Oh Boston, you are an embarrassment of amazingly family friendly museums! We didn’t expect anything could get close to the Boston Childrens Museum but found the Science museum, Boston to be equally fascinating. We arrived early (thank you jetlag) and made it in well before the crowds which allowed us to really explore every exhibit.
Location of the Science Museum, Boston
Located in Science Park, next to the Charles River, we walked to the Science museum, stopping at a little park on the way but you can easily take the MBTA’s Green Line subway to Science Park station. You can’t miss the Museum, there’s a huge T-Rex outside!
Exhibits at the Boston Science Museum
The fun starts before you’ve even entered the exhibits with a huge pattern creation media screen, and the perks of arriving early meant Piper could create patterns on it to her hearts content on the touch-screen kiosk in front of the display adjusting size, orientation and shapes – honestly more fun than it sounds! Think playing with fingerprints, cheetah spots and tree rings.
Then it’s on to Mapping the world around us where you can see the size of a 2000 year old giant sequoia tree trunk (massive) with a very child friendly explanation of events that happened when the various rings were developing. You can try out making a map of your own and learn how they help us navigate.
Next up it’s Making Models where you are greeted by a gargantuan grasshopper. Here you can practice your memory and imagination skills. And experience a model computer simulation creating friendly or not so friendly sea creatures!
When we visited they had a fab hands on experiment section. Here the kids could build their own boats to learn how to ensure they float and sail. We had a few attempts with different sizes and shapes of sails. Piper was over the moon when she created one that actually floated along with the help of the wind machine. She received a little badge and a few high fives to say well done!
The Wicked Smart area, dedicated to Boston-based innovations, was great fun and again very hands on. We helped create a colony of robo-bees. And tested the latest in off-road Wheelchair technology, called the Freedom Chair.
In To The Moon kids can explore features full-size models of the Apollo and Mercury capsules. Learn about the Apollo programme and all about the first people to set foot on the Moon.
Probably my favourite section was the Dinosaurs area. Which demonstrates how palaeontologists have and still are learning all about these extinct creatures. (But then I am a massive dinosaur geek!) They have a full size replica Tyrannosaurus Rex and children can explore fossil clues. These include bones, footprints, and even dinosaur dung!
The Hall of Human Life was absolutely fascinating. We were able to investigate a transparent woman, observing various body parts and organs. We could learn about hormones in the Human Body theatre and even measure the efficiency of our walk!
When we visited, there was a sheeps eye dissection demonstration which Piper very almost watched and interacted with to the very end. She moved on just before the gooey part but the teacher was funny, informative and fantastic with all the kids.
The Maths Moves exhibition provided a great opportunity to learn. Kids can experiment with shadows, learning about ratios and use their bodies as a unit of measurement by investigating how they fit on various sizes of chair.
The Light House provided some excellent photo ops. With “fun-house” style mirror effects, a checkerboard of mirrors and a fabulous coloured light screen, perfect for dancing shadows!
Science in the Park was another fantastic physical learning experience. Here you can run, push, pull, play, all whilst learning about the science of motion and loads. Activity is at the core of this exhibit, and we all know how important it is to get the kids to exercise. But this place demonstrates just how easy it is to incorporate learning into everyday activities.
Our last stop was at the surprisingly simple seeing is deceiving exhibit. A selection of optical illusions which went down so well with piper I’m planning on incorporating it into her xmas gift. Great fun to test our optical skills and interesting explanations on why we see what we see!
Outside the museum is the pretty Rock Garden where the learning continues. You can walk past a rock that fell from the top of Mount Blanc, or a billion-year-old boulder from the bottom of the Grand Canyon, lava from Death Valley and a two-ton chunk of limestone from the Rock of Gibraltar.
We missed out on quite a lot of the museum. I know, reading the above you can’t believe it and would love to return one day. I highly recommend planning a whole day for your visit and making the most of all they have to offer.
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If you’re visiting Boston for a few days, it’s well worth buying a Boston attraction pass to save heaps off the gate price to loads of family friendly Boston venues with a Go Boston Card including the Science Museum.
I also recommend following the Freedom trail, a fabulous way to explore this historical city.
What you need to know
Address
Museum of Science
1 Science Park
Boston, MA 02114
Hours
- Saturday – Thursday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Friday: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Parking Garage Hours
- Sunday – Thursday: 5:30 am – 11:00 pm
- Friday – Saturday: 5:30 am – 12:00 am
Have you visited the Boston Museum of Science? Did you love it as much as I did? Let us know what you thought just leave a comment down below.