*Please note this is from May 2016, exhibits are subject to change!*
Macaroni Kid is all about the local go to places, but what happens when you are visiting somewhere you've never been before? Well, you find the local Macaroni Kid! and that is just what I did when I wanted to take a trip out to an aquarium. I contacted a local Macaroni Kid publisher, asking her about the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. She asked my kids' ages, and suggested we also visit Stepping Stones Museum For Children! I am so glad she suggested it, because my girls LOVED it!!
We visited Stepping Stones in the afternoon. It was a very good time to go. There were other families there, but not over crowded at all! I also noticed staff cleaning all the exhibits while we played, which is a GREAT thing to see when you are at such a hands on place!
Stepping stones had these really cute kid size doors at the entrance, which I thought were just decoration, but I noticed kids actually using them when we were leaving the museum!
Now before you head over to Norwalk for the day, know that you will want to bring a change of clothes for your children.
The first room that they will be drawn to is the Energy Lab. Here your children can explore, hands on, all types of energy forces.... Solar, wind, water, and more.
You may want to try and hit this area last, as it is a wet and windy room! There are water proof smocks available... but sometimes nothing can stop a determined kid from getting soaked!
Just picture a 17 month old, with MULTIPLE giant water tables and balls to play with! This room was even my husband's favorite... he says he would have stayed in there the whole time if we could have.
There was even a wall that the kids could "paint" on!
My 4 year old LOVED the Build It exhibit. I usually have a rule of "nothing goes on your head" at anything like this, but I was just really impressed by the cleanliness of everything, I gave her a pass this time. She loved putting plumbing together, painting and building!
While she was busy imagining she was building an office for herself... my 17 month old was playing giant light bright, playing the drums, "reading", and making some new friends.
One area we had a lot of fun in was in the Express Yourself exhibit. There was an entire wall of tv screens.... Think Brady Bunch movie, but 2016 style. Your children can take a 5 second video, and it immediately appears on one of the screens. The entire wall is filled, so when you go play at another exhibit, you may come back to see you're still somewhere on the wall!
There is a traveling exhibit as well. Throughout the year, Stepping Stones "hosts" another museum's exhibit in this area. While we visited, and until June 13, the rain forest exhibit is on display.
Right down the hall from here was the Multimedia Gallery. When we visited they had a really neat exhibit. Projected on the floor were different scenes. In one, the children had to chase away butterflies, another they had to stomp on kites. While they did this, the entire thing was projected onto the big screen!
My older daughter wanted to do some crafts, so she went with my husband and I took the little one into Tot Town. This was perfect size for her! Designed for up to 3years old, little ones can explore without having to worry about older kids. There is even a small gated area for non walkers, and a quiet area if you want to nurse without loud distractions. In here there was a dress up area, farm area, a school bus to "drive" a house with colored number steps, a crawl through basement, kitchen, and slide!
Of course we ended our trip here with our second time back at the energy lab. This was definitely the favorite spot for us! My four year old loved using water pressure to shoot balls out of the tubes! And my 17 month old loved splashing in all the water!
This is another place that you can spend as long as you have to spend. We stayed for about 2.5 hours.... the girls wanted more... but we always try to gauge when tired breakdowns will happen, and avoid them! We came here after spending the morning at the aquarium, so it had been a long day! We stopped for pizza between the two, but both places do have cafes!
My family was given complimentary admission to the Stepping Stones Museum for Children, but as always, all opinions and photos are my own.
Stepping Stones Museum for Children
Admission
- Adults $15
- Children $15
- Seniors (over 62) $10
- FREE for Children under 1, Members, and active duty military personnel and their families within the same household.Free Parking!
