Our Visit to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis!

I don’t talk about it very often, but my little family and I are based out of Louisville, KY. So, when we aren’t traveling we can be found exploring Louisville and the surrounding areas.

The Sunday before school started, my husband and I wanted to take our kids out on one last hurrah. We knew that we wanted to make it a quick day trip but wanted to create lasting memories in the process.

We immediately knew we wanted to go to, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis!

The museum is just about 2 hours from our home, long enough to feel like a getaway but close enough to home that the ‘are we there yet?’ asking is minimal.
We have visited before, but my 5-year-old didn’t remember it and my 7-year-old was itching for a return trip. We love the fact that the fun at the museum starts in the parking garage. From the dinosaurs peeking in the windows of the museum (who can be seen from the outside) to the large statue inside of the parking area.

When you enter the museum, there is a huge replica of Bumblebee (you know, the Transformer) and a replica of the Batmobile, folks these things are just inside of the lobby!

The lower level is where you will start in the museum and will take the bulk of your time. The dinosaur exhibit is spectacular, it is called Dinosphere. You and your kids get to see the dinosaur skeletons pretty darn close! My kids love the area where they got to suit up and dig for fossils.

Just past the dinosaurs, is the Treasures of the Earth area. I particularly enjoyed the Terra Cotta Warriors area, with several interactive areas to explore my kids continued to exclaim about how much fun they were having.

Next, is a new exhibit called Beyond Spaceship Earth. It is fantastically done, when you walk through the exhibit it is as if you have orbited into space aboard the international space station. In the planetarium, yes this children’s museum has a planetarium inside, they are showing a short film about the Liberty Bell 7. My husband particularly liked this part of our time at the museum because of all of the astronauts that were graduates of Purdue University, the college he attended.

Once you exit the 1st floor, you will come to the area where you will find the food court. Trust me, you and your crew are likely to be pretty hungry once you’ve tackled the 1st floor. My husband and I were pleasantly surprised by several things about this food court. First, the prices weren’t outrageous, in fact they were pretty much in line with what you would pay elsewhere for the same item. Secondly, there were lots of different options up for grabs. Have someone who wants pizza? No problem? What about burgers? They’ve got that too. It is as if the good people at the museum understand what it is like to try and decide on a meal as a family. Finally, we loved the fact that the payment was taken cafeteria style, so no matter how many different choices your family made in terms of food, payment is a snap.

Doc McStuffins at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Prior to our arrival, we were unaware of the fact that a Doc McStuffins exhibit had just opened. When we pulled up and saw the banner announcing it, my little dude lost his mind! That exhibit was one of our favorites with interactive areas for little ones to play doctor and learn the ins and outs of the medical profession, all while feeling like play, was a big win for us!

There are also, hands on sessions where you get to go and ‘learn’ how to be a doctor. Picture, a classroom type setting decorated Doc McStuffin’s style where your kiddos can learn a little about the medical profession, all while pretending to be Doc!

My kids enjoying the “operating tables” where they got to go to work on various toys that were in the hospital. They love to use their imagination and this was a prime time to do just that!

If you think that your kiddos would enjoy this exhibit, then you’d better make your plans to visit quickly. Doc will be packing up her clinic on January 22nd, 2017. However, the Doc McStuffins Museum tour is making its rounds and can be found at lots of different museums. See where she will be headed here.

 

 

Other things to see at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis:

My older dude loved the Hot Wheels exhibit! There was so much to see and much of it was interactive. Sadly, at the time of this post, the exhibit has already moved on.

My kids also really enjoyed riding the historic carousel. It was first built in 1917 and has found it’s home at the museum, to delight children of all ages. I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t hop on a horse and go for a spin myself!

My takeaways

We arrived at the museum just shortly after opening at 10 am and left around 3 pm. You could easily stay until the 5pm closing time but my kids were getting hungry again and slightly cranky.

I saw smarter mommas than myself with snacks and drinks for their kiddos. When we return, I will most definitely bring some snacks to curb the hangry kids.

Be sure to have some cash on you for the carousel as it costs $1 per non-member rider. I mean, you can use your debit card in the token machine, but who wants to charge $4?!

Tickets are $18.50 for kids and $22.50 for adults, seniors are $21.50

We were given 2 tickets for the purpose of this article. However, all opinions are our own.