Whilst in Indianapolis I was able to check out the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis , the world’s largest children’s museum not far from the city centre. As you approach the building you definitely know you’re in the right place as full size dinosaurs smash out of the building as a giant Bumblebee robot from the Transformers franchise stands guard within the foyer.

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• Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Set up over 6 levels, the children’s museum aims to get kids involved at every level. Role playing is encouraged in a variety of areas be it construction, marine archaeology, or simply making a pretend Chinese banquet for their family. Roaming the site takes some time as each level, even without kids as you try to soak up the detail. I know that if my kids were with me we would have been busy all day!

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• Interactive coaster in ScienceWorks exhibition area

A fantastic addition to the exhibits was the marine archaeology section “National Geographic: Treasures of the Earth”, where kids can participate in reconstructing lost artefacts, excavate a dig site and wear pretend diving gear. Part of this exhibit included the electrolysis of a cannon and showcases of artefacts such as coins and cannonballs from the Quedagh Merchant wreck of Captain Kidd fame from the 18th century. Just across from the wet labs was a Egyptian tomb complete with hieroglyphics and sarcophagus.

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• Cannon from the Quedagh Merchant undergoing electrolysis

The Dinosphere exhibit was fun for kids (who would have thought?!?) with a well thought out series of exhibits of fossils and reconstructions. I especially liked the ability for kids to talk with on-site palaeontologists working with a bones through a window into the preparatory lab. Tucked away upstairs was a section on flight. The addition of aircraft models used by NASA to plan for streamlining in wind tunnels was fascinating. Included on the site was a steam train and railway station in the ‘All Aboard!‘ section and a young kids wishes and dreams section which included sensory materials to interact with and even an operating carousel. Of course the Planetarium was great, not a show but a guided walk through the stars by an educator in the room.

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• Water clock at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

All in all it was a great to wander the building and appreciate the effort put into the site.
Looking forward to checking out more sites as I continue on this Winston Churchill Fellowship 🙂