Getting a feel for natural history at AMNH in NY.
“We’re going to see the dinosaurs! ” I tried to convince the Princess that our trip to the American Museum of Natural History was worth waking up early. “We’ll also get to go to the planetarium and see huge crystals in the gem room and…”
I was more excited than my three girls together. “It’s the museum from Night at the Museum! Remember that movie? We can go see Tum Tum!”
They were groggy on this cold New York morning. I was determined to share my favorite parts of this amazing museum with them, like it or not.
As I pulled into the museum parking lot, they spotted the Rose Center for Earth and Space. They perked up a bit.
Rose Center for Earth and Space photo credit wei.com
They decided this would be the first place to explore. They touched meteorites and found out how much they weighed on Mars. They walked the path around the giant globe to visit each planet in the solar system.
Learning about meteors at the Rose Center.
They touched everything they were allowed to touch and some they weren’t. This was a wonderful experience for my tactile learners, but not so much for the germaphobe hiding inside of me. Do you think they disinfect the meteorite daily? Ever?
Touching the Willamette Meteorite at the Rose Center for Earth and Space.
Weighing in on Mars at the Rose Center
After a visit to the planetarium (which was mostly awesome, except for the pitch black moments before the show began) we moved on to the gem room and wandered the great halls of the museum.
The Adventurer stares down a tiger.
A huge crystal shard.
We found this incredible origami Christmas tree, gracing the main hall of the museum.
The Origami Christmas Tree
They were in need of a lunch break. Can you tell?
Origami Christmas tree decorations.
After some refreshments we continued on to visit some prehistoric animals. At this point it became clear that the Princess assumed that going to see the dinosaurs was going to be more like visiting the monkeys at the zoo.
She wasn’t totally thrilled with what she was viewing. She looked carefully, while the other kids bounced through the exhibits, touching everything they could reach.
Following the obligatory trip to the gift shop, we headed to the car. As I was desperately searching my handbag for the hand sanitizer, the Princess made a request:
“Next time, can you take us to see dinosaurs that don’t have their bones tooken out?”
I smiled. And cleaned her hands.
