Boston Children's Museum

What Will Your Children Love Most?

"Kids #1 favorite among Boston museums"

If you're planning a Boston vacation with your young children, a visit to the Boston Children's Museum should be near the top of your "must-see" list for Boston kids activities. 

Why?

For the infant to 10 crowd, the Boston Children's Museum is the top favorite among all Boston museums. 

Children love the hands-on interactive exhibits because they seem like a playground - yet they're designed so that children can explore and learn about the world around them.

The museum store is also terrific, especially if you're looking for reasonably priced games, crafts, and other items to stimulate young imaginations.  The "recycling" shop is a Boston favorite - more about that in "Insider's Tips."

Boston Children's Museum and the giant milk bottle, on the Fort Point Channel

5 top reasons to love the Boston Children's Museum

Here are 4 top reasons supplied by my own children, who count these among the best Boston kids activities - plus 1 added by me:

• Huge maze ("New Balance Climb") - This series of connecting platforms, tubes, chutes, and tunnels starts on the first floor and soars 3 stories high.  Children can climb through this for hours if you let them.
• Johnny's Workbench (and, my daughters want me to add, "Joanna's Workbench" as well) - A real workbench with real tools and materials where children can actually build something . . . perhaps with just a little help from their parents.
• The Japanese House - The City of Kyoto presented this 100-year old silk merchant's house to the Boston Children's Museum in 1979.  Japanese carpenters reconstructed it in Boston, and it is fully and authentically furnished.  Japanese artisans recently repaired the 26 tatami mats. 
• Science Playground - Here's where aspiring scientists can learn about physics and nature.  The "bubbles" area is wonderful, especially for younger children who want to blow bubbles and play with the results forever.  But soon they graduate to the golf ball area where they learn about momentum, velocity, and force as they send golf balls whizzing about a maze of tracks, which invariably they fly out of.  Kids have lots of fun here - but I always wish they were wearing helmets.
• PlaySpace - I've always loved and appreciated this area designed for infants and toddlers.  It's more serene and lower-key than the rest of the museum, and provides very safe climbing and playing opportunities for those who are still learning to navigate the world.  An area devoted just to infants provides a safe space where they can crawl.  There's even a waterbed for rocking and balancing.

What else will you find at the Boston Children's Museum?

You'll find lots more exhibits and activities throughout the Boston Children's Museum, including special temporary exhibits.

In addition, "KidStage," a performance area, features professional actors and museum staff performing short plays that they invite the audience to participate in.  Kids love the mixture of singing, dancing, comedy, and music. Special performances are also held here.

As an adult, you'll also enjoy the spectacular views of the Downtown Boston skyline and surrounding waterfront area from many spots in the museum.  But the best sight will be of your children, playing happily and learning through play. 

Is the giant milk bottle part of the Boston Children's Museum?

Everyone wonders about the giant Hood milk bottle near the front of the museum on the Fort Point Channel. 

Is it a piece of modern sculpture? 

No . . . it's actually a snack bar.  An ice cream maker built it from wood next to his store in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1933, where it became one of the first fast-food drive-in restaurants in the United States. 

In 1977, local dairy products company H.P. Hood and Sons bought and donated the 40 foot structure to the Museum.  Tradition continues, as ice cream and snacks are still sold there during the summer. 

In case you're an architecture buff, the iconic bottle is an example of what's officially called "Coney Island style."  (I'm not kidding.)

Insider's Tips

Best ages - Children between about 3 and 9 will get the most out of this Boston museum.  A 10 or even 11 year old will also have fun, especially if a younger sibling is along.  Although the PlaySpace area for infants and toddlers is great, they'll enjoy most of the other areas once they're a bit older. 

Museum Store - Although you'll find lots of great things here, the "recycling" area is absolutely amazing - full of scraps of fabrics, plastics, paper, strings, and more.  You fill a bag, pay by the pound, and carry your treasures to use for arts and crafts projects at home after you return from your Boston vacation. 

Food - No food is allowed in the exhibit areas, but you will find a small lunchroom on the first floor where you can eat if you bring your own food.  You can find Flour Bakery and Cafe, one of the city's best bakeries/sandwich shops nearby at 12 Farnsworth Street (this is the street right behind the museum).  The former tanneries and factories in this neighborhood have been repurposed as offices and high-end condos, so you'll find other casual but delicious eateries in the neighborhood.  Two of my own favorites are Barking Crab (although if it looks crowded and your children are already cranky from hunger, go somewhere else with faster service) and James Hook, where you can get carryout lobster rolls and clam chowder and head to their picnic tables.  Check the Boston Cheap Eats page for other inexpensive suggestions in nearby Chinatown.

James Hook Lobster, near the Boston Children's Museum

Details and Directions for the Boston Children's Museum

Address:  300 Congress Street, South Boston Waterfront (a 5-minute walk from the Boston Waterfront / South Station area)
Closest T station: Red Line/South Station; short walk (5-8 minutes, depending on how fast your children will walk) to the museum
Open:  Daily 10am - 5pm (9pm on Fridays); closed Thanksgiving and Christmas, and opens at noon on New Year Day; also closing at 3pm on May 30, 2009
Admission (includes entrance, all activities, all performances):  $12 adults; $9 kids 1-15 and seniors 65+; free for infants under 12 months
Special rates:  $1 admission on Friday nights from 5pm -9pm
Parking at Boston Children's Museum:  You'll find lots and garages nearby on Congress Street and other streets just to the east of the museum, such as Farnsworth Street and Sleeper Street.  Be sure to ask if they discount the rate if you get your parking ticket validated by the museum.
For more information: 617-426-6500; website