Spend a Day at the Museum of Science in Boston

As many times as I’ve been to Boston, I had no idea they had a Museum of Science until we were invited to visit.  You discover so much once you have kids!  Having grown up in the area, my husband was fortunate enough to have had several opportunities to go there, but for me and my kids, this was a new and exciting adventure.

The Museum of Science is a very big place, and it’s full of interactive exhibits.  If you have younger children (0-8), you’ll definitely want to check out their Discovery Center where little ones can participate in fun activities like splashing in the water table and touching real fossils.  Hands-on experiences aren’t limited to the Discovery Center; there are opportunities to explore in every area of the museum.

Dinosaurs are always a popular theme, so it was no surprise to find that they have a permanent exhibit here.  When we walked into the room, my son went straight for the Tyrannosaurus rex.  He was in awe of its enormousness–I think it was the first time he’d seen one that wasn’t a cartoon.  My son is only 3, but the many fossils and life-size models in this exhibit were so fascinating to him that he didn’t want to leave.

There’s something for kids of all ages at Boston’s Museum of Science.  My husband and brother-in-law entertained themselves for a while with the “Try to Be a Computer” experiment.  Looks like maybe they didn’t try hard enough.  ☺

When I asked each of my kids what they liked best about the museum, they both gave the same answers–the same two answers, actually.   The first favorite was Lightning!, a live presentation on electricity, magnetism, storm safety, and more that takes place in the Theater of Electricity and features bolts of lightening produced by the world’s largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator.  I was worried that the show might be scary for a 3 and 4 year old, but it turns out that they found the loud booms and bright flashes of lightning to be quite exciting.  The second favorite was a show we saw in the Museum of Science’s Charles Hayden Planetarium, Big Bird’s Adventure:  One World, One Sky.

The planetarium was one of my very favorite places when I was younger, so I couldn’t wait to take my children there for the first time.  In One World, One Sky, your family will accompany Big Bird, Elmo, and their friend from China, Hu Hu Zhu, on a journey through the night sky, where you’ll learn all about the Big Dipper, the North Star, and the sun and moon.  Any show where Big Bird asks you questions and you get to take a trip to the moon with Elmo was bound to be a hit with my kids, but they were also genuinely interested in what they were learning.  They were introduced to constellations, shown how the moon’s environment differs from the earth’s, and (this is my favorite part) they discovered that even though Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu are in different countries, they still share the same sky.  Definitely don’t miss this one!

The Museum of Science in Boston is an amazing place to spend an indoor day with the family, no matter what ages your children are.  When planning your trip, make sure you arrive early and give yourself the whole day.  There is so much to see, and you’ll want to have time to fully explore all of the exhibits (and take the inevitable 37 bathroom breaks).

The Museum of Science provided complimentary admission for my family in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are my own.