Mommy FTW

On a recent hot and humid summer day Cameron and I headed to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum (located at 145 Brooklyn Avenue – @ St. Marks Avenue) for the first time.  I had heard it was great fun especially for the kids, so I was excited.

Cameron and I drove over – it’s a pretty quick and easy trip down Atlantic Ave to Brooklyn Ave.  I had been worried about street parking… but it worked out beautifully.  In this neck of the woods street cleaning happens from 8:30-10am.  The Museum opens at 10am.  Perfect!  So, when I got there at a few minutes after 10 there was ample parking directly across the street.

Admission to the Museum is a little steep at $7.50 per person – only children under 1 are free.  They stamp your hand so that you can come and go as many times as you like in one day.  Keep this in mind if you want to head out for lunch.

Cameron was first drawn down the main hallway in the center of the Museum which has a lot of flowing water and mechanical things to observe.  Our first exhibit was Neighborhood Nature.  There’s a pond the kids can look in from below getting a “fish eyes view,” some stuffed ducks which Cameron enjoyed pointing out while yelling “duck!” “duck!”

There’s a Community Garden where the kids can dig and play in the dirt (which is really just ground up cork – don’t worry they can’t get dirty at all!)  There were supposed to be watering cans and shovels the kids could play with, but there didn’t seem to be any around.  I thought there was supposed to be a place to touch horseshoe crabs and starfish – although I saw some sort of water area, there wasn’t any staff there, and I didn’t see anything larger than a gulf shrimp in them.

From here we made our way to the Science Inquiry Center.  Cameron loved the bird, chameleon,  and snake that live in here.  There was some sort of shell display with knobs Cameron slid back and fourth for a solid five minutes.  I think it was supposed to do something – but it looks like it was broken.  There were coloring pencils and paper around the kids could draw with.  There was also a light table with shapes for the kids to play with.  We unfortunately had to leave this area before Cam was done because there was a Birthday Party on the way.

Next we checked out the World of Brooklyn exhibit.  Cameron played the steel drums, got dressed up in a Carnival outfit, and touched everything in the West African Import Store.  He also really loves sitting on the Vespa.  We evacuated this area as two camp groups swooped in.

We turned our attention to the upstairs area, where we found the 30,000 object collection (which we had to flee as there were some toy cars which Cameron got upset about because they were behind glass).  Then we went to the Children of Hangzhou exhibit.  Cameron really loved the big water buffalo, but unfortunately you weren’t supposed to put the kids on it for a ride.  He found some buttons which controlled a video that he could push relentlessly, which he really enjoyed.

It was getting close to lunch time so we headed over to the Cafe.  I was pretty disappointed – the salads and sandwiches looked old and sad, and the hot food options – mini pizzas and chicken tenders – looked pretty unappetizing.  I decided to skip the food and feed Cameron at home.  I would recommend packing a lunch, or checking out the local neighborhood for something to eat.  The Museum website lists a few suggestions.

On our way towards the exit I finally spotted Totally Tots.  I had heard about this section from other moms, and probably should have headed here first.  As the name implies, this area is designed for toddlers.  Everything is at their level, and there’s lot of fun toys.  There is also a water are for the kids to splash around in.  Smocks are provided so the kids stay dry.  Cameron had a lot of fun, but it was getting on to nap time, and Cam was hungry, so we headed home.

Overall, Cam had a great time, and it was a nice way to spend a hot summer morning.  I was a little disappointed – most of the exhibits seemed pretty warn, with a lot of things broken or missing.  But I guess it doesn’t really matter since Cameron didn’t know or care.  I think for older kids they might find it a little annoying.  I would certainly consider going back, but perhaps on a free day. Free hours this summer are the second and fourth weekend of each month from 2-5pm.

For more information check out the Brooklyn Childrens Museum website at BrooklynKids.org You can also find them on Facebook and on Twitter.  For a list of all the current exhibits, check out this page of the Children’s Museum website.

Posted from New York, New York, United States.