If you are entertaining school kids during this week's Spring Vacation, I recommend a trip to the Peabody Museum in New Haven. My 8-year-old son and I spent an afternoon wandering among old bones and big bugs, learning a few things and enjoying ourselves. It's not as big or as fancy as the natural history museums in the big cities, but it has a lot of charm.
The Great Hall is a reliable "wow" for any kid interested in dinosaurs. My kid grabbed my phone to make his own guided video tour of a T-Rex skull:
The Peabody has a little bit of everything: geology, space exploration, Egyptian history, and the evolution of man and other creatures. We found a beautiful chunk of sulphur that comes from Sicily - not too far from Middletown's own Melilli.
We checked out dioramas of all kinds and considered the advantages of the wooden spears and darts carved by Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest. All in all, a great afternoon. Here's a couple of insider tips from someone in the museum business: good weather means a quiet museum, and school groups don't do afternoons. We had the run of the place, and we spent a long time in the tiny Discovery Room, watching those leaf cutting ants make short work of a pile of greens. We also checked out the poison dart frogs and magnified everything within reach of the electronic microscope. We'll be back!
The Peabody is part of Yale University, and it's open from 10 am to 5 pm every day except Sunday, when it's just noon to 5 pm. Admission is $7 for adults, and $5 for kids, but admission is free on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 5 pm during the school year. The museum is at 170 Whitney St. in New Haven, and it's about 30 minutes from Middletown. There's usually parking available in the lot next to the museum, or on the surrounding streets.
5 comments:
Loved the Peabody as a child and as a parent. The best bonus to an afternoon there is an early dinner at Modern Pizza four blocks away!
Russell Library has Peabody Museum passes...
What a wonderful article, Jen! Another great service to parent readers of Middletown Eye. Now I want to go. I wonder if I could drag a bunch of teenagers there...maybe the Modern Pizza dinner would be the lure. By the way, Anonymous #2, where in the library can you find the passes?
Elizabeth,
Just ask any one of the nice people at the desk. Russell's museum passes are a wonderful resource. I hope it is well utilized!
I am glad that an exciting, outside- of-middletown excursion, from the Kid City foundress (sp?), has generated excitement! Yes, our City has much to offer but, a little trip to New Haven, New York or Boston can tickle the nervous system and plant seeds for future projects.
Jen:
Looks like you need a new post on "Why I love the Russell Library".
I'll start:
- the museum passes at the front desk. We used to choose our activity of the day during our Connecticut Vacations based on what pass was available that morning.
- the video/DVD collection. Why rent, when such a collection is there for free?
- the books on tape/CD that make long drives bearable for the whole family
- the awesome, friendly, knowledgeable staff
- the best family bathroom (with diaper changer) with free parking in downtown Middletown.
- the fact the the new book shelf is not far from the children's section -- for maintaining the sanity of parents of young children
- the bulletin boards, for keeping up with what's going on in town
- the annual book sale, for stocking up for beach reading
- free music by great performers (esp. when they introduced the Amelia Trio to Middletown)
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