The Springfield Science Museum

Now, just as we were about to pay the $15/person admission fee (for hubby and myself, children 2 and under are FREE), I recalled my mishap last winter when I totally forgot that my local CT museum membership would have qualified my family for full reciprocity at the Providence Children’s Museum (i.e. FREE admission) and instead paid the regular price for all three of us. Whoops!

So I asked if my current membership to the Lutz Children’s Museum in Manchester, CT happened to qualify for reciprocity here. And you know what? It does! As I mentioned in my post about museum reciprocity, sometimes ASTC member museums will waive the 90-mile distance restriction for free admission, and this is one of those instances. Fortunately, I had brought my membership card with me, so we were all admitted for FREE. Score! (Although, $15/person for admission to FIVE museums still seems like a great bargain.)

Since the rain had let up a bit, we decided to check out the one outdoor activity: the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden. It’s located at the back of the beautiful quadrangle that connects all the museums.

As I mentioned, the quad is very picturesque with plenty of benches.

The first sculpture you’ll meet is The Lorax.

In the middle of the quad is another sculpture installation entitled “Room by Room” (you can see it in those pictures above.) I know it has a greater artistic significance, but Boo just enjoyed running around the narrow passageways inside.

On the other side of this sculpture, we found the main homage to Dr. Seuss and his whimsical characters. We really would have loved to get up closer to the sculptures, but a sign warned us not to climb on them, so we kept a respectable distance (even though it kind of looks like you should be able to walk through the sculptures on that “path,” doesn’t it?).

I don’t know if this one was exempt from the “no climbing” rule, but it practically begged for a photo op. I couldn’t resist 🙂

After we’d spotted all our favorite childhood characters, we decided to head to the Blake House Cafe for a little lunch before checking out the Science Museum.

The cafe is very conveniently located right off the parking area. In fact, everything is pretty convenient (p.s. pick up one of these maps at the Welcome Center when you purchase your admission tickets).

There are also plenty of outdoor picnic tables near the cafe (and benches in the quad) if you plan to bring your own lunch/snacks.

The dining area is not huge, so if you go on a busy tour day (like we must have), it might be a bit tight to find a table if you go right at lunch time. We did happen to luck out and snag a table.

You can order your food and pay at the counter. You might have to wait a few minutes for your sandwich and then go back to the counter to pick it up.

The menu is posted in several places, but you can also see it here online if you like to plan ahead.

You’ll see there is a kid-friendly section with PB&J, hot dog, and grilled cheese. High chairs are available too. Boo does his best Vanna White impression here.

I thought the food was pretty good for a cafeteria-style museum cafe. I had a chicken caesar wrap and hubby had a panini. And you can’t beat the price. A sandwich, bottled drink (like soda, Snapple or water), and bag of chips all for only $5-$7.

They also had a pretty nifty specialty beverage menu too.

And a whole array of flavored coffees (hello peach cobbler and pistachio ice cream!), which I was so sad I couldn’t sample (trying my best to avoid coffee while pregnant).

As for the facilities, the restrooms are individual bathrooms, but there aren’t any changing stations in them.

After we finished lunch, we headed back to the Science Museum. Just so you know, there is a coatroom area with racks and also lockers. It is located in the Welcome Center straight back through all the Dr. Seuss paraphernalia. You could probably stash a stroller here too, but the area is not totally secured or anything (although, it is in sight of the admissions desk).

Also worth noting, there is a restroom just up the stairs and to the left. This one does have a changing station (at least in the women’s room).

We were headed up those stairs to get to the first Science Museum exhibit: The Dinosaur Hall.

Although not a terribly large exhibit compared to some other dinosaur exhibits that we’ve seen (The Peabody Museum; Dinosaur State Park), it does have several impressive features. For starters, there’s this guy.

There are also some impressive skeleton/fossil replicas, some cast from actual specimens.

And plenty of smaller things to look at and some for little hands to touch.

The next room we found really impressive. It is the R.E. Phelon African Hall.

This open area with gently ascending ramps that you can walk along (or run up and down if you are 2) is filled with life-like environments and “mounted” animals (which I think means they might have at one point in time been alive? I’m trying not to think about it too hard) that Boo adored.

And all along the railings there are plaques that offer information about the different animals and also buttons you can push to hear the animal’s sound (I dare you to push the zebra button–is that what you thought a zebra would sound like? I sure didn’t!).

After completing our walk through the African Hall, we arrived at the upstairs exhibits. There was a lot of stuff up here, so I can’t possibly cover it all. But here are a few of the highlights for my crew.

A giant moving planet that simulates the shimmering atmosphere as you spin it.

Microscopes to peer through, buttons to press, glowing objects to look at, and there’s a planetarium too (although, we did not see a show that day).

An earthquake simulating “shake table” where you can try to build a structure and then press a button to shake the table and see if it will fall down.

An erupting volcano (although, it just spits out what appears to be water, so don’t be expecting lava and the whole nine yards). BTW-turn around and look through the window in this room to come face to face with Mr. T Rex from the Dinosaur Hall below. That is one mean-looking dino dude!

And a room full of sparkly crystals where you can learn what the birthstones are for everyone in your family (and for those who are on the way 🙂 ).

Unfortunately, we were there one day too early to view the new special exhibit, Amazing Butterflies, which will run until September 1, 2013. Be advised that there is an extra fee for this exhibit in addition to the regular museum admission ($5/person for ages 3 and up).

So we headed back downstairs where we found another hall filled with animal dioramas.

And some nice benches to rest on (can you tell it’s almost nap time?).

Around the corner we checked out the Native American exhibit.

Then we headed down another level to explore the live animals in the Solutia Live Animal Center.

This expansive exhibit features lots of tanks with turtles, fish, snakes, etc.

There are also some other activities down here, like one of those fun house mirrors (just what a girl wants to encounter when she’s 7 months pregnant), a video, a little exhibit on Tsunamis…

And this very cool area where the kiddos can open up all these drawers and find neat things to look at. Boo looooooves to open drawers these days, so he probably would have loved this exhibit even if the drawers were empty 🙂

There are also restrooms down here (near that fun house mirror I mentioned).

The changing station is in the separate handicap bathroom.

There may well have been more things to see in this museum, but we had pretty much hit a wall with Boo (we’d been in the museum for over two hours). So we checked out the gift shop quickly. Lots of neat things that would make great gifts for kids and adults.

We also found this handy little section of the gift shop where you can get a small snack or a drink from one of the several vending machines (or eat your own packed snack–food is not allowed elsewhere in the museum).

Oh, and like I mentioned at the top, there’s a whole other shopping section in the Welcome Center with lots of Seuss-themed merchandise.

Unfortunately, or fortunately from my wallet’s perspective, Boo was fading too fast for me to pick out any toys or treasures, so we made a beeline for the car and headed for home.

Over all, I was really impressed with the Springfield Museums (and we only got to explore one of them!). The area is convenient, charming, and very family-friendly. I’m looking forward to coming back to check out the other four museums soon.

THE MOMSENSE:

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General Admission:

Please see website for the most up-to-date information.

• Convenient, FREE parking
• The museum does appear to be handicap accessible, so theoretically you could maneuver a stroller. However, for a non-walker, I would suggest a wearable baby carrier for increased maneuverability and so you don’t have to keep finding the elevator to go up and down between the levels.
• Restrooms with changing stations on multiple levels of the museum.
• Food only allowed in designated areas of the museum (i.e. the Snack-a-Saurus Cafe area in the gift shop).
• The Springfield Museums are members of the ASTC. If you have one, call ahead to see if your ASTC museum membership qualifies for reciprocity (FREE admission). Then don’t forget to bring your membership card and a valid ID. (I have a Lutz Children’s Museum membership and that qualifies.)
• Some local libraries (like the Manchester, CT library) may offer passes for free or reduced admission to the Springfield Museums. It never hurts to check!
• The Blake House Cafe is a great place to grab a quick meal for the whole family. It’s a little on the small side though, so you may want to hit the cafe for an early (or late) lunch just to be extra sure you’ll find a free table. It would also be hard to take a stroller in there. Click here for the complete menu.
• There are plenty of outdoor picnic tables and benches, which would be perfect for a picnic lunch.
• Looking for a unique birthday party idea? According to their website: “The Springfield Museums offers two-hour Birthday Parties for children ages 4-12 on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Led by an experienced instructor in a private, decorated room, activities relate to one of five themes: Amazing Animals, Dynamic Dinosaurs, Journey Into Space, On the Loose with Dr. Seuss, and Asian Art Adventures.” Contact their Birthday Party Coordinator: 413.263.6800, ext. 430, or email birthdays@springfieldmuseums.org for more info.

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