stop at an AAA in Indy on your way into town you can get discounted tickets. That was the best deal we found since we only needed 2 adult tickets.