Our Family Trip to Boston Children’s Museum was part of our FUNtastic weekend getaway to Boston. Our STEM girls were ecstatic when we announced our plan to visit Boston Children’s Museum. Their STEM parents were delighted that one of the perks our Discovery Museum membership offered as part of the ASTC Travel Passport Program gave us FREE access to our family.

Boston Children’s Museum is the second oldest, and one of the most influential children’s museums in the world. It was founded in 1913 by the Science Teachers’ Bureau, a group of visionary educators dedicated to providing new resources for both teachers and students.  For over 100 years it has been engaging children in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. We were also delighted to find out that the museum is across the bridge from Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and our oldest who is our in-house historian was besides herself.

We couldn’t wait to experience Boston Children’s Museum for ourselves and our fist stop was to explore the Bubbles exhibit. One of Boston Children’s Museum’s most beloved and enduring exhibits, Bubbles, part of the John Hancock Science Playground, encourages side by side experimentation between children and their grown-ups, and helps children to develop a beginning understanding of some basic science concepts and scientific processes.

Arthur® and Friends uses imaginative settings to put you inside Marc Brown’s beloved books and the popular television series produced by WGBH-TV Boston. Familiar characters – Arthur, Binky, Buster, and D.W. – come to life as children tell stories and practice dramatic play as building blocks to developing their reading and writing skills. Parents and children can even serve as co-pilots on a cross-country plane trip with Buster or see themselves on screen with Arthur and his buddies.

Developed with community leaders from across Boston and highlighting real people and places from the city, Boston Black is a dialogue about race, ethnicity, identity, and community. It’s designed to highlight the tremendous diversity within Boston’s Black community, share the significant history of Black people in the city, and stimulate new ways for families with young children to talk about race and identity.

We visited the Carnival garage for a traditional Afro Caribbean celebration and help to decorate a float! We went shopping at the Dominican store, learnt about different hairstyles and ideas of beauty at John Smith’s Barbershop, and dance to the Cape Verdean beat at Café Sodade!

For games, gatherings and getting active, The Common is the place to play. The Common features brain-building fun alongside activities that help children develop gross motor skills. Explore the magic of our interactive shadow walls, create colorfully lighted patterns and designs on our tangrams table, or even play musical chairs with chairs that really play music when you sit on them!

Explore•a•Saurus is organized around the questions that kids most often ask about dinosaurs – How big were they? How fast did they move? What did they do? What did they look like? Each exhibit area presents direct evidence about some aspect of dinosaur anatomy or behavior, encourages visitors to analyze that evidence, and invites them to develop their own theories based on the evidence. Because many questions are still debated in scientific circles, these questions are an invitation to see science as a living and continuing endeavor.

Welcome to the Japanese House! Families can explore every corner of this fully-equipped Japanese house reconstructed in Boston by Japanese carpenters. Japanese family life, customs, ceremonies, art, architecture and seasonal events are all highlighted in the fully functional 100-year-old house inside the Museum.

KEVA Planks introduce children to problem solving and abstract thinking, and foundational concepts of mathematics, physics, and design. Young children develop coordination, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills when they reach, pick up, stack, or fit blocks together; they build strength in their fingers and hands, and increase eye-hand coordination. As they get older children begin to figure out which shapes will fit where, and get a head start on observing, comparing, estimating, planning, and making decisions.

Kid Power exhibit inspires families to lead healthier, more active lives. This exhibit is all about the fuel we provide for our bodies, and the exercise we get that uses that fuel and makes our bodies stronger – in short, the power we put in and power we get out. In Kid Power, families find new ways to get exercise, and learn about super foods, good breakfasts, and other ways to eat and drink right. Getting healthy is easier when families have fun doing it together!

KidStage offers children a taste of what it’s like in and around the spotlights. Professional actors and Museum staff perform short plays that have been created just for children, and they even invite visitors to join in the show. This theater’s repertoire of wonderful half-hour shows feature music, singing, dance, and comedy as well as acts by guest performers.

The New Balance Foundation Climb exhibit is an incredible 3-story climbing sculpture is made of flowing curved platforms, rising up through the glass lobby of Boston Children’s Museum and inviting children to scamper and scale this vertical maze. Children are both challenged and delighted as they attempt safe risk-taking and find their way through the 3D, full body puzzle.

Share this post: