It surprised me how much all of the kids seemed to enjoy digging for "fossils" (but then again, kids have always liked grubbing around in the dirt) and that we almost couldn't tear my nieces away from some snap-together electrical circuit building kits.
The admission price also gave us access to the National Cowgirl Museum next door, a beautiful but sparsely populated museum dedicated to the independent women of the frontier.
Touring the Museum
We started with the small outdoor area where kids were digging for "dinosaur bones" in the dirt and a simulated stream. The heat was stifling, so their parents waited at tables in the shade.
Fort Worth Children's Museum
Next we went into an area aimed at younger children called the Children's Museum.
The coolest thing here was a cartoon-like giraffe model that must have had some kind of sensor up near the top. When someone stood underneath the giraffe's head, a playful recorded voice would talk to them and then tell them exactly how tall they were.
The kids also enjoyed going into the courtyard to play with the water cannons and other water-related games.
Leonado da Vinci Exhibit
We next went through a non-permanent exhibit about Leonardo da Vinci. The introductory film was short and disappointing. It mostly just vaguely extolled da Vinci as the quintessential Renaissance Man, whereas I had hoped my nieces would gain an appreciation for his many talents.
But the interactive mock-ups of his inventions (as recreated from his sketchbooks) were interesting to both kids and adults alike. These heavy wooden models were mostly functional, though thankfully that didn't apply to the heavy war machines. :-)
I thought the best part of this section was the interactive arches exhibit.
In one area, kids built a catenary arch (think of the St. Louis Gateway Arch) from small plastic blocks to show how strong and flexible this design is, and then next to it they could build an arched bridge from rubber blocks and walk across it.
Innovation Studios
The museum has four Innovation Studios each aimed at giving children hands-on experiences with arts, crafts, and science experiments. My nieces went into the first one and never made it out again as they got absorbed in building electrical circuits from snap-together kits according to the manuals.
I considered buying them kits from the museum store, but at prices ranging from $40-$80 I decided to hold off since I wasn't sure if this was just a passing fad.
Planetarium
We watched a show in the Planetarium about black holes. While this film was educational, it was probably the least interesting part of the visit because it was somewhat passive, and lacked the interactive nature of many of the other exhibits. We didn't attend any of the IMAX screenings.
Fountain Plaza
In a small area between the two museums, some kids were playing in a jetting fountain with high-pressure water spouting up from holes in the stone. These two kids were having an enormously good time.
The Final Word
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is well worth taking kids to if they have any interest at all in science. The interactive exhibits are well thought-out and do a good job of holding their attention.
Adults will probably find some aspects of the museum enjoyable and educational as well.
The National Cowgirl Museum is worth walking through since the price of admission is included. There aren't many exhibits and a good chunk of them are focused on movie cowgirls, but it's a beautiful building with very tasteful pieces. (Taking pictures is prohibited.)
There are a couple of art museums in this complex as well but we didn't have time to visit them.
I went to the Fort Worth Water Gardens while visiting my family in Texas last month. Tucked among the buildings of downtown Fort Worth, TX next to the Convention Center, this is a small "refreshing oasis" of trees and water fountains.
The Active Pool
Calling the signature feature, The Active Pool, a fountain is a major understatement. Designed in 1974 by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, you have to stand at its edge or clamber down to the center of this inverted ziggurat to appreciate how dramatic it is.
I took this video from the bottom which gives you a sense of the scope of the Active Pool and the mildly precarious steps leading down to it.
Terraces of stone fall away 38 feet down from the rim, while 10,500 gallons of water per minute cascade over the terraces to a central pool at the bottom and then are recirculated back to the top.
Drownings in 2004
Tragically, four visitors drowned in 2004 when one of the children fell in and the others tried to rescue her. The pool was unusually deep due to heavy rains and a recirculating pump malfunction and even several bystanders and police officers were unable to save them.
The pool was modified so that it can't get deeper then 2 feet, but climbing down the stone steps is still a slightly unnerving experience, at least when carrying a heavy camera that pulls you a bit off balance.
Getting There
The Fort Worth Water Gardens are adjacent to the Convention Center and parking is plentiful, including metered parking on the street. Built in a former red-light district called Hell's Half-Acre, the Water Gardens are always open.
Pictures that I've seen taken of the Active Pool at night are very striking, when the pool is lit up with floodlights, but I couldn't stay that long.
aka Dallas for Kids Part 3 Our final stop last Sunday in Dallas was the Museum of Nature and Science at Fair Park, the Texas State Fairgrounds. This turned out to be much better than I expected, and I wish we had allocated more than 2 hours for the visit.
They've combined two neighboring museums, The Museum of Natural History and The Science Place, both opened more than 60 years ago.
The Science Place has been renovated so extensively that it feels light, airy, and very modern; and more importantly the exhibits are highly interactive and engaging. In contrast, while Natural History may have been state-of-the-art in 1936, today it feels dated and kind of sad, though the second floor appears to be under extensive construction.
If you only have time for one museum, skip Natural History. It also will feel disappointing if you visit after seeing The Science Place, except for maybe the fossil exhibits.
About The Museum Of Nature And Science The boards of the two museums decided to merge in 2006, and have announced plans to build a new 200,000 sq. ft. facility in downtown Dallas a few miles away in Victory Park. Today the museums are part of a complex built for the Texas Centennial in 1936 that includes the Cotton Bowl and hosts the Texas State Fair each year in the late-September to October timeframe (including the Texas-Oklahoma football game).
I hadn't been to Fair Park in many years, and though the surrounding neighborhood is still somewhat seedy they seem to have expended some effort in sprucing up the grounds. But we were accosted by a couple of panhandlers when we stopped at the McDonald's across the street.
There are 7 museums on the fairgrounds, with Natural History (1936), The Science Place (1946), and The Planetarium all part of the science group, though the Planetarium and the IMAX theater in The Science Place charge separate admission.
Admission to the exhibits for both museums was $5.50 (total) for the kids and my $8.75 adult admission was waived because Bank of America customers get in free on the first weekend of each month. (I didn't know this beforehand; I only found out because I was using my BoA credit card.)
Parking is usually free except for during the State Fair.
The Museum of Natural History We went to Natural History first because it was closer to where we parked the car. The museum is frankly creaky and rundown, with static exhibits that mostly consist of stuffed animals and obscure rock exhibits on the first floor.
The second floor is a little more interesting, with dinosaur fossils (many of them found in the area), but again the exhibits are static and not interactive. One half of the floor was mostly closed off for construction, where it appears they're doing some major renovation.
Natural History wouldn't be worth paying for admission on its own, but is of minor interest since it's essentially free with The Science Place admission.
The Science Place By the time we got to The Science Place we were all tired and hungry, so we stopped in the small cafeteria first (we had also visited the Dallas World Aquarium that day). Unfortunately this left us with just 45 minutes to tour the museum, which is not nearly enough.
The first gallery was devoted to optical illusions, which we'd mostly already seen elsewhere. But just past the gallery a volunteer was conducting a kitchen chemistry experiment that my nieces loved. The kids were given the opportunity to participate in making super balls from Elmer's glue, food coloring, and borax. (Corn starch may have been part of the mix too.)
The kids really liked being able to participate and when I called the next day after returning home to Maryland, my nieces were in the kitchen recreating the experiment from memory.
I had trouble tearing my nieces away from the next exhibit, despite my desire to make a quick run through the museum before it closed. This was a giant sandbox where the kids could play paleontologist and look for fossils. I didn't get a picture because I was trying to scout ahead so here's an image from their web site.
The next gallery seemed to be focused on mechanical things and physics, with some giant soap bubble makers and a Rube Goldberg-esque machine demonstrating the effect of gravity.
They had a large exhibit devoted to the human body that included this thermal imaging camera. There was a hand pump in front that you could work in order to see your image change color as your temperature increased with exertion.
The other exhibits I remembered were one that showed if you rub your hands with chicken wire between them, you get an odd silky feeling, and the vomit diorama. (You push a button and it spews forth liquid from the "person's" stomach. Both of my nieces simultaneously said, "Eewww!!")
Otherwise the only exhibit we had a chance to tour in detail was a traveling exhibit about building materials and construction, which was very interactive in showing you the principles involved.
We weren't able to get to the network exhibits or to the exhibits downstairs, which appear to be oriented toward younger kids but which I think my nieces would still have enjoyed. These included a dental exhibit and a "Little Urban Farm" where, among other things, they can simulate milking a cow.
Other Attractions and Summer Camp Outside, they've created an attractive lagoon with swan-prowed paddle boats. My nieces really wanted to ride them but they closed at 5:30 and no boats were available by the time we walked out. The cost was $10 per boat and there are two pedaling positions and a middle seat.
On such a beautiful day (80 degrees with a light breeze) I think we should have spent about 4 hours at Fair Park. The other museums sound like they're too specialized to be of general interest, but the science museum and lagoon would easily make for a productive afternoon.
There are also two dishes in front of the science museum to demonstrate that a parabola can collect and focus sound at the focal point, so a whisper into one dish can be heard at the other dish about 15 yards away. From YouTube:
They're also offering some science camps at Spring Break and during the summer. They sound like they're fun but it wouldn't necessarily be easy to bring the kids into downtown Dallas every day.
Other Activities For Kids In Dallas We also considered going to the Dallas Zoo, but with limited time and funds, I decided on the aquarium and museums instead. One of my nieces was very disappointed because she wanted to go to the petting zoo.
However, I had read decidedly mixed reviews that left me with the impression that the Dallas Zoo is an old-fashioned zoo (similar to Baltimore's) with very small habitats for the animals, which can be a little disconcerting (in contrast to the Fort Worth Zoo, where we've gone a few times and which is very large and modern). I decided not to risk it, especially since the aquarium was almost like a zoo anyway.
More Links Some links that I found useful when researching these museums:
MuseumSpot.com - a consolidated listing of museums in various cities around the US, including Dallas
10Best.com - a site that gives you an editor's opinion of the best attractions in a city
TripAdvisor.com - user-generated ratings of almost everything a traveler needs. I find it most useful for evaluating hotels, and to a lesser extent restaurants and attractions. Quite often the reviews are contradictory.
Yelp.com - Yelp has a large enough base that you often get useful reviews, though of course you have to filter out the biases of the writers.
aka Dallas For Kids Part 2 My nieces wanted to go to the aquarium, the zoo, and some museums while I was visiting Dallas last weekend. At 10 years of age, they're actively interested in learning things now, but on this trip I only had one day free for these activities.
The aquarium was very nice if a little pricey, but the the newly-renovated, very interactive science museum was a real bargain and the girls enjoyed it a great deal.
Dallas World Aquarium The aquarium we went to is one of several in the area, hence the odd name. The Dallas World Aquarium has done a good job of packing a lot of exhibitions into their space, and the highlight of the tour is the glass tunnel through the open-air shark tank. I also liked the way it felt like you were immersed in a tropical rain forest as you descended through the three levels toward the basement.
DWA was also almost like a cross between an aquarium and a zoo, with birds (some of them flying around freely), insects, monkeys, and jaguars in addition to the aquatic animals. It's a little pricey for its size at $19 for adults and $11 for kids, but everything is beautifully done.
We rushed through a bit because the girls were eager to go to multiple places. I only saw the river otters from a distance, because by the time we got down there they'd swum off. I was surprised by how large they were.
A quick run through DWA takes about an hour, especially if you don't take in the performances, talks, and feedings. We were there a little over 90 minutes.
DWA In Pictures I think DWA is best described in pictures and the official web site is somewhat sparse, so here are a few. Once you enter, they suggest you climb the stairs to the 3rd floor and wend your way down. On the way up is a little trough with running water where the very cute miniature penguins swim:
This toucan was flying around free:
This tank had turtles, some rays, and a spoonbill:
Because it was the weekend we "leaped forward" for Daylight Savings, they had brought out a bunch of frogs and this poisonous giant toad:
This tunnel was near the gift shop:
Here's the glass tunnel in the shark pond as the Mayan performers walk through. Because the tank is open-air, it sometimes looks like the sharks and stingrays are flying overhead:
Here you can see the manatees and the giant catfish:
The jellyfish were glowing:
And finally, even the trash cans have been built with a rain forest theme:
Writing about things that interest me, mostly country music and dancing, Apple products, travel, and good food. Lately I'm publishing photos and videos I've taken as I learn how to use my Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR.
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