As soon as the Denver Children's Museum comes into view interstate 1-25 your children will hardly be able to hold in their excitement.  The bright, eye-catching building stands out in Denver's downtown skyline.  



Catch the Museum on a special day and the fun may start before you even enter the building.  The Museum holds many outdoor events in the outside plaza.   One of these is the Mighty Machines day in July, where kids are able to explore tractors, and even explore a helicopter that acutally lands right in front of the children.  At each machine is its operator, allowing children a chance to interact with the adult and ask any questions he or she may have about the machines.

The Museum really takes its learn-through-play motto seriously and even has a program called Go Play in partnership with the United Way which helps parents recognize a 'teachable moment'.  As soon as you walk past the admission desk parents are able to access the Go Play station to help understand the museum's different playscapes and their 'teachable moments'.



And what better way to judge just how great a children's museum than to bring its biggest critic, a young child?  My daughter's favorite part of the museum was the veterinarian office the museum set up in their neat 20's style theatre when there wasn't a play going on.  She was able to dress up as a vet and examine stuffed cats and dogs, and examined their x-rays to determine if she needed to wrap up a broken leg.  There was even a place for the secretary to answer the phone and take patients.
 
When the theatre isn't a home for a child run vet office, the museum utilizes the space for daily programs which include story times.   And this summer the theatre will hold a special exhibit featuring the Blue Man Group.  From June 2nd through September 24th the museum will be one of the first children's museums in the country to have this exhibit.  It's promised to be full or music and family fun.



The Museum has an amazing playscape for its littlest members, the Center for The Young Child, which provides a safe haven for children newborn to 4 years old.   With regular story times and a quiet room for mothers to read to their children, the Center for the Young Child has it all.   

As you walk in and leave your shoes at the gate, you enter a dreamland forest.   With trees that reach the roof, an area where children can crawl through, and a small village with tree houses that children can pretend to be adults in.   They are able to dress up as squirrels, help work on the plush garden or hop in the fishing boat.   Keeping your little one thoroughly entertained.

There is fun for all ages at the museum.   You can dress up like a fireman and hop on a real fire truck, and once they have tried the fire-fighting experience, children can also use the Museum's new exhibit teaching children when and when not to call 911.   Or your family can plan their very own fire escape plan in case you ever need to deal with such an ordeal.  

 

Head upstairs at the Children's Museum and you almost don't know where to start!   You can practice your ABC's at the alphabet soup wall.   Or dress up and dance like a ballerina in front of a full-size dance mirror.  Or make a masterpiece to take home with the Art's a la carte section where children are encourages to make a mess and have fun while exploring their artistic side with paints.   

After you have cleaned up be sure to stop by the Museum's assembly plant.   Using reelected items brought in by parent's children can create a multitude of different projects using toilet paper rolls and old egg cartoons.   If you have some lying around the house you can always donate them to the museum.   One man's trash can be another man's treasure!  

 

My daughter also couldn't get enough of the museum's grocery store.   She was allowed to shop and fill her basket up while new friends would ring her up and bag her groceries.   This playscape was packed when we went and seemed to be a favorite with children doing things on their own that they have watched their parents or caregivers do time and time again.   

The museum is coming up with new and exciting ideas to make learning fun for the whole family and is constantly testing things with their Will at Work program in which they actually test a new playscape out and observe through a one-way mirror to judge how well it will do with the children.   When in Denver the Children's Museum is a must for the family.  

Visit the Denver Children's Museum's website for more information. 

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