MSI with Toddler in Tow, or When Does the "Idea Factory" Reopen?

By Elizabeth Shapiro in Miscellaneous on Feb 6, 2008 4:32PM

We loved the Museum of Science and Industry even prior to having our kid (the submarine! the Omnimax! Clarence Darrow’s ghost!), but MSI’s "Idea Factory" is, arguably, the best kid-centered exhibit in Chicago. Since the museum has closed this exhibit for repairs until the end of March, we wondered how toddler-friendly the rest of the museum would be. In short, not much.

Let’s start with what we loved. Bring four quarters to purchase a “Net Pass” and have your kids’ avatar created at the beginning of "Networld." This exhibit combines toddler-height interactive displays (like touch-screen email) with readable, intriguing facts for the adults, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for in a museum display: engagement for our kid and enlightenment for ourselves. Their Farm Tech exhibit was also a similarly balanced display, with cranks, knobs and ride-ons to teach smaller kids about the workings of a dairy farm and, frankly, more of a cow’s birth that we ever wanted to see.

The rest of the museum caters to an older crowd. Most of the displays our toddler might have been stoked to see (the chicks! the model train! the castle! [Ed note: I love you, Fairy Castle.]) were either too far away or too high up for the average toddler to view comfortably. For $5 at Toymaker 3000, your family could watch a room full of machines create your kid’s very own gyroscope, but be prepared to run through it with your toddler in your arms so that he can actually see it. The Coal Mine and Flight 727, potentially kid-friendly, are also closed until March. The cafeteria offers a wide selection of picky-toddler favorites, but we didn’t see a single high chair in the place.

The museum is $12 per adult (kids under 3 are free), and parking is another $14. If they still have calendars at the entrance by the big Zephyr, grab one before you wait in line and use the buy-one-get-one-free coupon in the front for February. Or go on the 29th, when the MSI is free. And count the days until the Idea Factory is reopened.

Photo from MSI's website.