The Playful Parent

Do you have a little archaeologist or dinosaur lover in your home? If so, than you’ll want to stomp on over to Port Discovery Children’s Museum, where children of all ages (even the young at heart!) can explore touchable dinosaurs, go on an adventure in their prehistoric habitats, and investigate dinosaur fossils! Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice will showcase a unique hands on experience that features all things Dino and is open now through September 9, 2018. The exhibit was created by Minnesota Children’s Museum and is sponsored nationally by the David B. Jones Foundation and sponsored locally by M&T Bank. Hope you enjoy this sneak peek look at the exhibit and don’t forget to enter to win four tickets for your family to visit.

I love that the third floor of the children’s museum is a rotating exhibit. Making it easy to find an excuse to come back and try something new. This new dinosaur exhibit is the perfect summertime activity to check out. Take a step back in history as you are transported back to the Cretaceous Period (145- 65 million years ago) where you can interact with and even sit on dinosaurs!

• FEATURED ACTIVITIES

• Explore the Field Research Station, where children can pretend to be a paleontologist by uncovering fossils with brushes and by creating drawings using fossil rubbings and tracings. 
• Adventure through the Land of Fire, where you’ll explore the prehistoric home of the Triceratops and T-Rex. Put on an insect costume and pretend to be one of the creatures that shared the Earth with dinosaurs! Explore a volcano with oozing lava, and make your way through a swampy bog (featuring a squishy surface) while identifying animals and plants!
  
• Take a trip across the Land of Ice (no coats needed!), where visitors meet two dinosaurs, a Troodon and Edmontosaurus, who made their homes in the cold climate of Alaska.Plus, explore ice caves, rocky steps, and icy slides from the cold climate of Alaska!

SPECIAL EVENTS

In celebration of Dinosaurs taking over Port Discovery, the Museum will host special Dino Days on May 26, June 16, July 21, and August 18; featuring programs including Paleo-Expedition, Waking Up T-Rex!, Show What You Dino-Know, and more!

TIPS

To avoid the crowds- Port Discovery Museum has dedicated Mondays for families. There are little to no field trips planned on this day to allow time for families to enjoy the museum without worrying about a huge crowd.

Exploring it all- The museum itself is huge. It almost seems like there isn’t enough time in the day to see and do all that’s offered. I highly recommend considering a membership pass so that you come back and enjoy the museum on at your leisure. Being a member also gives you the chance to attend special events. A membership pass pays for itself in just three visits!!! http://www.portdiscovery.org/generalinfo/membership

To stroll or not to stroll that is the question- Port Discovery is handicap and stroller accessible. The hallways are spacious and there is an elevator to transport you to each floor. There are plenty of spots to park your wheels. I recommend that you not push the stroller through the Thomas exhibit as well as a few others as things can get a little tight.

One silly tip- Be sure to secure all loss items before you play in the giant play area. We (cough cough my husband) almost lost our car keys once. I’m sure the kids wouldn’t have been upset about getting stuck at the museum. There are also lockers by the entrance if you need a place secure items or store your jackets or other personal items. Lockers are $1 for small lockers and $2 for large lockers.

Safety First- I love that the museum has a strict security procedure. Before leaving the security officer will check each child’s bracelet to ensure it matches the code on the adult they are exiting the museum with.

Parking preference- Park in the lot next to the museum and ask for parking validation before you leave the museum to save $5 ($15 to park all day). Parking discount available to patrons, be sure to only park with-in one hour of opening and leave within one hour after closing.

Dining options- Bringing a lunch is a great way to save time and money. There is seating area with tables near the front of the museum where you can eat lunch. Just remember food and drinks are prohibited from the exhibit areas. There are also quite a lot of food options if you wish to dine out. It seemed that a lot of the restaurants to the right were bars with food choices. However, if you walk back to the left towards the harbor there are a lot more family friendly options. I recommend Blaze Pizza where you design your own pie and have it baked fresh in brick fired oven. Keep in mind, many of the restaurants offer a discount if you show your museum bracelet! Also, the harbor is only a short three block walk from the museum if you wanted to check out the sites and restaurants in that area.

MUSEUM INFORMATION