If you read my post from yesterday about the festive Adventures in Gingerbread holiday exhibit at the Springfield Museums in Springfield, MA, you may have noticed that I mentioned a follow-up post with some new-to-me family-friendly features that I discovered on my latest visit. Because these activities are year-round fixtures at the Springfield Museums, I didn’t want them to get lost in my special holiday exhibit post. So here I am posting again this week on a Friday, which I hope won’t confuse anyone too much 🙂
Since this is my third post about the Springfield Museums, I’ll try to keep it short and to the point. You can always reference my original adventure at the Springfield Science Museum for more detailed information.
So here’s a quick overview of a few of the not-to-be-missed activities if you are visiting the Springfield Museums with your little ones…
1. The Roving Scientist at the Springfield Science Museum
I mentioned this one in my post yesterday, so I won’t go into too much detail here. Basically, every Saturday and Sunday at the Springfield Science Museum, you can find a Roving Scientist with a fun experiment or activity for your child to try. These activities are included with the price of museum admission. On our visit, the activity was all about the center of gravity and involved decorating a little elf cut-out and then taping pennies to his feet so that he could be balanced on the tip of a finger. It was a huge hit with Boo!
2. The Hasbro Art Discovery Center in the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum
This one was a complete surprise! Tucked away on the second floor of the gorgeous Art Museum building is a little nook with all sorts of fun activities for kids like costumes to dress up in, games to play, books to read and art projects too. It’s called the Art Discovery Center and it’s open Tuesday-Sunday from noon-4:00pm. The activities and art projects are always changing, so there’s something new to discover on each visit. On our visit, the art project was a gingerbread cityscape (to tie in with the Adventures in Gingerbread exhibit opening no doubt). We just headed into the Project Room, grabbed a cut-out and then Boo went to work with all the materials available to him at the project table (like glue, confetti, shiny papers, markers, crayons, etc.). It was completely laid back and so much fun.
Note the ramp that leads right to a side entrance and makes using a stroller very easy
3. Hasbro Gameland at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History
Did you know that Milton Bradley lived in Springfield when he launched the board game industry back in the mid-1800’s? That’s right. Springfield was home to Milton Bradley and Dr. Seuss! What a fun place!
Today, you can enjoy an array of super-sized games and challenges in the Hasbro Gameland exhibit on the first floor of the Museum of Springfield History. And if your little ones are anything like Boo, they will also go ga-ga for all of the old-time cars (and planes!) that you’ll find here too.
This museum is a little bit of a walk from the others. You’ll have to head out of the quadrangle, past the Blake House Cafe and across the street. It will maybe take you 3 minutes. And it’s totally worth it 🙂
4. A great line-up of family-friendly exhibits and events throughout the year
This is just a sample of events from 2014-2015, but you get the picture 🙂
So there you have it! The new-to-me family-friendly features of the Springfield Museums. I hope you get a chance to explore this wonderful destination in our neighboring state.
For Museum details, check out the Momsense Section of my latest post.
- Connecticut Children’s Medical Center – The state’s only free-standing hospital that offers comprehensive, world-class health care to children. Based in Hartford, Connecticut Children’s also provides services at several locations throughout the state.
- Family Dental Practice of Bloomfield – Located in Bloomfield, this dental practice offers Family Dental Care, Invisalign, Cosmetic Dentistry, and IV Sedation. Visit their calm, convenient location with a friendly staff and state of the art technology. Kids are welcome!
- The Independent Day School – Located on a rural campus in Middlefield, CT this private pre-school, elementary and middle school serves families from over 20 communities.
- Mandell JCC – The Mandell JCC, Zachs Campus, 335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT, welcomes and serves families and individuals of all ages, stages, backgrounds and faiths. Our fitness, wellness and recreation, arts and culture, camp, early childhood education programs, classes, clubs and services are open to all. You Belong Here!
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