The Things Take Over the Museum

As I mentioned earlier, we recently took the Things on their first visit to the Kohl Children's Museum. Actually, it was their first visit to any museum, so it was a fun experiment for us all.

Making some noise

There are so many blog posts and article out there now, that have all kinds of advice on what to do with your kids in all situations, that it's really hard not to feel overwhelmed. Apparently, we can screw up our kids in so many more ways than I thought! The mere act of taking them to a museum is suddenly a situation fraught with opportunities for failure! You have to find the right balance of letting them lead the play, while making sure they're always safe. They need to make their own discoveries, even though it's obvious there are more things for them to discover. Being a parent is really intimidating!

Despite all of the potential pitfalls, Hubby and I braved the Museum with them, to see what kind of trouble the Things could get themselves into. We spent a lot of time just following them from one room to another, but it was honestly a lot fun to watch them make their own choices and figure stuff out while we were there.

Water is cool!

It seemed like their favorite areas were the car and train sections (big surprise, there), the water play area (yup, makes sense) and the music room (making noise? great!). Given their personalities, all of these choices make total sense, so I wasn't really surprised. But, it was so much fun to see them split up and explore at their own speed! Hubby and I went with man-to-man defense for the day, and would occasionally trade off kids during the visit.

While I wouldn't say they played "with" any of the other kids at the museum, there was some playing near other kids. They're very friendly around other kids, but I think they were so distracted by all of the exhibits that it barely registered that there were other people their size around them! It will be fun to go back as they grow up, and watch them figure more things out, and socialize more.

It was a pretty quick visit, since it was our first attempt museuming, but I'm looking forward to more trips in the future. Since I practically grew up at the Indianapolis Children's Museum, I'm really glad we have one near us that  we'll be able to go back to as the Things grow up!