Children's Discovery Museum

The Children's Discovery Museum, formally known as the McLean County Children's Discovery Museum until 1997, is located in Normal Illinois. The museum was initially founded in 1988. From the Children's Discovery first entrance into the world of museums, it moved from Bloomington Illinois to Normal Illinois. Now, housed in a three story, 24,000 square foot building, and housing some of top of the art hands on discovery learning for children, the Children's Discovery Museum draws a huge number of children yearly.

The Children's Discovery Museum is open Monday thru Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 1p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $4.00 per person ages 2 and older, which is extremely cheap for all it has to offer.

The Children's Discovery Museum is well organized and very clean. When you first walk in you cannot help but be amazed by its size and even overwhelmed some. My children were at a loss as to where to start their adventures for the day. We all agreed though that we wanted to see as much as we could in the time we had and started from the ground floor and made our way up to the third level. On the ground floor, we started with the "Discover My World". This area is all about your child; what is in the world as they see it and do not see it. A section is all about clocks and time. You will not be able to miss the towering 14-foot clock. Next, we entered into "My Place" where the boys were able to recreate what they thought their rooms should look like. My Place is a section that looks like a home with areas for children to set up house. My boys took full advantage of this to impress upon me what they thought they should have in their rooms. My youngest thought a refrigerator would be a great thing to have in his bedroom. You can also create cities and many other interesting things in this center.

Venturing on with my youngest hopes crushed of ever having a refrigerator in his bedroom; we went and visited the "Train Express". For the train fanatics in your household, rest assured you would have a hard time moving them on to the next exhibit. Here, your child can create their own train tracks and run trains on them.

The next few exhibits I was excited about seeing, mostly for my oldest son's sake. My oldest son has struggled with various medical problems, one being his eating disorder that has made him extremely small in height and weight for his age. The "One and Only Me" center lets kids explore the physical other differences between them and others. The "Inside Me" center shows just how much alike we all our regardless of our outer appearances. The "Kids' Medical Center" gave him a chance to be on the other side of the table as he played doctor and dentist on his younger brother. The "Main Street Market" gave him a chance to do his own grocery shopping giving me a little insight in what he would like to see on his dinner plate. The "Nutrition Café", regardless of what my oldest put in his grocery cart, did not make it to his or his younger brother's plate but they did enjoyed some very nutritious snacks. All these, while talking about what was going on with my oldest with him, gave him a better insight to se that despite his physical appearances he really wasn't as different as he thought from the rest of the children his age.

The "Sugar Creek Water Play" center was my youngest sons' favorite. He would have stayed there all day playing with the different ways he could turn water into power. On the other hand, the "Toddler Backyard" center did not impress them as much. They referred to it as "for babies". You cannot win them all.

On the second floor of the Children's Discovery Museum, the "Luckey Climber", you will see an amazing climbing apparatus built from planks and ropes suspended in the air. Even the adults can enjoy this. However, beware; you will spend a lot of time on this so plan accordingly. It is built similar to a maze with dead ends and the goal is to reach the top and still find your way back down.

Also located on the second floor is the "Oh Rubbish" center where your child will learn about recycling and other various uses for trash. At the "AgMazing" center, your child gets to learn hands on about the cycle of life through planting seeds to every other aspect of the farmer life style, right down to driving a tractor. The "ImagineAir" center teaches your child about the power and force air can have. "Reading Garden" is just what it says, a place your child can sit and read a book or have a parent read one to them.

Venturing to the third floor of the Children's Discovery Museum, you will find centers titled the "Recollections Room", the "Art Studio", the "Paint Wall", the "Ball Machine", and the "3D Pinscreen". My boys' favorites were the art studio where they were able to create their own art and craft activity and the paint wall. At the "Paint Wall" center, your child is provided a smock and set free to do what they have always wanted to do in their home; paint the walls with any colors you could imagine. The walls are built out of large Plexiglas so you can see what your child is painting.

With so much to see and do how could you not add The Children's Discovery Museum to your list of places to visit? The Children's Discovery Museum is physically located at 101 E. Beaufort, Normal, IL 61761. To check for special events that are taking place there, feel free to check out their website at: http://www.childrensdiscoverymuseum.net/index.asp or contact them by phone at (309) 433-3444.