This is how we science!
For one of hubby’s Christmas gifts from Peanut and me, I decided to buy a family membership to the Buffalo Museum of Science. I think experience gifts can be some of the most fun – hubby and I don’t always do them, but when we do we really enjoy them. Still, it had never occurred to me to buy a membership to any museum or organization as a gift, for some reason. When we lived in Alexandria, Virginia we had an annual membership to Mount Vernon, but we just bought that on our first visit. And we’d been talking about getting a membership to the Buffalo Botanical Gardens but hadn’t gotten around to it. We love the Botanical Gardens and we go plenty, but ultimately I thought we’d get more use out of a Science Museum membership – especially after I looked into it and realized that (a) we’d only have to go three times in a year and the membership would have paid for itself and then some; (b) they have a dedicated toddler play area; and (c) there was a special Curious George exhibit coming, just for a temporary period, that would be free to members. Sold! So I picked up the membership cards and they were wrapped up under the tree for hubby to open. He was surprised and excited, because he loves the science museum, and we hadn’t been there since moving to Buffalo. We started using our membership right away, going for the first time on a chilly Saturday in late January.
When we first arrived, Peanut was extremely apprehensive. She didn’t appreciate the dinosaur skeleton towering over the registration desk and she was overwhelmed with the first few exhibits we visited. The first 45 minutes or so she spent clinging to my neck and refusing to be put down or held by anyone but me. (Awwww. So sweet! But also kind of exhausting to tote a clingy toddler and a third trimester baby bump around a museum.) Fortunately, she warmed up to the place when we got to the nanotechnology exhibit. There were blocks, crayons and sheets for coloring, and big magnifying glasses to play with. I’m sure it all factored into nanotechnology somehow, but I was too busy chasing Peanut around to read the explanatory placards. She got really into playing with the blocks and probably spent twenty minutes sitting in this chair arranging and rearranging them. (Focused play! Her teachers have been commenting lately that she really concentrates when she gets into something.)
After the nanotechnology exhibit we went to the motion room. This was when Peanut really got crazy. There was a lot to do in the motion room – you could build cars and race them on a track, move tiny foam balls through tubing you could arrange yourself, and levitate the same tiny foam balls over pipes with air blowing straight up – and more that we didn’t get to. Again, I missed out on a lot of the explanations of things due to chasing an increasingly excited toddler around. No big deal, though – I know we’ll go back plenty more times this year, so I can learn another time (maybe).
Peanut really liked the car racing track. She thought it was her own personal slide. We had to drag her away when some kids wanted to use it for its actual intended purpose.
There was running and shrieking. By the way, do you like Peanut’s shoes? She’s going through a phase right now where she’s opinionated about her footwear. I can still dress her in any outfit I want (so she looks reasonably coordinated in public) but she must wear her silver glitter Mary Janes at all times – even in the house. We’ve given up on trying to sell her on her sneakers for outings like this. Eventually she’ll get tired of the “style shoes.” Or grow out of them!
Hands down, the biggest hit was the air tubes. Peanut didn’t quite get that you were supposed to set them up and then float the balls. It was way more fun to hold a ball and let the air blow your baby hair straight up. Well… she’s got a point. Much hilarity ensued:
(I love this picture. Look how happy she is!)
At that point, we decided it was time to bug out and head home for lunch. As you can see, we didn’t even make it to the toddler play area! Really, with so many hands-on activities for all ages, the whole museum is kind of a toddler play area. The nice thing about having a membership is that we don’t feel compelled to push Peanut past her boundaries just to get our money’s worth (because the individual ticket prices are a little on the steep side). We know we can come back anytime with our membership – so if we just want to stay for an hour and Peanut only wants to play with one exhibit, we don’t stress about it at all. In fact, guess what we did the very next Saturday?
The next Saturday was the first day of the special Curious George exhibit. It’s a temporary installation from February to about mid-May, in which kids get to explore George’s city home and try a bunch of different activities. Peanut is recently obsessed with Curious George. It started at Christmas when we found a Curious George Christmas special and then discovered that there is a whole cartoon series (narrated by William H. Macy!) about George’s adventures. Peanut usually watches an episode over her morning milk before getting ready for school, and she loves the show. We also own several of the books, which Peanut wants to read constantly since discovering the cartoon. So, all this is to say, we knew the George exhibit was going to be a big hit.
And was it ever! I didn’t know if the exhibit would be more about the books, or independent, but it turned out it tracked the cartoon. If you haven’t been watching the cartoon every day since December, as we have, you may not think this is quite as cool, but we were running around shouting things like “Look, it’s Chef Pisghetti’s restaurant! There’s Gnocchi! Look, Peanut, the Renkins’ farm! Hey, it’s Professor Wiseman’s museum!”
It’s possible we were a little bit too excited.
Anyway, Peanut had a ball. She tried out some steering wheels (I think there was an actual point to these, and older kids might have been able to figure out what to do, but they were being monopolized by Peanut and a posse of other toddlers that were crawling all over them).
She tried on some hard hats at a construction site…
And there was a corner where you could stack these large foam blocks up and feed square blocks into a conveyor belt. Peanut spent about ten minutes throwing the blocks and cackling with glee. It was basically a toddler free-for-all in there, so we just let her go at it.
(I didn’t get any non-blurry pictures of that action, because she was moving too fast. In her style shoes, no less.)
Peanut also enjoyed exploring the mailboxes in George’s apartment building, and patting Hundley, the neat freak lobby dachshund.
Then she headed over to the corner of the room dedicated to the Renkins’ farm (neighbors of George and the Man with the Yellow Hat when they’re out at their country house) and found a stuffed bunny. Peanut was overwhelmed with joy. She stood in the middle of the room and shouted at the top of her lungs, “EVERYONE! I HAVE A BUNNY!”
Then Peanut and the bunny meandered over to the other side of the room, where there were some more science-focused activities for older kids. Peanut and the bunny spent several minutes fitting these test tubes into little round holes.
And she examined her fingers under a microscope with Daddy. Eventually (after about twenty minutes of carrying him around) we finally persuaded Peanut to return the bunny to the farm and head home. Peanut really had a fabulous time, and I’m so glad the Curious George exhibit will be open until May – I think we’ll be spending a lot of weekend mornings there this winter. In fact, Peanut’s school and my office are closed for the holiday today, so I’m thinking a visit to George might even be in order for this morning…
Do you have any museum memberships? What are your favorite local activities?
covered in flour 
This is incredibly adorable. Makes me wish I had a toddler just so I could take her to the Science Museum!
I’ll let you know next time we go – you and Paul should join us! It’s a lot of fun.
First off, if I had those silver Mary James I’d wear them at all times too, they’re adorable!
I love the idea of a an experience gift too.
I have wonderful memories of going to the science museum as a little girl. For such a small museum it seemed SO big to me and full of amazing things.
I haven’t been there in a few years now and I should go check it out.
For a few years, a loooong time ago, I received a membership to the Buffalo Zoo. I loved it! It came with some coupons, a discount at the gift shop, parking tokens and included a free ticket for a friend each time I visited the zoo. I used that pass like crazy and found myself at the zoo weekly sometimes. I stopped going because I started to feel funny about zoo’s and that one in particular as far as the animal health & care went but at the time it was the perfect gift for me and very educational.
Do you buy the local Entertainment Book? I’d recommend that because there are enough discounts at restaurants and movies to make your money back fast but it’s a great way to find local activities since it’s packed with bogo coupons to little museums and stuff and some of the of the discounts extend into Niagara Falls Ontario.
Haha, thanks! I wish she would wear her sneakers more because I have my doubts about how supportive the Mary Janes are, but she screams bloody murder if we try to force any other shoes on her feet! I guess it could be worse – it’s not like she’s insisting on pajamas and a tutu or anything. I’ve tried to tie the shoes to good behavior (i.e. “If you throw your breakfast on the floor, no style shoes today”) but she just throws a tantrum and I cave every time. It’s just a phase though! In general she’s a really good kid, but she has definitely figured out how to get what she wants out of me. Too smart for her own good.
I’m not a fan of zoos either. The ex-vegan in me is still pretty squeamish about the idea. I wasn’t too bothered by the National Zoo when we lived in the DC metro area (although it still was far from my favorite activity) because I felt like the habitats were very well-designed and the animals always seemed happy (no pacing, picking at themselves, none of the stress behaviors I’ve seen elsewhere). We’ve been to the Buffalo Zoo a couple of times and Peanut loves it, as does my husband, but I’ve definitely had some questions in light of the animal behavior, and I prefer to avoid it. We’ve gone to the Niagara Aquarium a few times as well and that bothers me a bit too, although not as much as the zoo does. I try not to ruin the experience for Peanut, but I’d much prefer the Botanical Gardens or the Science Museum – and one of these days we’ll get to Explore and More. I just feel better about those activities. I do believe that the staff at the zoo and aquarium care deeply about animals and are trying to do the best they can with what they have (which are smaller, older facilities) but I’m just uncomfortable with the whole concept, really.
We didn’t buy the Entertainment Book (although I remember my parents getting the Albany version every year) but our health insurance carrier randomly sent us both a ton of coupons for different activities and restaurants around the area. Kind of a mini-Entertainment Book, but free! (Well, not free if you consider the cost of our health plans and the way they’ve been gouging me on prenatal care, so I guess it’s the least they could do, but whatever.) We went through the coupons and found a bunch that we are planning to use. I think that next year, we’ll definitely buy the Entertainment Book.
That’s exactly it, the zoo concept doesn’t sit well with me(you took it a step further with veganism–good for you!!–I’m a vegetarian!) I’m not completely opposed to visiting all zoos, like you said the National Zoo is a nice one. I went to the Seattle Zoo because I’d heard it designed to give animals a large and natural living space with lots of privacy and it did seem that way. It was beautiful, the animals were active and healthy and the whole zoo campus was very green with plants and big focus on recycling and conservation. It just bothers me to see animals locked up especially if there’s evidence they’re not doing so well, animals for entertainment in a zoo environment isn’t okay. But, a zoo that takes special care of their animals and tries to teach people why we should protect and cherish them is much better. It makes me insane to walk around in the Buffalo Zoo and see a Snickers wrapper lying near an exhibit and the animal looks like it has hardly any room to live. =(
When I was little the Niagara Falls Aquarium had dolphins, they were moved when the aquarium couldn’t properly care for them and for a while it looked like that place was going to be closed. I have the best memories at the zoo and aquarium from my childhood but not-so-much now. I understand what you mean too, you want your Peanut to see and learn about these creatures but you don’t want to support the darker side of it, you’re doing the best thing you can=) Don’t worry!
Thanks! I’m no longer vegan, or vegetarian even – wish I could have kept it up, but I went back to eating dairy and eggs when I was pregnant with Peanut and added fish and poultry for health reasons after she was born. I think some people are more suited to vegetarianism or veganism than others, and unfortunately I’m not one of them. My body just doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do on a vegetarian or vegan diet. 😦
I’m glad that the aquarium doesn’t have dolphins anymore. I thought of dolphins the first time we visited and remember thinking, man, it’s a good thing there are no dolphins in this little pool – it doesn’t even seem really big enough for the sea lions. I want to support zoos and aquariums that try to educate people about conservation, and I do think that the places here are trying their best with what they have. And I want Peanut to be able to see and learn about animals. It just hurts my heart to see them clearly uncomfortable.
Well your health is important so I’m glad to hear you recognize that fully and switched to the diet that helps you be the best you & healthiest Mom!!
Agree–it’s hurtful to see animals confined and I’m just torn between wanting to see them up close when I otherwise would never get the chance and feeling guilty, so I try to choose a zoo that has proper facilities. The Buffalo Zoo is getting better and I haven’t been there in a few years but last time I was there I enjoyed the little rainforest exhibit and the otters were a very cool addition. I saw they’re back in the news “under fire” for something though and I missed the story so I’ll have to see what’s what with that.
Argghh sorry I got us on this topic but it’s nice to see we’re on the same page with it really!
The otters are adorable! I agree, the rainforest exhibit is pretty neat.
No need to apologize for getting us on the zoo topic. I always like chatting with people in the comments about issues I care about. And while everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course, I agree that it is nice that we’re on the same page, as you said, on this issue!
As a college student, I’m not at all in a place where I’m regularly charmed by small children, but oh my goodness Peanut is just precious!! I can’t handle how cute her science museum experience is. Love your blog!
Awwww, thanks! We like her. 🙂 It’s a lot of fun to experience things like the science museum through her eyes and I like sharing that stuff here. I’m glad you enjoy my blog – thanks for your comment!
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