Recently we were invited to a birthday party at the Cleveland Children’s Museum located in University Circle. We had been there a couple of times about a year ago when Bug was a lot smaller, but what a difference a year makes.

Shortly after arriving, we all went to a dedicated room to celebrate the birthday party. When my boys finally had enough of the cake, presents, and other kids, Bug could hardly contain himself any longer, and I could not refrain him from heading into the museum to play. The first stop…a room filled with nothing but sand.

The Cleveland Children’s Museum has a room dedicated to seasonal exhibits, and this is the second time we have been there that the room was filled with sand for kids to play in. The current is exhibit is Galapagos Sands, Exploring the Centuries.

The Museum typically brings someone in to sculpt incredible sand monuments, and this years was really impressive. The sculpture featured two huge iguanas and a baby. The sculpture was really detailed down to the finest scales and skin crevices.

We spent a good deal of time just letting the boys play barefoot in the sand, they both loved it! We never know exactly how Bug (2-year old) will react to a new situation as he quickly will become shy, but he loved it, as did Lan-Shark (1-year old).

After the sand room we headed downstairs to the first level to play in the village area. In a large room there are several building, a bus mock-up, and train table. Bug and I spent a good deal of time in the grocery store. At first he got a kick out of pushing around a cart and grabbing items off of the shelves. However, when he learned he could run the cash register and ring up everyone’s items, I think I saw a part of his future. He loved when other kids brought up their items and handed him money to place in the cash register. It was a great experience to not only learn how a grocery store works but also to interaction with other kids. I literally had to work my hardest to convince Bug to leave the area and check out other locations.

Being fiscal savvy dad, I enjoyed the small bank area with tips for teaching youngsters about money.

Next, we headed to the bottom level for the water table, as what kid can resist playing with running aqua? I unfortunately did not get the best picture as it is always one of the more popular rooms of the museum. Dad of course likes building damns and letting the water build up to fill the canal lock system. Unfortunately, the Cleveland Children’s Museum water table area was not as interesting and educational as that at the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA. The other danger of going to the water table is that your children can potentially get wet, which is not ideal during the winter months. The museum has smocks for the children though to try and minimize some of the effects of water.

We finally rounded out our adventure back upstairs in the farm room. The museum does an excellent job with details and interactions of exhibits for kids. I specifically enjoyed that kids could climb up to the top of the silo and slide corn and vegetables to the bottom. Very cool!

Overall, I think we spent the most time ever at the museum, over 2 hours, because we just relaxed and let the boys really enjoy themselves without the need to rush and see everything or head somewhere else. Now if I only I can figure out why I am still finding sand between their toes.

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