5/6/2019
Our family headed to Indianapolis for a day-trip recently for a visit to the Children's Museum. It had been almost 10 years since we were there last, so a number of our younger kids had never experienced it. Dad took the day off work and the whole family headed out for this field trip.
This museum is very kid-friendly so it afforded lots of opportunities for our littlest ones to walk/run/explore somewhat on their own. We visited on a Tuesday, which was a great day to visit as it was not nearly as busy as a weekend.
There were displays on the Terra Cotta army from China...
water tables for the kids to get wet with and learn about rivers and waterways...
the cab of a combine for them to ride in, with a simulator showing the corn rows on the screen as they were heading into them. This reminded me of my childhood, wanting to ride with my Grandpa Nelson in his combine during harvest.
There were hands-on music displays with xylophones...
and big drums!
There was a large Preschool play space which was so perfect for the little ones to enjoy sand tables, water tables, art projects and a jungle-gym all for them and all inside and supervised.
We learned a little about gems (notice my pretty girl wanting to stand by all the pretty jewels and gems).
So many beautiful colors on display!
And we learned about rocks.
There's an Indy 500 racecar for the kids to climb into.
The Fireworks of Glass display is something to behold, climbing 4 stories through the middle of the museum. Twisted colored glass. So pretty.
The kids can play with twisted colored plastic bottles and create their own "fireworks" display. There were also displays with Pop Culture, Children Who Made a Difference (like Ryan White, Ruby Bridges and Anne Frank), Paw Patrol playground, a Dinosphere.
The highlight of the museum was the new outdoor sports area. Large spaces to play football, baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, ice hockey, basketball and more were perfect to get the wiggles out before heading back to the van for the drive home.
The huge treehouse playground was the biggest hit.
There's my oldest son waving from one of the upper decks. (It was completely safe, with rope netting all around so nobody can fall through).
A silly shot from the museum.
And a silly shot of my daughter with a statue we found on the streets of Indianapolis.
We enjoyed a pizza supper at a local, non-chain pizzeria. Yum.
And our final memory of this trip will be my 3-year-old having a bloody nose on the way home. He was scared and screaming and it was rough until we could get to a gas station bathroom to clean him up. After that, dad sat next to him and kept him calm by pretending they both needed "elephant tusks" (nose plugs) for the rest of the ride home.
Oh the joys of traveling with children.
Oh the memories!
The Indianapolis Children's Museum is expensive to visit, however a family can easily spend a whole day there. The addition of the outside sports area adds tremendous value and there is free parking too. My kids didn't want to leave, which is a sign of a good field trip. In my opinion, this museum is good to visit every 5-10 years. That allows the displays to change so you're not seeing things you've already spent money to see.
Overall a good field trip and much needed family time for us! Thank you, Indy!
