The Canadian Children's Museum
/Krysta Veenstra recently visited the Canadian Children’s Museum inside the Canadian Museum of History and is shared her experience with Kids in the Capital!
We recently had a chance to visit the Canadian Children's Museum, located inside the Canadian Museum of History, in Gatineau, Quebec. It was a very short drive from Ottawa and had plenty of indoor, pay parking (which is great during winter and bad weather!)
We haven’t taken the kids to this museum in years, so we were excited to see what has changed and what has stayed the same. If you’ve ever been to the Children’s Museum before, you know there are a few things that are classic, kid favourites. Luckily, the classics are still there!
My kids’ favs were the camel, the pyramids, the theatre, the bus and of course, the passports.
If you are not familiar with the passports, let me explain. As you enter, the kids are each given a passport. They take it along with them, to all the different country exhibits. At each country exhibit, there is a stamping station. I can’t say I understand the big draw of the stamps, but I can’t deny that it is taken very seriously by the kids. Trust me, you are not leaving this museum without every stamp! So keep your eyes peeled for these golden landmarks, because like it or not, you will be going back in to find any missed ones.
Another thing that has not changed, is that the Children’s Museum is very hands on. There is lots to see and do and touch. There is a craft room, a theatre with a stage and dressing room, music, blocks, a ship to climb on, stories to hear, etc. I will warn though, that most of these activities are aimed at a young crowd. My 6 year old was somewhat still interested in the activities, and my 9 year old was mostly uninterested. Except for the passports. Never too old for those apparently! If bringing small kids, there will be lots for them to do and explore. Keep a close eye on them though, because this is a popular museum and can get quite crowded.
After the Children’s Museum, we decided to take a look around the rest of the History Museum.
The Imax is no longer an Imax, but movies are still played. They show both English and French movies. We saw one of the educational short films and loved it. They were also playing a full length Disney movie, included in the price of our admission. A great addition for families wanting to spend the whole day out, but also want to sit back and relax a bit.
We also checked out the new Medieval exhibit. My 9 year old was much more into this exhibit than the Children’s Museum. The adults quite enjoyed it too!. In this part of the museum, there is less to touch and feel, but we still managed to find one hands on activity!
Overall, we found something for everyone at this museum and would recommend it to anyone with young kids or families that want to spend a whole day exploring different activities all in one place.
Disclosure: Kystra and her family received passes to the Children’s Museum and the Canadian Museum of History for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are her own.
