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CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS

Here’s our list of top museums around the country.

SPECIAL ART FOR TOTS

Eric Carle has illustrated more than 70 children's books, among them The Very Hungry Caterpillar , which has been translated into 45 languages. Check out his very own museum: The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, in Amherst, MA, a 40,000-square-foot space with exhibition halls and art studios.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum an Research Center, in Santa Rosa, CA is another must see.

The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden is the only place to see the Loraz in bronze.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Miami Children's Museum

Chicago Children's Museum

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CALIFORNIA

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, San Jose, California

There are 150 semi-permanent and traveling interactive exhibits at the Children's Discover Museum—all designed to help your children explore the world they live in. Current Connections teaches kids about energy—they can even generate their own electricity by cranking gears and working a pulley. Visit before January 11, 2009 and take part in "Alice's Wonderland," a 2,500-square-foot exhibit that teaches visitors about time, shadows, words, and physics by exploring the world of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Other area attractions: Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park with over 40 unique rides, gardens, and exhibits to explore.

The New Children's Museum San Diego, California

The New Children's Museum opened in May 2008, in the lively Marina district, housed in a spectacular three-story, glass and concrete structure built from recycled materials to limit its environmental impact. Kids can climb a graffiti wall, jump on walls and floors covered with mattresses, move around on kinetic "scooter" art, dance in the Porta-Party disco booth, and create art in indoor and outdoor studios using recycled and sustainable materials. Toddlers can crawl through the fabric-enhanced Texture Forest, while older kids can hang out in the Teen Studio.

CONNECTICUT

Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Norwalk, Connecticut

Set in five acres of Mathews Park, the museum has four galleries with more than 100 interactive exhibits and educational programs. In The Works provides the chance to "manipulate" the laws of physics; Healthyville uses role-play to help children understand their bodies via a Good Foods Market, Healthyville Community Center, and WBOD—a clever TV network broadcasting inside the body. The Rainforest Adventure inspires kids to become conservationists, and Waterscape encourages future meteorologists with whirlpools, cascades, fog, mist and ice.

FLORIDA

Children's Museum, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida

The Children's Museum is a hands-on museum for children highlighting the arts, sciences and humanities. The interactive exhibitions encourage learning through creative play.

Children's Science Explorium, Boca Raton, Florida

The Explorium works to achieve the mission by providing a fun, interactive, and kid-friendly exhibits that relate to everyday experiences with the physical sciences.

Schoolhouse Children's Museum, Boynton Beach, Florida

This museum, a restored 1913 school building, features “hands-on” exhibits, facts and activities about pioneer days in Palm Beach County. Family fun for all ages.

Young at Art Children's Museum, Davie, Florida

This museum is a unique, hands-on children's museum. Enter a new dimension of learning and creativity by touching, exploring, creating, imagining and enjoying the limitless possibilities of art.

My Jewish Discovery Place Children's Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jewish Discovery Place is a hands-on, interactive museum of Jewish culture, history and values. A place where children and families learn about the joys of Jewish life. A place where creativity and play become a bridge to learning and understanding.

Imaginarium Hands-On Museum & Aquarium, Fort Myers, Florida

The Imaginarium - a hands-on science and nature-based museum - provides visitors with over 60 interactive exhibits including a theater, a traveling exhibit, live animals and ongoing special programs.

Tree Hill Jacksonville's Nature Center, Jacksonville, Florida

Located in the center of Jacksonville, Florida, Tree Hill Nature Center is the place in our community to benefit from important environmental programs and experience family fun in a natural environment. Home to 50 acres of trails, a Florida Natural History Museum, butterfly and hummingbird gardens and native animals, Tree Hill Nature Center has provided the best in environmental and energy education to our community for over three decades.

Miami Children's Museum, Miami, Florida

This museum is a non-profit educational institution that offers interactive exhibits, programs, and learning materials related to arts, culture, community and communication.

Children's Museum of Naples, Naples, Florida

Opening in fall 2010 the Children’s Museum of Naples will be “an exciting, inspiring environment where children and their families play, learn and dream together.” Under construction in the North Collier Regional Park, the 30,000-square-foot Children's Museum of Naples will feature ten spectacularly designed, child-scaled exhibits to invite sensory and intellectual exploration.

Orlando Science Center, Orlando, Florida

Enjoy four floors of hands-on exhibits plus giant screen films and stargazing in the observatory as you discover the amazing impact of science on your life.

Great Explorations - The Children's Museum, Saint Petersburg, Florida

Great Explorations Children’s Museum, located next to historic Sunken Gardens on 4th Street North in St. Petersburg, is one of Florida’s top museums and one of America’s top museums for children. At Great Explorations, fun educational experiences make learning fun for visitors of all ages. In keeping with its coastal locale, the museum offers several programs on the topic of water and marine life. Children get to play grown-ups in a kid-size grocery store or experience what it would be like to be a doctor, veterinarian, police officer, firefighter, or restaurateur. Tech-savvy kids can create cartoons or experiment with making sounds on computers. Kids can also build their own robots, scale the 18-foot climb wall, or take in a puppet show.

Other area attractions: Clearwater Marine Aquarium or the Egmont Key State Park. Or take your family on the Ghost Tour of St. Petersburg for spooky and fun vacation memories.

Glazer Children's Museum, Tampa, Florida

Scheduled to open in downtown Tampa in 2010, the Glazer Children's Museum's mission is to inspire children and families by creating learning opportunities around innovative play and discovery. The new 53,000 square foot facility will provide an exceptional learning environment for children and the adults in their lives. Here, visitors of all ages will interact with one another, learn with and from each other, try, explore, test, figure out, imagine, laugh, cooperate and play their way to new understandings. Opportunities for learning in novel ways are plentiful.

South Florida Science Museum, West Palm Beach, Florida

The South Florida Science Museum provides curious minds of all ages with an entertaining and educational journey through science and technology. Located in West Palm Beach, the museum features more than 50 hands-on exhibits, a digital planetarium, freshwater and saltwater aquariums, as well as natural history exhibitions.

ILLINOIS

Chicago Children's Museum, Chicago, Illinois

Let your kids explore three floors of exciting permanent and traveling exhibits at the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Whether they're expressing their creativity in the "Inventing Lab," learning how to prevent danger in the Allstate Foundation's "Play It Safe" area, or experiencing what it was like to be a part of a dinosaur dig in 1997 in the "Dinosaur Expedition" authentic excavation pit. This fall, the museum will host the "Secrets of Circles," an exhibit exploring the use of circles in art and science.

Other area attractions: Navy Pier's Pier Park and Amazing Chicago's 4,000-square-foot Funhouse Maze.

SPECIAL FREE DAYS AT SELECT CHICAGO MUSEUMS

Adler Planetarium June 7–12 (1300 S Lake Shore Dr, 312-922-7827, adlerplanetarium.org)

Museum of Science and Industry June 1–5, 19 (5700 S Lake Shore Dr, 773-684-1414, msichicago.org)

Shedd Aquarium June 14–19 (1200 S Lake Shore Dr, 312-939-2438, sheddaquarium.org)

STANDING FREE DAYS

Art Institute of Chicago Thursdays, Fridays 5–9pm. (111 S Michigan Ave, 312-443-3600, artic.edu/aic).

The new Ryan Education Center is always free (use the Modern Wing entrance on Monroe Street).

Chicago Children’s Museum Thursdays 5–8pm, first Sunday of the month (Navy Pier, 700 E Grand Ave, 312-527-1000, chicagochildrensmuseum.org)

Chicago History Museum Mondays (1601 N Clark St, 312-642-4600, chicagohistory.org)

Clarke House Museum Wednesdays (1827 S Indiana Ave, 312-745-0041, clarkehousemuseum.org)

DuSable Museum of African-American History Sundays (740 E 56th Pl, 773-947-0600, dusablemuseum.org)

Field Museum second Monday of the month (1400 S Lake Shore Dr, 312-922-9410, fieldmuseum.org)

Glessner House Museum Wednesdays (1800 S Prairie Ave, 312-326-1480, glessnerhouse.org)

Museum of Contemporary Art Tuesdays; kids 12 and under always free with paying adult. (220 E Chicago Ave, 312-280-2660, mcachicago.org)

Spertus Museum Tuesdays, 10am–noon, Thursdays 2–6pm. Gray Children’s Center is open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. (610 S Michigan Ave, 312-322-1700, spertus.edu)

Swedish American Museum’s Brunk Children’s Museum of Immigration Second Tuesday of the month. (5211 N Clark St, 773-728-8111, samac.org)

DONATIONS

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum Thursdays pay what you can; regular admission is $9, kids $7. Or print out a coupon for free child’s admission any day of the week with a paid adult. (2430 N Cannon Dr, 773-755-5100, naturemuseum.org)

Oriental Institute Museum Suggested $7 donation every day, kids $4 (1155 E 58th St, 773-702-9520, oi.uchicago.edu).

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