12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Family travel 5: Museums pair fun, learning to expand horizons
Expand your family's horizons. Here are five places where learning and laughter combine.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis
With more than 472,900 feet of exhibit space on five floors and covering 29 acres, this extraordinary nonprofit institution has been entertaining and educating families since 1925. Considered the largest children's museum in the world, kids can learn about the day-to-day duties of astronauts, sample different sports with equipment that's just their size, and get inspired by the powerful stories of other children including Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, Ryan White, and Malala Yousafzai. Families are charmed by an historic carousel and inspired by exhibits that explain how plant science can help the world by cleaning up oil spills and cultivating healthy food. As part of this year's 100th birthday celebration, families can enjoy the Centennial Ferris Wheel offering incredible views of the museum campus, the downtown skyline, and surrounding areas.
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Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix
This unique museum enables families to see and experience more than 3000 instruments and artifacts from around the world and to celebrate the joy of music making. Live performances, family-friendly festivals and a wide array of lectures and classes are available. Check out the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine" as well as the instruments of Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and George Benson. Wireless head-sets allow guests to see and hear exhibits throughout the museum. Kids will enjoy the Experience Gallery where they can touch, play and hear instruments from far-away cultures. Check out the extensive and diverse concert schedule.
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Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Encouraging curiosity, innovation and celebrating questions, this is the place to see a German submarine, understand how tornados and avalanches happen and explore the structure of the eye in a hands-on lab environment.
Discover the mathematical patterns that surround us every day in the natural world - from the delicate nested spirals of a sunflower's seeds to the ridges of a majestic mountain range in a compelling exhibit called "Numbers in Nature." Then make your way to the Whispering Gallery to understand how sound travels in different environments. A theater and hands-on exhibits further enhance the experience.
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Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, Calif.
Founded in 1984, this world-renowned organization's mission is to inspire conservation of the world's oceans. Through a variety of interactive activities and exhibits designed for young children and families, your crew will learn about the delicate balance that exists in our seas today. The youngest visitors will be drawn to the 40-foot-long touch pool for an up-close look at curious creatures like sea stars, urchins, kelp crabs and abalones. They'll enjoy the playful antics of southern sea otters, learn about the world of mud flats and marshes, and observe a master of disguise, the Giant Pacific Octopus.
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The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, N.Y.
Play is good for humans of all ages and helps kids develop tools for self-expression and problem-solving. You'll learn about favorite pastimes in a permanent exhibit that explores 300 years of history. View rare board games, see the world's largest erector set, challenge your crew to a game of toy trivia and test your memories in the concentration game within a 100,000-square-foot fun zone. Marvel at the butterfly garden. Play hopscotch, chess and checkers on Sesame Street, ride a carousel, hop aboard a train and check out the on-site National Toy Museum.
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