Taking Your Toddler to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Our morning did not start out well. Sophie has been getting very sad in the mornings when everyone leaves for work and school. She first has to say goodbye to her Daddy, then her uncle and cousin followed by her aunt and other cousin. There’s a lot of crying to start her day and it continued with every task we’d done for our morning routine. I’d planned on doing a ‘fun’ day since we’ll be busy closing on our home and moving this week, but was starting to regret my decision.

Thankfully I’d put my doubts and fears aside to take Sophie to the The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. She was in complete awe of everything we saw, starting with Bumblebee in the atrium to the music room in the Playscape. I threw the map in the stroller and let Sophie decide everything we did. It was fun not having an agenda and exploring the museum through her eyes.

Our first stop was the Dinosphere because she was so excited about the massive dinosaurs coming in through the window at the front of the museum. She held tight to me as we walked through learning about the dinosaur skeletons but roared back every time she heard a different dinosaur. Sophie ran straight up to watch the paleontologist work on the fossils. He talked to us about the newest dinosaur they’re working on called Dracorex Hogwartsia which was found in South Dakota but donated to The Children’s Museum.

 Chihuly is one of my favorite artists so I was sure to stop by to gaze at the beautiful ceiling. There’s also a fun ‘make your own Chihuly instillation’ that Sophie loved working on with the other kids. I loved watching her figure out how to put the sculpture together and share with her fellow artists.

We went to check out the water clock when I’d heard the intro music to Jurassic Park. We headed towards the music to see a small crowd of people gathered for the Bucky Lives show. Boy were we in for a surprise! The show begins with a paleontologist describing her job as an intern at The Children’s Museum. The next thing you know, fog is rolling out from behind the curtain where the fossils are and out emerges Bucky the teen age T-Rex. Sophie and the other kids were scared and extremely excited at the same time when Bucky roared loudly as he emerged. Bucky’s mannerism is very much like a dog so he’s relateable and not scary to the children. She was so thrilled that we stopped in the museum store to get a dinosaur friend, of which she has not stopped carrying around since our trip.

Across from the museum store was the cafeteria that is currently under construction. There were cold sandwiches, fruit, juice and milk in the refrigerator. They also had a hot sandwich combo meal that they change every day (BBQ Pulled Pork, coleslaw, chips and a drink). The meal pictured above was $20, which I thought was overpriced but it was to be expected. Next time we will definitely bring our own lunch to save money.  I also saw a family who brought in Jimmy Johns which I thought was a good idea if you didn’t want to pack a lunch.

The Playscape was a new addition from the last time I’d visited. It’s a wonderful area dedicated to babies and toddlers. The large area consisted of water play, sand play, a climbing sculpture, a music room, an art room, a building room and more. I thought it was a perfect spot to take your younger child while your older child sees a show at the planetarium or plays in the ScienceWorks exhibit.

We were able to visit almost every exhibit between the hours of 10a-1p because she didn’t have the attention span to delve into each topic. It was perfect for me as well so I could get a glimpse at everything the Children’s Museum has changed since the last time I’d visited. Some of her other favorite attractions were the Hot Wheels, Take Me There: China and All Aboard exhibits. I’m so happy with how much of the Children’s Museum Sophie was able to experience. We’ll be getting a membership next year because it is so affordable compared to buying the tickets individually.  Do you have a children’s museum where you live? Have you ever had those frustrating days turn completely around by taking your toddler somewhere fun? I’m keeping this experience in mind for the next time she’s having a bad day.