Boston Children's Museum

"The Boston Children’s Museum is, arguably, THE model for children’s museums across the country. There’s lots to engage with in this highly hands-on space—from a room full of Rube Goldberg-esque golf ball machines to sensory areas of all sorts (water tables, bubble tanks, giant foam block-building…). In the middle of the museum, extending three vertical floors, is a blobby, free-form vertical maze, enmeshed in netting, that your little one can climb in and through—much to the envy of the adults who are too tall to fit inside. Outside, the boardwalk park is home to special events, science experiments, and snacks served from a giant Hood milk bottle and adjacent café." - Branding Iron @ Stantec

"Housed in a former warehouse along the Fort Point channel, Boston Children’s Museum has three floors of experiential learning areas for kids and kids at heart. It's one of the biggest children’s museums in the world, with the permanent collection to prove it: Its holdings include some 25,000 items that range from ancient artifacts to natural history specimens, historic objects, and rare dolls. Most of the exhibits favor immersive, hands-on learning—don’t be surprised when you walk into a bubble-making room, the “Dinos in Space” area featuring two favorite kid subjects, or the “You, Me, We!” exhibit, which encourages families to connect with each other around questions of fairness in the world. Be sure to check out Martin’s Park, a public playground behind the museum that opened in June 2019, and the second-floor PlaySpace for the youngest kids (0-3), which reopened in February 2020 after a complete redo. (General admission tickets must be booked in advance for the three-hour morning or afternoon time slots; one-hours slots within your ticketed time can then be booked specifically for the PlaySpace.)" - Elizabeth Wellington, Andrew Sessa

"The Boston Children’s Museum knows a thing or two about keeping kids amused and entertained—it's been doing it for more than a century. An unmissable landmark on Fort Point Channel (look for the giant Hood milk bottle), the museum has an eclectic collection of exhibits and interactive areas, including an authentic Japanese silk merchant’s home that was donated by Boston ’s sister city, Kyoto . Parents and kids alike can clamber through a three-story vertical maze; there’s an entire room devoted to playing with bubbles; and the third floor is largely given over to a kid-size construction zone where aspiring builders can work on projects, scurry through pipes and cargo-net bridges, and take the wheel of a Bobcat payloader. A performing-arts program introduces children to dance, music, and theater—don’t be surprised if you find your formerly shy son or daughter up onstage by day’s end."

"The Boston Children’s Museum knows a thing or two about keeping kids amused and entertained—it's been doing it for more than a century. An unmissable landmark on Fort Point Channel (look for the giant Hood milk bottle), the museum has an eclectic collection of exhibits and interactive areas, including an authentic Japanese silk merchant’s home that was donated by Boston ’s sister city, Kyoto . Parents and kids alike can clamber through a three-story vertical maze; there’s an entire room devoted to playing with bubbles; and the third floor is largely given over to a kid-size construction zone where aspiring builders can work on projects, scurry through pipes and cargo-net bridges, and take the wheel of a Bobcat payloader. A performing-arts program introduces children to dance, music, and theater—don’t be surprised if you find your formerly shy son or daughter up onstage by day’s end."

"Zoom out. What’s this place all about?You’ll know you’ve almost reached Boston Children’s Museum when you see a 40-foot-tall Hood milk bottle in the Seaport. A gift to the museum, it serves as a quirky hello to families making the trek to the second-oldest, and one of the biggest, children’s museums in the world. Housed in a former wool warehouse along Fort Point Channel, the museum opens onto a glass lobby with a three-story climbing sculpture and three floors of experiential learning areas for kids and kids at heart. There’s also a special section, PlaySpace, for visitors three-year-olds and under, which reopened in winter 2020 after a complete redo. (General admission tickets should be booked in advance for the three-hour morning or afternoon time slots; one-hours slots within your ticketed time can then be booked specifically for the PlaySpace.) What will we find in the collection here?It’s rare for a children’s museum to boast a permanent collection, but Boston Children’s Museum has been growing theirs since 1913. With 25,000 items that range from ancient artifacts to natural history specimens, historic objects, and rare dolls, this vast collection serves as the museum’s treasure trove. Most of the exhibits, though, favor immersive learning instead of showing off objects. Don’t be surprised when you walk into a bubble room; the “Dinos in Space” area featuring two favorite kid subjects, including a life-size animatronic Dilophosaurus dinosaur; or the “You, Me, We!” exhibit, which encourages families to connect with each other around questions of fairness in the world and express themselves through guided identity exploration. And are there rotating exhibitions?The museum’s Gallery exhibits child-friendly work by local artists, with the installations changing every few months. “Wish You Were Here: Greetings from the Galápagos,” for example, created a magical realist landscape with an immersive video that speaks to the wonder of natural habitats. What did you make of the crowd?In case the line of strollers in the entrance didn’t make it clear, this is a place for families. Visitors under nine have the best time here, as older kids are more likely to take a walk through and move on, though they do like to explore the Japanese House, to build engineering marvels with the KEVA Planks, and to dive into the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) Lab. There’s a buzz of energy that borders on chaos during busy weekend visits, so consider visiting on a weekday afternoon in the summer. The price for admission is $22 for adults and children over the age of one, but the museum offers $1 entry on Sunday afternoons from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. On the practical tip, how were the facilities?The thoughtfulness of Boston Children’s Museum is clear when you read about their accessibility program for kids and adults. The entire museum is wheelchair accessible, and beyond that, there are special accommodations like noise-reducing headphones and icons that illustrate which exhibits are best for different kinds of learning styles. Any guided tours worth trying?Because this museum was built as an interactive space for kids, personal discovery rules the roost here. There are no public guided tours, but the museum hosts some awesome daily programming in the STEAM and Art labs. Gift shop: obligatory, inspiring—or skip it?The museum has added additional gallery space to replace the area formerly occupied by a gift shop. What if the little ones, or, you know, someone else in the group gets hungry?The museum’s Stonewall Kitchen Cafe offers a menu of light lunch and snack bites, many of them kiddo pleasing, as well as specialty food items that make good gifts and souvenirs. A space that connects the cafe to the museum has vending machines and tables and chairs for families that bring their own food for snack or lunch. Any advice for the time- or attention-challenged?Your kids won’t want to leave, but it’s still worth visiting if you only have an hour. The back-of-the-envelope hit list depends on the age of your kid, but the three-story New Balance Foundation Climb is a must-scale for any child who's old enough to enjoy the jungle gym at their local playground. Speaking of local playgrounds, there’s a new one right behind the museum, Martin’s Park, outfitted with a pirate ship, misters that spray from boulders, slides, swing and climbing opportunities galore." - Elizabeth Wellington