This museum is yet another beautiful science center with 3 floors of exhibits, most of which are highly interactive. As an educator, Kim would recommend the bulk of the center for ages 7-13 for field trip planning purposes, but E, then 5, and G, then almost 2, had a blast interacting with the displays and learned content as well. If you are familiar with Pennsylvania, you'll appreciate the connections to the state. For instance, Move It!, an engineering and transportation area, simulates manufacturing processes and is a great link to a trip to a nearby factory tour. The kids' favorite activities included making and test racing cars, with E trying to beat his previous times; and Forces of Nature's hurricane chamber. Both kids also thoroughly enjoyed the "children's museum" section of the museum, KidsPlace. This gated section was wonderful for free play with friends we met along the way and featured a fabulous ambulance center, grocery store/market, and construction site. In this area, you'll also find the best water table we've yet to see--and as water table connoisseurs, you should take our word on it. The table features fountains as well as movable pipes for constructing your own fountains, embedded baby seats, multiple levels, the capability to build dams, and nearby hand dryers. If you, too, are a little too into water tables, the Forces of Nature area also includes a water/sand table capable of simulating erosion that's similar to the one recently in the rotating exhibit area at the Virginia Museum of Natural History.
If you go, there is pay garage parking very nearby in the Walnut Center Garage. We found parking a bit pricey (about $10 for our 2-to-3 hour visit), but the garage was very convenient to the museum--like we-didn't-have-to-go-outside-to-walk-in convenient. The museum staff and volunteers were also very welcoming and helpful, and there were no large crowds when we visited.
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