Travels with Children

Ironworld Discovery Center

Just off Highway 169, Chisholm, MN.  218-254-7959.  www.ironworld.com
$8 adults, $7 seniors, $6 students, 6 and under free.  Free parking.  Stroller accessible.  Restrooms available.

While in northern Minnesota, we decided to see as much as we could during the weekend, so we drove up the road to Chisholm for Ironworld’s Festival of Lights.

We were confused from the start.  Since we parked near the entrance, we didn’t feel the need for our full winter gear.  Little did we know that after paying our admission, we’d head out for a walk to the actual museum.

Along the way, we did get to meet some real reindeer before ducking into the museum entrance, which included the library/research area.  The photocopier in the hall led me to wonder if we were lost, although the sign clearly said “museum entrance.”

A display of many uniquely decorated Christmas trees and gingerbread houses greeted us as we made our way to the museum.  The actual museum exhibits about the people and history of the Iron Range looked interesting, but I didn’t see a lot of it since I was busy following the kids, who were looking for the Perpich room, where we’d been told children’s activities were taking place.

When we left the museum building, there was a horse and wagon outside, so we climbed aboard hoping for a ride back to the main building.  Instead we got a ride around the complext that deposited our colder selves back where we had started, and then we had to walk back to the entrance building and our car.

I think Ironworld would be more fun during the summer.  We didn’t realize from the website that it’s a whole complex of buildings and activities, including miniature golf, of which many are closed in the winter.

For our wintry visit, we were just glad the kids’ admission was free.

I liked doing the stencil and I liked seeing the man’s light go on when it was night.

I liked the sleigh ride.

Children’s Discovery Museum

Highway 169 South, Grand Rapids, MN.  218-326-1900.  www.cdmkids.org
$7 ages 2 and up; 1 and under free.  AAA discount.  Stroller accessible.  Restrooms with changing tables.

On the south end of Grand Rapids is a museum that we were really looking forward to from the information found on its website.  Dubbed the Children’s Discovery Museum, we had planned to spend the entire afternoon there, as we can easily do at a children’s museum.

The Children’s Discovery Museum is a hybrid museum.  On one side, visitors can see the Judy Garland gallery and visit her birthplace, which is attached to the museum.  On the other side of the building is the children’s museum.  In the middle is the gift shop, which is mostly comprised of Judy Garland memorabilia.

The children’s museum consists of three galleries.  The first is an exhibit that traveled between many of the United States’ larger children’s museums several years ago.  In the middle area is a pretender’s dream, a “main street” of locations where imaginative play is possible.  From the cafe to the bank to the dolly daycare, children can dress up and play to their hearts’ contents.  The third large room has a toddler maze, a talking tree, a pretend campground, and a water table complete with lock and dam.

All around the museum are thank yous from schoolchildren who have visited the museum and, it appears, hav elearned a lot about dinosaurs, apparently in the adjacent lab/classroom area.

On the children’s museum side is also a Faith Wick doll collection.

Although the Children’s Discovery Museum had looked promising, the kids (and their parents) were ready to leave within an hour.  (We hadn’t ventured to the Judy Garland side.)  The exhibits were fun but didn’t hold their interest for long.  Several of the dress-up items were broken and the zipper on the tent didn’t work, detracting from the experience.

Overall, we just couldn’t quite decide if we liked the Children’s Discovery Museum or not.  The one staff person on duty was in the gift shop, so we were on our own behind the double doors in the actual museum area.

The Children’s Discovery Museum seems to be trying to do too much with its mix of Judy Garland, Faith Wick, and children’s exhibits.  We don’t think it was worth the price of admission.  Perhaps others have discovered this as well, since on a Saturday afternoon we were the only visitors for all but the last 15 minutes of our stay.

Forest History Center

Near Highways 169 and 2, Grand Rapids, MN.  218-327-4482.  www.mnhs.org/places/sites/fhc
$7 adults, $6 seniors, $4 ages 6-17, 3 and under free.  Free parking.  Visitors center stroller accessible; large-wheeled strollers available to take out to camp.  Restroom with changing table.

The Forest History Center was the impetus for our most recent family adventure.  My grandmother had grown up in lumber camps, so when we read about the Forest History Center’s “Getting the Camp Ready for Christmas” program, we decided that a trip to northern Minnesota would make a good family weekend.

Normally, the camp part of the Forest History Center is only open during the summer.  Its website had advised hats and boots for this special winter program, so we dressed in our warmest gear when we headed out into the -12 degree weather.

We started at the visitor center and then walked out through the snowy woods to the lumber camp site.  In the bunk house, we were greeted by period musicians singing Christmas songs by the fire.  In the cook shack, Rebecca, the cook, explained lumberjacks’ meals and slang.

After peeking in the other camp buildings, we were taken back to the visitor center by a horse-drawn sleigh, a treat for all of us.

Back at the visitor center, Santa was waiting to see the kids, with cookies and cider for everyone.  Volunteers were on hand to help the kids make projects; we came home iwth a wreath, two pinecone reindeer, and an ornament.

While Dad was helping the older kids finish their projects, our toddler and I wandered over to the exhibit area that displayed the logging and paper industries from pioneer to modern times.  A children’s play area was available, and all of the kids loved “driving” the huge lumber truck and four-wheeler on display.

All in all, we were at the Forest History Center for 2.5 hours and only left because it was lunchtime.  We were very pleasantly surprised at the variety of exhibits and activities and how well they fit our young family.

As we were leaving, the boys asked to go back in the summer so they could climb the 100 foot ranger tower. 

The Forest History was an excellent stop for Minnesota history, family history, and a lot of fun.  We’re glad we made the trip.

It had old cabins.  I liked the ride that we got.

Headwaters Science Center

413 Beltrami Ave., Bemidji, MN.  218-444-4472.  www.hscbemidji.org
$4 age 12 and up; $3 under 12; maximum $20 per family.  ASTC Reciprocity.  Free street parking.  Stroller accessible.  Restroom with changing tables available.

Instead of having big birthday parties for our kids, we like to go on family outings.  It might be a day trip or a weekend trip, or just something special that we don’t usually do.  Our soon-to-be-5-year-old history buff’s outing ended up being a trip to the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids, MN, but since it was four hours away we had to find some things to round out the trip.  The Headwaters Science Center was on our ASTC (www.astc.org) reciprocity list, so we worked it into our trip.

We arrived at HSC at about 3:00 on a cold Friday afternoon.  After fighting crowds too often at Twin Cities museums, I had hoped this would be a quiet time to visit, and I wasn’t disappointed.  For much of our stay, we were the only visitors there.  At the busiest, two other families joined us.

The Headwaters Science Center is in an old storefront and all of the exhibits are in one open room.  Although it’s not as big or as fancy as some other science museums, there’s a lot for kids to see and do.  The staff allowed us to explore everything for a while, and then stopped over from time to time to be sure we’d seen certain things and that we were enjoying our visit.

The kids loved the shadow room, where they could pose and have it frozen as a shadow, and the pitching cage, where they could practice pitching a whiffle ball and have a speed number show them how they were doing.  Many of the activities include balls, which our toddler loved.  There are music and sound projects, and a drawing machine that is reminscent of a huge spirograph.  A tractor cab is available for exploring, and various building sets for the creative types.

Animal exhibits round out the museum.  Those who were brave enough touched a snake while their mother hid in the gift shop.  There were various turtles and other reptiles to see, and we reserved feeding the fish for our last stop.

We spent more than two hours at the Headwaters Science Center, and the kids wanted to stay longer.  (One asked several times on Sunday to go back before we went home.)  Because everything is hands-on, the kids could keep doing and learning to their heart’s content.

We’ve been to a lot of interactive museums in the past few years, and my husband rates this in his “top three.”  This is definitely a hidden gem in Minnesota.  Don’t discount it from your must-see list just because it’s in a small town.    We had a better time here than we’ve had at many big-city museums.

I liked it when I got to blow up the big balloon and when the windmill was going, and there was a little train set, kind of like a puzzle.  I liked that place.  I LOVED it!