You're never too young or too old to learn. I often try to think of ideas to challenge and educate my daughter who is 1 1/2 years old but also entertain us as a family.
We've heard from friends a great deal about a children's museum located in South Mississippi. Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport, MS, has 15,000 square feet of indoor hands-on exhibits that offer exciting play time, rain or shine.
There is also an expansive outdoor exhibit, surrounded by 100-year-old giant oak trees, that provide even more space to allow your child's imagination to run wild. We enjoyed touring the tiny homes on what's known as Kid's Street and letting our daughter further discover and develop an appreciation of nature as we played in the Tree House Village.
It started raining soon after we arrived but thankfully there is even more fun to be had once inside. As soon as you walk in you are greeted with a super colossal climbing structure. It spans the entire height of the museum and allows children, and a few brave adults, to travel from floor to floor.
On the first floor, we took our daughter to the Dolan Avenue Depot, which is basically a miniature train station. There's antique luggage filled with hats and clothes to dress up in, a ticket booth and a choo-choo train! I saw kids pretending to be engineeers, passengers and hard-working railway builders.
The Little Pet Vet gives children the opportunity to see what takes place when they take their pet to the doctor. We spent the majority of our time at The Port. This section of the museum teaches children all about the shrimping industry of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our daughter had endless fun throwing bean bag crabs into the crab bucket!
On the second floor we learned about space and rode in a spaceship at the Sun, Earth and Universe exhibit. Baby girls' favorite activity was the pretend supermarket. She had a blast filling her cart with fruit while mommy played cashier and dad stocked the shelves.
Lights, Camera, Action
Mom and Dad had a little too much fun pretending to be weather reporters in the newsroom located upstairs. There was also the cutest boutique hotel setup, complete with a painted piano and a vintage ice cream shop.
We all enjoyed the science room where we explored interactive activities teaching us about mass, motion, sound and sight.
There is so much to do at this museum! I can see why it has an astounding reputation. They even have a room for children four years and under that has an endless supply of books, a small climbing structure and soft, padded floors. They really thought of everything to challenge kids, and adults, of all ages and sizes! We will definitely be back again!
I encourage you to challenge your children's senses, creativity and mind by taking them on a family field trip. It sparks a desire in them to love learning when they can see you, the parent, engrossed and entertained by learning.
~Crissy
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