I decided to be brave and courageous yesterday and bring the crew to the Boston Children's Museum. While it's a great museum, and there's lots of fun to be had, this is absolutely not a place that I will be returning too anytime soon, (unless, of course I have extra reinforcements that are totally dedicated to me and my kids!!)
As you can tell, I certainly don't shy away from exploring the area parks, playgrounds and attractions. I try to keep calm and not get stressed out because children can feel that stress. Me getting stressed out makes them worse, and ultimately gets me more stressed out. So, I generally try to maintain my laid-back attitude when bringing the clan out and about. It took us a little while to find parking, and get our bearings in the area. But we found parking ($19.00). I think it was the closest to the museum. It was a little tiny lot where the attendant had to park the car for us. It took awhile to unload. I decided to bring the double stroller, Baby Bjorn, and the sling carrier. We also had packed a picnic lunch to enjoy on the waterfront.
Once we got into the museum, I sensed that I might be in over my head. It is the end of the school year, and apparently 11am prime time for elementary school field trips. Can we say chaos? As soon as we got in, Patrick flew into the climbing structure. Cecilia made her attempt, but fortunately she didn't have the height to get up too high. For this age group, and with three kids, my biggest complaint is that I can't see them in this structure. At one point, Patrick had climbed down, and I saw him come out. I didn't catch him quickly jump back in because I had grabbed one of the other two. We thought he took off through the museum. After what seemed like 15 minutes, and was probably one 2 or 3, our friend noticed him in his neon orange shirt at the top of the structure. Be aware, this is not something that an adult would want to climb up into, and thank god I didn't have to because I'm not sure what I would have done with the other kids!
I really wish I could do a better job describing the layout to you all, but honestly it was so tough to keep on top of them (even with help) that I couldn't tell you where anything was! So here, check out the map!
We did explore most of the museum, though not all. We tried the third floor, and then headed outside for lunch. There's an Au Bon Pain in the 'milk bottle' which would be great on warmer summer days. It was a great place for lunch even though they were closed. We then headed back in to check out the other floors. The kids LOVED the bubble exhibit on the first floor, as well as the water tables on the second floor. There's a great construction room that Patrick loved when we went about two years ago. This time, Patrick was so overwhelmed with how much there was to see that he couldn't pay too much attention here and just wanted to keep moving onto 'bigger and better things'. At the very end of our visit we learned there was a 0-3 center that was GATED. I wish I was able to pay better attention to the map when we first got there. Perhaps we could have prevented "Lost Patrick Round two"!
So the nitty-gritty:
Boston Children's Museum
Congress ST, Boston.
Parking: ample parking at various lots around the museum. Almost all parking is at a cost.
Hours
Open every day 10am - 5pm
Fridays 10am - 9pm
Costs: Adults: $12.00
Seniors(65+): $12.00
Children (1-15): $12.00
(0-12 Months): Free!
Members: Free!
United States Armed Forces Active Duty Personnel OR one of their dependents will receive complimentary admission to Boston Children's Museum with appropriate ID.
And Check this out: $1.00 Friday nights from 5-9. This is sponsored by Target!
There are also library passes that offer a discounted rate. If you are a member of a children's museum, and have a Reciprocal pass, admission is free.
As you can tell, I certainly don't shy away from exploring the area parks, playgrounds and attractions. I try to keep calm and not get stressed out because children can feel that stress. Me getting stressed out makes them worse, and ultimately gets me more stressed out. So, I generally try to maintain my laid-back attitude when bringing the clan out and about. It took us a little while to find parking, and get our bearings in the area. But we found parking ($19.00). I think it was the closest to the museum. It was a little tiny lot where the attendant had to park the car for us. It took awhile to unload. I decided to bring the double stroller, Baby Bjorn, and the sling carrier. We also had packed a picnic lunch to enjoy on the waterfront.
Once we got into the museum, I sensed that I might be in over my head. It is the end of the school year, and apparently 11am prime time for elementary school field trips. Can we say chaos? As soon as we got in, Patrick flew into the climbing structure. Cecilia made her attempt, but fortunately she didn't have the height to get up too high. For this age group, and with three kids, my biggest complaint is that I can't see them in this structure. At one point, Patrick had climbed down, and I saw him come out. I didn't catch him quickly jump back in because I had grabbed one of the other two. We thought he took off through the museum. After what seemed like 15 minutes, and was probably one 2 or 3, our friend noticed him in his neon orange shirt at the top of the structure. Be aware, this is not something that an adult would want to climb up into, and thank god I didn't have to because I'm not sure what I would have done with the other kids!
I really wish I could do a better job describing the layout to you all, but honestly it was so tough to keep on top of them (even with help) that I couldn't tell you where anything was! So here, check out the map!
We did explore most of the museum, though not all. We tried the third floor, and then headed outside for lunch. There's an Au Bon Pain in the 'milk bottle' which would be great on warmer summer days. It was a great place for lunch even though they were closed. We then headed back in to check out the other floors. The kids LOVED the bubble exhibit on the first floor, as well as the water tables on the second floor. There's a great construction room that Patrick loved when we went about two years ago. This time, Patrick was so overwhelmed with how much there was to see that he couldn't pay too much attention here and just wanted to keep moving onto 'bigger and better things'. At the very end of our visit we learned there was a 0-3 center that was GATED. I wish I was able to pay better attention to the map when we first got there. Perhaps we could have prevented "Lost Patrick Round two"!
So the nitty-gritty:
Boston Children's Museum
Congress ST, Boston.
Parking: ample parking at various lots around the museum. Almost all parking is at a cost.
Hours
Open every day 10am - 5pm
Fridays 10am - 9pm
Costs: Adults: $12.00
Seniors(65+): $12.00
Children (1-15): $12.00
(0-12 Months): Free!Members: Free!
United States Armed Forces Active Duty Personnel OR one of their dependents will receive complimentary admission to Boston Children's Museum with appropriate ID.
And Check this out: $1.00 Friday nights from 5-9. This is sponsored by Target!
There are also library passes that offer a discounted rate. If you are a member of a children's museum, and have a Reciprocal pass, admission is free.
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