When the Wisconsin weather is uncooperative, I always turn to our local children’s museum. It’s just the place to go when my kids have played with every toy and started bouncing off the walls.
As a parent, I love any time my son and daughter are interacting and discovering the world around them, and I also like how museums exhibits are often constructed to encourage learning through play, whether it’s building with clay, mixing paints to create a new color, measuring water or running a make-believe restaurant or grocery store.
As Fred Rogers said: “Some people talk about play as if it were a relief from serious learning or even worse: a waste of time. But for children, play is exceedingly serious … and important! In fact, play is a way for children to learn who they are and how the world works, solve problems and to express feelings. Yes, play is the real work of childhood, and for young people today, many children’s museums offer play experiences that other settings are not able to give them.”
Here are some great children’s museums across Wisconsin to check out.
The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum
The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum is smaller than some of its peers, but packs a punch for children under eight years of age. A STEM area has exhibits themed in science, coding and vocabulary building. The Betty Brinn also features a pretend small town with a grocery store, bank and gas station, as well as an all-fifty-states exhibit where you can take a tour through the U.S. And there’s a hands-on electric circuit section and art activities, and you can even make slime here — what kids wouldn’t be all over that? Set in downtown Milwaukee, with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan, the museum is a must-stop while exploring the city, and it’s close to other kid-friendly destinations like Discovery World and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
929 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, (414) 390-5437, bbcmkids.org
Black Earth Children’s Museum
The Black Earth Children’s Museum is as neat as they come! The building is historic to Black Earth, and the museum, which opened in the summer of 2017, is small enough that you can always keep an eye on multiple children at once. But don’t let the size here fool you! There is so much to do, from dressing up on a colorful stage to playing musical instruments including a child size piano to casting in a magnetic fishing pond. My son loves to climb the overhead netted tunnels and slide down, he and his sister both adore the restaurant and grocery store exhibit, where I am their customer, and I love watching them interact together, role modeling with a small, realistic metal cart, groceries and pretend money. We always end our visit with making a featured craft to take home.
1131 Mills St., Black Earth, 608-963-1205, blackearthchildrensmuseum.org
Building For Kids Children’s Museum
The Building for Kids’ Children’s Museum in Appleton offers an enormous amount of hands-on activities, from a water table to stations for imaginary play to petting animal friends like a guinea pig or bearded dragon. If your kids need to burn off energy — and whose don’t? — head to the discovery tree, which has nets for children to climb and several forts to hang out in! The museum also has a realistic fire truck exhibit, complete with fireman gear, as well as a small store, a doctor’s office, a house and a school area. If you have a little bitty one, visit the baby garden where the youngest visitors can crawl around and meet one another!
100 W College Ave., Appleton, (920) 734-3226, buildingforkids.org
Children’s Museum of Fond Du Lac
The Children’s Museum of Fond Du Lac is known for its unique exhibits. One highlight is the Bull & Bear Market, an interactive “stock market,” where children can learn how to invest and see their money grow or deplete, with monitors for “trading” at which they can purchase, sell or trade stocks. Kids can also learn about development of the brain at BrainMatters, master fractions at a pretend pizzeria, embark on a shadow safari, play DJ at a mock radio station and be a firefighter for the day at the new fire station exhibit. And when the weather’s nice, don’t miss WinnePLAYgo, a ten-thousand-foot outdoor space to play and enjoy a picnic.
75 W. Scott St., Fond Du Lac, (920) 929-0707, cmfdl.org
Children’s Museum of La Crosse
The Children’s Museum of La Crosse packs fantastic learning opportunities over three floors of exhibits. Whoosh scarves through twisty tubes, learn about the Mississippi River while building wooden bridges and check out a kid-size store, television studio and fire truck. Parents love joining their kids in working their way up the Luckey Climber, a unique three-story climbing structure that features platforms with close-up images of the yes of sixty different animals.
207 5th Ave. S., La Crosse, (608) 784-2652, funmuseum.org
Green Bay Children’s Museum
Is it any wonder the Green Bay Children’s Museum loves the Packers? Here, at a Green Bay Packer exhibit, your child can dress up as a football player in full gear and run, kick and learn all the fundamentals of football! The fun doesn’t stop there, though. Several play areas encourage creativity and pretend play, such as a treehouse, a diner, a vet clinic, a grocery store, a fire department, an art studio, a water table play space and a builder space full of every kind of construction set. The museum also features a unique slide: Climb up a tongue and into the human body, and come out the other end!
301 N. Washington St., Green Bay, (920) 432-4397, gbchildrensmuseum.org
Madison Children’s Museum
The Madison Children’s Museum is our go-to museum. There is so much to do, and no two visits are the same. This downtown museum is four stories tall, not including the fantastic rooftop! My daughter loves to spend her time in the lower level teepee playing with the baby dolls, while my son loves to tinker in the water exhibit — and both enjoy the large hamster wheel, the cow floating from the ceiling and the hot air balloon slides! And there are activities we can all enjoy together, such as in the art room, where we can paint on the windows or create a sculpture out of clay. The Rooftop Ramble is my personal favorite, and I think that my children would agree — here, we can check out gardens, visit animals and see beautiful views of the State Capitol.
100 N. Hamilton St., Madison, (608) 256-6445, madisonchildrensmuseum.org
Northwoods Children’s Museum
Adults and kids alike are encouraged to play at the Northwoods Children’s Museum! There’s plenty to keep everyone engaged, with twenty-four interactive exhibits including Grandma’s Attic, where you can dress up and become a princess, a famous hockey player or fireman for a day. Learn about science in the energy expedition exhibit, with blacklight carpet and glow in the dark toys, or take a turn standing inside a giant bubble. There’s also an onsite toy store packed with fun and educational toys, puzzles, games and kits.
346 W. Division St., Eagle River, (715) 479-4623, northwoodschildrensmuseum.com
Baraboo Children’s Museum
While it’s not open yet (but should be this spring), the Baraboo Children’s Museum will cater to infants up to pre-teens through interactive, exhibits that teach through play and open-ended exploration. The museum got its start at community events, and then as a downtown pop-up shop, but its new 9,000-square-foot space is sure to be even more fun for visitors.
203 4th Street Baraboo, WI 53919, (608) 963-1205, baraboochildrensmuseum.com
Photo by Alexis Phillips.