Favorite museums for kids (and parents)
When I heard a child say she had never been to a museum, I was stunned. How could this be? We've dragged our kids to museums across several states.
Yet, I can understand how it might happen. Many museums are dusty and fusty and so-so serious. No fun at all.
But there are those that take you smack dab to the place where art or history or invention happens. These museums are vivid and memorable and definitely worth a couple hours on your summer vacation.
Any "best of" list would include the Smithsonian, the British Museum, the Louvre. So here are my (other) highlights, for kids AND parents. And yes, I lean toward art and history, not machines. What are your favs?
National Constitution Center, Philadelphia. This is interactive history at its finest. The opening multimedia/theatrical presentation is really moving. Then let the kids run around the exhibit hall to push buttons and pull levers that let them vote, serve on a jury, decide a Supreme Court case. This is a museum that keeps up with history, too. The day we were there, a group of immigrants were being sworn in as citizens.
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore. You think kids have wild imaginations. OK, maybe some of the artists on display here are a little ...off. But their art sure is fun to look at. This is colorful, crazy, sometimes mind-blowing art that kids can relate to, and adults will puzzle over.
Tenement Museum, New York City. Go to 97 Orchard St. on Manhattan's Lower East Side to see how 7,000 immigrants lived in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Take an evening tour by flashlight -- no electricity here -- to see the time capsule apartments. This is without a doubt one of the best history museums I've ever been to.
Art Institute of Chicago: This is where you will see art you recognize, even if you don't remember the name of the artist. American masters like John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer. Grant Wood, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper. Plus, it's family-friendly free on Thursday evenings.
Fairchild Tropical Bontanic Garden, Coral Gables. I'm ashamed to admit I'd lived in South Florida for 20 years before I'd been to this gem. This is nature's art museum -- really cool plants, lively guided tram rides, easy walking trails. Even better when man-made art is on display throughout the lush grounds.
If I had to pick one museum in Paris to take the kids to, it would be Musee d'Orsay. Or maybe Musee de l'Orangerie to see Monet's water lilies. The Orsay is a beautiful light-filled building, a former train station, filled with beautiful art. Less ponderous than the Lourve.
The Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, S.D. I am not a dinosaur geek by any stretch. But getting up close to an active paleontological dig -- with mammoth bones and other fossils emerging from the site -- is pretty awesome. Real science takes place here.
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco. True confession: I have not been to this island paradise, but it's my son's favorite museum, so it makes the list. Why? "It's cool." Ok, but why? A ferry ride to an island in San Fancisco Bay. A vivid audio tour using prisonors' and guards' own voices. An old prison. What's not to like?
Photo: Political commentator Mo Rocca strikes a pose beside a life-size mannequin of Benjamin Franklin at the National Constitution Center. Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation photo
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