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By Quen Knuppel-Yost
Media & Public Relations Intern
Spring 2024
Separating technology from an environment in which children can actively learn, engage, and play has become a challenge in our modern era. Despite technology driving modern storytelling, The Children’s Museum always fosters a space for kids to do what they do best—pretend play. Many features are built into our exhibits that encourage this phenomenal burst of creative expression.
Whether racing your car to victory or rebuilding ancient Terra Cotta Warriors, there are many ways that little imaginations can be inspired by big exhibits! From the lowest floor of the museum to the top, here are some of the many pretend play opportunities in our permanent exhibits.
Lower Level
The World of Sport
Kick off your pretend play journey in the Rley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience® where you'll find a TV studio ready for your child's sports imagination to run wild. Then hop aboard an Indy car race car made of plastic bricks and zoom to the finish line!
Beyond Spaceship Earth
Play the part of an astronaut in space. Take a journey to the stars in a mockup space capsule. Work on board the International Space Station and make needed repairs. Explore the feelings of zero gravity through the physical interactions with tools all around, as you pack and prepare bags for landing!
All Aboard!
Jump onboard a historic 55-ton wood-burning steam locomotive and conduct your journey through Indiana aboard the iconic Reuben Wells. Enjoy the scenery pass by with travelers or conduct the train on a personalized journey of a simulated train ride. Where will you go? Across the country? Around the world? Another planet? With your imagination, the mighty Reuben Wells can take you anywhere your heart desires!
You can also sell train tickets and send telegraphs, all while plotting the next route of the journey on a toy-style map to see the next destination.
The crawlthrough spaces in under the model trains are a perfect pretend play opportunity, too!
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National Geographic Treasures of the Earth
Begin the first half of an investigative journey as a historian through the mysteries of The Children’s Museum’s re-created Egyptian tomb of King Seti I, Cara Merchant shipwreck and discovery and reconstruction of the Terra Cotta Warriors of Xian, China.
Put on an archaeologist vest to uncover the meanings behind ancient hieroglyphics in an Egyptian tomb. The clues point to the discovery of the mysterious figure's name in the burial room. Piece together an ancient sarcophagus.
After your Egyptian encounter, put on some pretend play air tankes and take a dive dive down to the remnants of an ancient shipwreck. Find evidence of a historical figure's connection to the wreck. Help with pretend ocean restoration and repair damaged coral life.
You can also uncover the mystery of the Terra Cotta Warriors. Rebuild their bodies piece by piece. Dig up new pieces in the dig site. What will you find there?
Level 1
Dinosphere®
Roar through the land where massive creatures roamed the earth. Pretend you're one of our giant sauroprods, a Hypocrasaur family, and other memorable prehistoric creatures on display. But watch out for Bucky and Stan—our Tyrannosaurus rex specimens! They're always on the prowl.
Hidden crawlspaces give you an opportunity to have an up-close experieince with these critters.
Ready for more imaginative dino pretend play? Head on over to the dino dig pit and get to work! What amazing things will you find there?
In Monsters of the Mesozoic Seas™, our daily program called Mesozoic Deep Dive invites you to go on an underwater expidition among our massive prehistoric sea creatures. Specific times are available on our web calendar.
Level 2
Take Me There®: Greece
Take a holiday to one of the historic countries that graces southeastern Europe through our immersive exhibit of Greece. Fly over the beautiful cities and listen to the flight crew prepare for what to expect on the ground. Exit the plane to a beautiful city scene in one of the many plazas that grace the streets of Greece. Work alongside tourists at a bakery preparing meals for guests at the window station and feel the beautiful climate of the city around you.
Take a trip to the ocean and join a fishing crew trying to fish for the meal of the day. Once caught, check fish in at the market and weigh the take or pick up some groceries along the way.
Interested in community service? Take part in wildlife preservation and the mother turtles protect their eggs on the beach. Analyze the eggs’ condition and prep what is needed to take to the medical bay while helping nurse the sick, young turtles back to health.
Level 3
Playscape®
Take children 5 and under to experience Indiana nature as they crawl, walk, and build their way around exhibits. Bound through The Climber: A Pond Adventure, as kids move around the lily pad course to replicate an Indiana pod. Or take them to the Sandbox- as they dig, build and pour sand around rotating turntables to create their own pretend world.
Level 4
Carousel Wishes and Dreams
We know.
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Carousel Wishes and Dreams is riding our historic Carousel. Where will its much-belved wooden creatures take you?
However, the Carousel isn't the only opportunity for pretend play in this magical exhibit. Carousel Wishes and Dreams is chock-full of pretend play environments.
Join the neighborhood in a perfect pretend world exploring the ins and outs of three different playhouses. Dream up a magical life in the trees.
Or share a spot of tea in the playhouse Eli LIlly built for his daughter, Evie.
Or put on an apron in the ice cream shop and serve all the flavors of the rainbow. Which flavor is your favorite?
Corteva Agriscience ScienceWorks
Combine imagination with observation and craft a water system to properly flow and control boats throughout the delta amongst the rest of the fleet at our popular Water Table.
Share a meal with your family and friends in our Farmhouse after a long day of working the farm.
Unlimited imagination
With five floors of pretend play opportunities, children can pretend to be anything their creative minds can imagine. Do you want to be an ice cream serving pirate who has a penchant for dinosaurs? Why not? How about President of the United States? Sure! What about a chef, astronaut, geologist, an all-star athlete, or a pop superstar? Of course! The pretend play opportunities in our exhibits unlock imagination and fuel creativity, encouraging a world of unlimited possibilities.
Visit The Children's Museum today and be amazed at the creativity that pours out through pretend play.
With unlimited access to the museum, there's an unlimited opportunity for pretend play at The Children's Museum, and you don't have to try to fit it all into one day!
You can visit Take Me There®: Greece one day and serve delectable pretend play treats. On another day, you can visit Beyond Spaceship Earth, traveling to the outer reaches of space and imagination. On another day, you be a world-famous archaeologist.
For most families, membership is the best deal if you're planning on visiting The Children's Museum more than once in a year. And believe us, you'll want to visit more than once!Become a Member
