Tuesday has come and gone and we had a blast! Today we spent the day at 2 of our awesome museums. We live in a town that gets a bad rap for many things and for the most part, it's true. Isn't that sad? It's a big city, so like all big cities it's full of crime and unemployment but as in all big cities, they are in pockets of the area. Even with all that against it, I love this town. I come across so much negativity about the town but I can't say enough good stuff about it. It's all in perspective I guess? We have fabulous restaurants, homemade wares being sold in shops downtown, excellent entertainment venues, great people, and I could honestly go on and one but one thing I love? The museums! We have a conservatory, 2 gardens, art museums, ethnic museums, museums of the past and so much more! Today we spent our morning at the Burpee Museum of Natural History. Home to many unique finds, this place is a hidden jewel that has free days on Tuesday. We decided to head to museum campus with our homeschool group and make a day of it! Lunch packed, 1 museum in the morning, a quick jaunt to the Rockford Art Museum (also free today) to check out their new exhibit and then top off the day at the Rockford Discovery Center Museum (We have a membership!).
Today my post has to do with the Discovery Center. This is a top rated musuem and often wins awards nationally as well. Why? Because it's AWESOME. We truly love it here and would not be members ever since we moved here 9 years ago if we didn't love it. I only have 1 problem. They have a tot spot full of imaginative play. Dress up can take you anywhere without leaving the walls of the museum. They have an ever changing display that the kids absolutely ADORE! It has been a grocery store, pizza delivery place, Vet station and bank (complete with those bank teller tubes!!) and so many other fun things! It's all imaginative play, including a construction site, train station, house and mechanics shop where you can really change a muffler, filter and license plate among other things. My kids adore this area...
The problem? Well the tot spot is reserved for ages 6 and under. Yup, imagination has a cap to 6 years old and under. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the museum is phenomenal and has plenty to keep occupied, especially if you are only there for a 1 day visit...but when you are members and you have seen all the exhibits and see this one constatly changing...well you want to play too! Heck, I WANT TO PLAY! We are a house with a dress up trunk, stage to perform on, scenes and props galore and toys for imaginative play. We are a house where imagination is always in play and when they see stuff like that...well they want to play!! You know what? I let them. We had kids as old as 10 with us today and I let them play. I know that they want a space where littles can enjoy and play safely without being bowled over by big kids and we always make sure to allow them to play or to have their way.
When the museum is empty? I let them in and we all have a blast. It's one of the best parts of this musuem and it's a place we will keep going into until we are told not to. They have phones in each section of the Tot Spot that you can call and they will ring to where your friends are! We don't get in the way of littles and we always clean up what we play with (not that I can say the same for others). Oh how I wish they would realize that imaginative play has no age limit, in fact if we played pretend more often with our kids, this world would be a kinder place...
You tell them Albert! Remember to enjoy every minute my friends!
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