I have always tried to find sneaky ways to add educational value to our trips and vacations. The kids can usually spot this coming a mile away and complain to their father, “Don’t let Mom make our vacation educational!” Fernbank Museum of Natural History is one of those places that satisfies my need for education with the kids’ need to have some fun. My children ask to visit this museum. That gives it major bonus points for me. Their attention was captured before we walked in the door by the life size dinosaur statue that graces a fountain in front of the main entry. From there it was easy to convince them to walk inside.
Fernbank boasts three floors of exhibits. Visitors enter on the second floor and are greeted by the Walk through Time in Georgia exhibit. The six exhibits highlight the natural beauty of Georgia, beginning with the Piedmont region and continuing through the sights and sounds of the Okefenoke Swamp. Each exhibit contains a book with information on different animals or plants in the exhibit. Kids can look at the pictures and identify the items. My children’s favorite was always the Dinosaur gallery with models of dinosaurs from the Mesozoic Era.
One of my favorite things about Fernbank is so much of their museum is designed for hands-on learning. The third floor is a child’s dream come true with Nature Quest, an exhibit designed for younger children. Kids can investigate the swamp and a waterfall and climb up netting to explore a giant tree house. For older children (and their parents) the Sensing Nature has everything needed to help budding scientists discover the five senses. Bryan asked me to try on of the exhibits in the vision section that tests whether people are far-sighted, near sighted or have perfect vision. People without perfect vision would see spots, while people with good vision would not. Being very near sighted, I discovered it really worked. “Look,” I told Bryan, “do you see all the spots?” “There are no spots,” he replied smugly, “I have contacts.”
To save money on the visit, we used the City PASS. Not only did it save money on our admission price, we were also able to have expedited entry, view the special exhibitions housed on the first floor and receive a pass to an Imax movie of our choice. We chose to see Penguins, the dramatic story of the birth and childhood of a King Penguin. While on the first floor, it’s easy to take a stroll through the forest path outside. It’s a boardwalk that passes by the forest, meaning you never have to worry about encountering a snake. The kids enjoy the Giants of the Mesoziac , with a life sized reproduction of a Giganotosaurus, fossil casts and more. You can’t help but feel small when standing with these creatures!
Travel Tip: There are three flights of spiraling staircases in this building which offer dramatic views of the dinosaurs. The third floor also offers an excellent view of the Giants of the Mesoziac. Have you ever been to Fernbank?
So cool. My kids love Science and Aerospace interactive museums and we do too.
aww that looks like an awesome place to visit. take me wif you!! 😀
I love going to museums with the family. I know my son would go crazy over of this one because of the dinosaurs. 🙂
Great museum! I could see myself getting lost in there!
What a fun museum! I love that they not only have exhibits but also hands on activities for everyone to take part in. Great photos.
What a cool place to visit.. LOVED reading your post and following with the pictures… looks like a ton of fun….
Now that looks like a fun way to spend the day! I haven’t been to Fernbank but if I ever go I will have to visit this museum.
Oh wow, how fun! This is a neat place my entire family would really enjoy this one!It looks like you had a great time
My son thought your pictures were neat. He likes the Sensing Nature exhibit.
My boys especially the 8 year old love dinosaurs. The NY Museum of National History was one of our favorites when we lived in NY and loved going up close and personal to view whatever displays they had. He also collected dinosaurs from Build-A-Bear Workshop when he was younger. He would surely enjoy going here as well. I’ve never been but I may just add this to my bucket list of places to go.
Oh wow what an amazing museum this looks like – I would definitely pop in to visit if I was in the area. x
When my kids were younger we lived in San Diego and they have some fabulous museums there. We always had fun 🙂
This looks so fun. Me and my husband would love this and I’m so hoping my son will be into this stuff when he gets older. I know…kids will be kids! Looks like you all had a great time.
Beautiful photos of a grate place to visit.
What an amazing place to have both fun and learning experience! I wish we had something like that in our area too 🙂
Great photos. It great you like adding education to vacation. Its important that it be fun education and that museum fits the bill just perfectly. What child wound not want to see a dinosaur museum?
That is a great idea to pack educational things into vacations! I need to do this with my son. 🙂 This also looks like a fun place to visit! I think that my son would like to go here.