Visit a Museum!

 Rob and I are in Corning, NY, visiting the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) and the Rockwell Museum. (BTW, the Rockwell Museum is NOT Norman Rockwell. Instead a local couple shared their American collection.   The combination ticket was about $5 more.). CMOG has educational materials worth a look.  There were loads of families visiting CMOG.  Our family included many, many historic sites and museums during family trips.  I have a few tips.

1.  Find free museums.  If things are odd or vastly offensive, you just leave.  No money wasted.  There are 17 Free Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C.  Most of theses museums are located on the Mall, which is a safe place to visit.  Visit the monuments or the White House (a pain!).  We park at Union Station and walk to the Mall.  It’s three miles between Union Station and the Lincoln Monument.  There are subway stations; they aren’t free.   Here are all the free museums in Virginia.  The Chrysler Museum in Norfolk is a jewel.  Even NYC has free museums or free days.

2.  Start small and limit the visit.  Try a short visit, 30–45 minutes, the first time you visit a museum.  Leave before everyone is cranky.  I’m serious!  When my kids were tiny, we ran through art museums.  See if the museum has a scavenger hunt for kids.  

3. Try museums based on a child’s interest.  We took Paul to the Science Museum of Richmond, which has Rat Basketball and Speed!  The National Building Museum is featuring Brick City!  (My son, Josh, always wants to visit the exhibit of chairs and couches.) Many botanical gardens have Sean Kennedy’s Nature Pops, with LEGOs.  

4.  Combine the museum with a trip to the Zoo.  Our family has visited many zoos.   The Metro Richmond Zoo has a dog who is a cheetah’s companion, Kumbali and Kago.   We’re on our way to Toronto and plan to visit the zoo there, too.  

5.  If the Zoo is too expensive plan a treat after the museum visit.  Our family visits the gift shop after our museum tour.  However, on family trips, the kids may have one souvenir.  The price has to be reasonable.  Below are pix from the Corning Glass Mueum.