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Best Kids Museums in America

Reshu Mehrotra
Summer holidays have arrived and children are demanding a trip. After a grueling session, children and parents going out on a holiday is a must. The hot topic of discussion in most houses, nowadays, is the best activity and place to spend some time. That's when parents opt for visiting a good museum for kids.
It's official, summer holidays are meant for fun, food and traveling. Parents have a mammoth task of deciding on the place to spend holidays under a reasonable budget. Children, on the other hand, do not seem interested in budgets or expenditure, they are more interested in going to a place which is unique where none of their friends have gone yet.
Parents at the same time want the trip to be an educational one. So what better way than to visit the most popular museums especially for kids where one rule can certainly be broken, i.e., 'Do not touch'.
The United States has near about 300 museums which make an exhaustive list. Museums for children create playful and interactive experience which makes the tour not only interesting, but also tantrum free. The good thing about these museums is that here the child is involved in holiday activities and is encouraged to interact with other kids.
Also, here the main emphasis is given to educating as most of the museums do not have permanent collections. The main objective of these museums is to impart knowledge about the culture, history, art and science. Here is the list of some of the best museums in America.

Brooklyn Children's Museum

Location: New York
This is the first museum in America that was opened in 1889. This museum has a lot of activities from toddlers to children.
Activities like tropical treat, meet and greet, little scientists, wacky Tuesday, feeding frenzy and many more are planned to make it one of the best museums in the country. In this museum, they also let children explore things at their own pace so as to create interest in education.

Please Touch Children's Museum

Location: Pennsylvania
This museum is located in Philadelphia. This museum offers Alice in Wonderland exhibits where toddlers can play with giant flowers and also have tea party. Similarly, kids can also play on musical instruments and babies can crawl on lily pads, which make musical sounds.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Location: Indiana
This museum holds a fair share of dinosaur fossils. There are many fossils like the T.Rex, Bucky and many others in an 8000 square feet area.
Here, around 10,000 artifacts, 55 ton steam engine and a 33 foot tall water clock are there in the 365,000 square foot area. It also offers activities like Dino building, camps and classes featuring space themes and other educational programs.

Port Discovery

Location: Baltimore
This museum ranks 5th in the Child Magazine. Here it has three floors filled with fun filled activities. Children can play in Wonders of Water, Royal Farms Convenience store and Kid Works. Many climbing activities are encouraged so that the kids may experience adventure too.

Boston Children's Museum

Location: Massachusetts
The exhibits here are of health, art, science, culture and environmental awareness. In this museum, children also learn about Japanese culture and house of silk merchant. Activities like Play Lab, New Balance climb and The Recycle Shop bring out the creativity in children.

Children's Museum of Houston

Location: Texas
Termed as the best playground for mind, this museum offers scores of activities for kids of every age. It even offers free family adventure events where families with their toddlers or kids are encouraged to work on math activities and games. Children also learn about broadcasting activities and preserving ecosystems.

Minnesota Children's Museum

Location: Minnesota
This museum is located at St.Paul's and kids find themselves immersed in a world of smart play. Here activities like exploring natural habitats of animals are undertaken. Kids also paint their faces, play with finger puppets and at the same time, appreciate learning forms.

Duke Energy Children's Museum

Location: Ohio
Ranked in the top ten, this museum has exhibits which allow kids to climb, crawl and explore the world around them. The museum has activities like Little Sprouts farm and Kid's Town. Other activities like Energy Zone and The Wood's challenge the physical power in children.

National Museum of Play

Location: New York
This museum located in Rochester area has a wide collection of dolls, games, toys and other home crafts dating back to the 19th century. Here, educational tours include stories of micro machines and other toys. Kids can walk in Sesame Street exhibit and cook food at play TV studios.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Location: Arizona
This museum is located in Phoenix and is based on the principle, learning is fun. Through all fun learning activities which include book loft, building big, Noodle Forest, market role play and oodles of other activities, learners learn about reading, building dens, working their way through noodles and buying things from the grocery store.
These activities bring in a lot of enthusiasm and imagination out of kids. These also enhance the cognitive and social skills and inspire laughter.
As already said, the list is exhaustive and never ending but these museums have sure taken us down to the memory lane where we too went and explored, laughed and enjoyed our trip.
These creative institutions are a best way to instill learning ideas, creative experiences and develop little curious minds. Active learning takes place when the minds are engaged. These children-centered institutions rightly cater to the needs of the young ones.