Hands-On End of Summer Fun at Missouri Museums
Jefferson City, MO (PRWEB) August 14, 2014 -- Summer vacation is coming to end. The kids are getting stir-crazy. Your creativity is running low. All the board games have been played, the movies watched and you can’t complete any more craft projects due to a lack of glue.
Let your kids release some pent-up end-of-summer energy at any of the hands-on museums found across Missouri.
Not sure where to look? Here’s a quick list to get you started:
Northeast:
The City Museum in St. Louis is 600,000 square feet of imagination-inspiring fun. Let the kids go wild with caves, slides and tunnels; the World’s Largest Jungle Gym; MonstroCity; and the World Aquarium. But don’t let them have ALL the fun: let out your inner child and crawl, climb, slide and shimmy your way through various structures from the first floor all the way up to the roof. And if you’re brave enough, take a ride on City Museum’s 1940s Ferris wheel – it’s on the roof of the building and overlooks the city!
Close-toed shoes and long pants are recommended to make sure you can explore for hours without any bumps or bruises.
Head out to the suburbs for some science fun at Town and County’s Myseum. Let your kids “freeze” their body movements on the Shadow Wall. Watch their creativity flow as they make a flying machine and test it in the Vertical Wind Tubes. Step back in time with them and go on a DinoDig, discovering fossils as paleontologists. The museum is designed for ages 2-12.
Northwest
Imagination is king at Patee House Museum in St. Joseph. Ride a winged horse, a dinosaur or a giant hummingbird on the “Wild Thing” carousel. Explore displays of antique toys and model railroads. Climb aboard an 1860 train for a taste of life in the Wild West. Continuing that theme, next door to the museum is the house where the most famous of Wild West outlaws – Jesse James – met his fate.
Science City, inside Union Station in Kansas City, provides fun for all ages. Discover how things work at this hands-on science center and marvel at Mr. E Hotel, which features 21 mind-churning illusions.
If defying the laws of physics sounds like fun, take a ride on the sky bike, which is hoisted 30 feet in the air. After exploring the other 15 attractions located within Science City, visit the newly remodeled Nature Center to see lizards, birds and snakes in their natural habitats! Admission is all-inclusive for each exhibit, except Planetarium tickets, which can be purchased separately.
Central
The Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City isn’t quite a museum, but your kids will get a hands-on experience exploring Missouri’s forests and wildlife. Hunt for treasure inside the caves or go on a hike to look for frogs or native birds. There are 3,000 square feet of indoor exhibits so kids can learn about Missouri ecosystems and environmental preservation in a fun, interactive way.
Sample what life was like for one of the greatest leaders in the 20th century at the National Churchill Museum in Fulton. Experience the sights and sounds of life in a World War I trench. Become a spy deciphering World War II secret codes or discovering clues from secrets locked in a briefcase from the Cold War. Live through a London air raid during The Blitz.
Southeast
Cape Girardeau’s Discovery Playhouse combines fun and learning into a kid-friendly environment. Imaginations flourish as kids pretend to run their own grocery store or work at a bank. Join in on the fun and play in Kim’s Secret Water Garden and teach the kids about healthy fruits and vegetables in Grandma Ruth’s Farm. Discovery Playhouse is great for a wide range of ages.
The Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden is so fun your kids won’t even know they’re learning. Teaching basic motor skills and problem solving, the museum is the perfect place for kids to use their imaginations. Make sure to check out the “This Island Mars” exhibit where your kids explore the space station and mission control while learning about Mars and the rest of the solar system as an astronaut.
Southwest
Explore every exhibit in the four stories of the Discovery Center in Springfield. From running on a human-sized hamster wheel, discovering how the body works or playing at the water table, kids want to spend the whole day at the museum. Throughout their visit, kids of all ages enjoy fascinating scientific demonstrations provided by the staff. There is even a special, newly remodeled “Wonderland” exhibit for your youngest learners.
If you’re traveling with tweens or teens, be sure to visit the Hollywood Wax Museum in Branson. Learn how each figure is made. Take selfies with your favorite celebrities (well, their likenesses). It isn’t every day you get to hang out with your favorite A-Listers, even if they are made of wax.
After a day at one of these great museums, your kids will be begging to explore another attraction on the list. Nourish your children’s imaginations while you get to spend a day watching them grow and learn! For more information on fun, hands-on museums in Missouri, check out VisitMO.com.
About the Missouri Division of Tourism
The Missouri Division of Tourism (MDT) is the official tourism office for the state of Missouri dedicated to marketing Missouri as a premier travel destination. Established in 1967, the Missouri Division of Tourism has worked hard to develop the tourism industry in Missouri to what it is today, an $11 billion industry supporting more than 281,000 jobs. For more information on Missouri tourism, go to http://www.VisitMO.com.
Contact: Stephen Foutes
Missouri Division of Tourism
573-751-3208
Adrian Murphy, H&L Partners, +1 (314) 454-3465, [email protected]
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