Having just returned from a road trip from New York to Chicago and back, I can safely say that our most awesome geekfest was the day we spent in Pittsburgh. In a single day we crammed in two great museums for kids, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Science center. Just blocks from each other, these two institutions have a lot to offer kids of all ages.
The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh has been top of my list since I attended Sandbox Summit earlier this year and learned all about Makeshop, an incubator for young makers that's "a world of informal learning." Enter the Makeshop and grab a seat at any one of the tables to start tinkering, or sign up to work on a longer project with the Makeshop crew. On the day that we were there, materials for creating circuits covered one table while sewing supplies covered another. My daughter wasn't shy about grabbing some scraps and buttons. Once I helped her thread a needle she was off and running. While she sewed a lovely little house bookmark of her own design, I enjoyed people watching, especially at the sewing table. Moms and dads sat down with girls and boys and let their imagination take over. Besides one impatient dad that wanted to get to the Garage exhibit and one mom who pulled her daughter away from the table with a curt, "I don't know how to sew, so let's go," it was an incredibly nurturing, exploratory experience for everyone involved.
The museum was packed with other goodies, unsurpassed by other children's museums. I could see why the dad in the Makeshop was so eager to get to the Garage exhibit. It's full of contraptions to get balls and cars to roll through, build-your-own magnetic cars and a course to race them on, and giant tires to climb in. The water play area is a fabulous hangout for two-year-olds whose older sister can't be pulled from the Makeshop, and all throughout the museum are treasures from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, including the iconic blue cardigan. I was thoroughly weirded out by the Gravity Room, a room whose floor is tilted at a 25° angle. I walked out totally nauseous, but the kids were having a grand time. There's also the Studio, where kids try their hands at all kinds of art activities, from clay work to printmaking to silkscreening. I wanted to do all of the projects as much as the kids did. If we lived in Pittsburgh I imagine we'd be there every week.
After a brief repose at the hotel, we headed over to the Carnegie Science Center. It was a tall order, but we packed our visit into about an hour and a half. Like the Children's Museum, there was plenty of fun hands-on stuff for the kids. My two-year-old could have spent the whole time in Exploration Station, a playground full of things for kids to explore, climb on, build, and make music with. There was a little room full of trash can lids and mallets. Toddler paradise. Only life-sized Operation could pull the boy away.
While we all loved the Miniature Railroad & Village, everyone's favorite exhibit was Roboworld. The Robot Hall of Fame display had everyone from Maria from Metropolis to the HAL 9000 to C-3PO to Data. (Be sure to cast your vote for the 2012 RHOF entries. My money's on Johnny 5.) My daughter played air hockey against a robot, and both kids were glued to the basketball playing robotic arm like it was Michael Jordan circa 1992.
We packed all this into a single day and loved it, but we could have easily enjoyed full days at both places, not to mention the Andy Warhol Museum, which we missed entirely. GeekKids of Pittsburgh, we envy you!
