This past week my sister and I took our crew of six children aged 8 years old – 8 months old to the Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, Illinois and we had the best time! The kids obviously had a blast – running from thing to thing, not only had a wonderful time playing, but learning about everything imaginable. As for my sister and I — we are still amazed at how incredibly friendly the staff was, how clean and organized everything (and I mean everything) is, even while children are playing and misplacing things constantly & the fact that seriously this museum has thought of it all. What do I mean by thinking of it all? A few examples being they have a nursing nook people — yes that’s right, with a quiet area, a curtain filled with a bench, extra books for the other kids and it’s located right here in the tot zone. For a breastfeeding mother this is perfect and so very appreciated! They have eating area indoors and out where you can bring your own lunch — when you have a large family this is beyond appreciated. I want to spend the day, and if my kids get cranky from lack of food, I get cranky and then nobody is happy. We were able to enjoy a picnic lunch outdoors right in the middle of the fun – allowing the kids to eat and then play while we sat and finished our meal and were able to watch them the entire time. I could go on-and-on…
The Discovery Center Museum is two stories, I can’t mention everything, but from the moment you step in the door there’s something for every age. Watch and play with it, but also read more in detail about everything and how it works, etc. My oldest (eight) is just starting to really want to know more, asking the how and whys but the rest love getting their hands in it, making things work just playing. A few highlights on the lower level — bubbles, gears, reading the news and being on tv, magnets, crane that lets you move things, shadow room and stepping into another room– checking how cows are actually milked by doing it yourself (on a pretend life-sized cow of course), real bees in a hive (they actually have a pipe that goes out the rooftop of the museum– so cool), driving the combine and tractor, making corn husk dolls and oh-so-much more. We played, we read, we learned and not once did we feel overwhelmed with other kids, that it was dirty or like our strollers and kids were unsafe while running around.
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