I am taking my students on a field trip soon to The Magic House, a unique children's museum which originated in a three story, old Victorian house in Kirkwood, MO. My first grandchild always ended up in the attic with period furnishings, playing dress ups. I could hardly coax her to the other areas.
They have added on, and now there are so many wings, and things to do for people of all ages. It has quadrupled in size. Can you imagine a child-sized, fully stocked grocery store with pretend food and cash registers? A bank with vault? A T.V. station where your child can broadcast the news and be on T.V.? A pizza parlor where your kids can cook up and serve slices of pretend but realistic looking pizza? A music room? A fishing pond where you can see the little wooden fish you caught in the pond float (under clear acrylic glass on the floor) downstream and back home? There is a water play room, a sand table, baby and toddler area, three story slide, tons of educational stuff for older kids, science, exploration.
One of my favorites is the rainbow and shadow wall. As you dance and sway, your images are captured in rainbow colors on a blank wall; it is fluid movement, a delightful experience. The shadow wall is as it sounds. You jump and strike a pose and a camera snaps your picture and displays your shadow as you are suspended in air. I could play there all day.
One year my mother accompanied me and my class. At the end of our tour and play time, they had story time. The story was about a baby bunny. They brought out a baby bunny for the children to pet. They placed that cute little fur ball into my mom's hands and asked her to walk around with it so each child could stroke its fur. The rabbit bailed, hopped right out of Mom's hands and as she bent down to pick it up, the bunny hopped. Mom would hop after it, and just as she was about to grab it, that little critter would take off again, hop-hop-hop, then Mom would bend over and hop-hop-hop all over the room. The kids were laughing themselves silly, and admittedly, so was I. That is one of my most fun memories of this field trip which I have been taking students on for over thirty years.
If you live in town or are just visiting, this is one of the most unique children's museums I have ever been to. Plan to spend the day.