Activities
to do with children
Museums in New Haven County
Museums in Fairfield County
Museums in Hartford County
Museums in Middlesex County
Museums in New London County
Museums Outside Connecticut
Theaters
Encourage
young children to play make-believe or pretend. Provide
a collection of props and toys and give children the space
in which to set up his pretend world. Give children the
opportunities to play alone and also with other children.
Fun
activities to do with children
Tell a story or read
a story and have your children act it out. The Three Little
Bears is a good one for young children.
Ideas for props and
toys:
Purses and briefcases,
Hats Ties and scarves, Clothes Shoes and boots Dishes, pots
and pans, Big spoons/ladles, Food (play/real), Phone, Suitcase,
Calculator, Play money, Small broom, Baby bottle Dolls,
doll accessories, Cars, Trucks & Trains Buildings &
Fences Job-related kits-doctor, Blocks to make towns, zoos
Play animal sets firefighter
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Take
children to one of the museums that encourage a young child’s
imagination
New Haven County:
Connecticut
Children’s Museum,
22 Wall St., New Haven, (203) 562-5437 Visit the Goodnight
Moon room (the room looks just like the pictures in the
book), A room where children can pretend to be an architect
or operate a construction machine, a room where children
can be a postal worker, a music room with interactive instruments,
build a building out of blocks, a science room and more.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission
Barker
Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum, 1188 Highland Avenue
Rte. 10, Cheshire (203) 272-2357/800 995-2357 A Museum featuring
childhood memorabilia such as Barbie lunch boxes, Dennis
the Menace sling shots, Popeye Pez dispensers and more.
Visit the Art Gallery. On weekends you might find characters
strolling along, Storybook Stage shows, a cartoon theater
and more.
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday
11:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. Closed all Holidays.
Admission: Free.
James
Blackstone Memorial Library, 758 Main St., Branford
(203) 488-1441 The children’s library has a small
stage where children can act out a story.
Hours: Monday-Thursday
9:00a.m. to 8:00p.m., Friday-Saturday 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m.
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Fairfield
County:
The
Barnum Museum, 820 Main St., Bridgeport
(203) 331-1104 Collection of material related to the career
of P.T. Barnum. Exhibits include a five-ring, hand carved
miniature circus, clown props, mementos of Barnum, and General
Tom Thumb. Visit
their website for Hours and Admission
Bruce
Museum, One Museum Dr., Greenwich, (203) 869-0376 Changing
gallery exhibits on Art and environmental sciences, Educational
workshops and museum store.
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday
10:00a.m. to 5:00p.m., Sunday 1:00p.m. to 5:00p.m. Closed
Mondays and major holidays. Visit their website for Hours
and Admission.
The
Discovery Museum, 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport, (203)
372-3521 This museum contains interactive exhibits in the
areas of art, science, and a smattering of industry, all
specially designed for children ages four to twelve. The
first floor interactive art gallery where children can learn
about color. The lowest floor includes the “Discovery
House” a learning space for children under five, and
home to the Henry B. DuPont 111 Planetarium. In the upper
floor children can learn about nuclear energy, electricity,
magnetism and light. There is a dining area with vending
machines. Daily Planetarium shows.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission. Challenger
Learning Center with computer simulated space missions
on weekends reservations required.
Children’s
Garbage Museum, 1410 Honeyspot Road Extension,
Stratford (203) 381-9571 Interactive exhibits that teach
children the importance of recycling and the responsible
treatment of garbage. This museums mascot is Trash-o-saurus,
a 24-foot-long dinosaur constructed from trash. Take a self
guided tour of a real recycling plant where locally collected
recyclables are sorted and prepared for sale to remanufactures.
Stepping
Stones Museum, Mathews Park, 303 West Ave., Norwalk,
(203) 899-0606 Interactive learning for age 10 & under.
Children can fly a helicopter, operate a periscope on the
submarine, or be an engineer on a train. The museum also
offers the Waterscape room in which children can experiment
with water, build a Lego car and have a race, experiment
with your voice, visit the music room and discover different
types of drums, and more. There is a toddler terrain for
age 3 & under. A small dining area and vending machines.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission. Get
Into It -- Free! Please join us for an evening of free
admission and educational fun on the last Thursday of
every month from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.
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Hartford
County:
Connecticut
Fire Museum, 58 North Rd., East Windsor, (860) 623-4732
Old-time fire trucks, models and history of fire-fighting.
Connecticut
Fireman’s Historical Society, 230 Pine St.,
Manchester, (860) 649-9436, (860) 666-1087 Located in turn-of-the
century firehouse with hand and horse pulled firefighting
equipment, 1860 steam fire engine, 1915 and 1921 motorized
piece, and antique firefighting items.
Lutz
Children’s Museum, 247 S. Main St., Rte. 83, Manchester
(860) 643-0949 Youngsters explore and join in special activities,
hands-on exhibits, live animals, and a picnic area. Visit
their website for Hours and Admission.
New
Britain Youth Museum at Hungerford Park, 191 Farmington
Ave., Rte. 372, New Britain, (860) 225-3020 Exhibits of
Americana, different cultures, children’s artifacts,
circus miniatures and dolls. Many hands-on activities.
Hours: Tuesday-Friday
1:00p.m. to 5:00p.m., Saturday 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m.
Admission: Free
Science
Center of Connecticut, 950 Trout Brook Dr., West Hartford,
(860) 231-2824 Hands-on museum that explores science, nature,
and technology. Visit the Wildlife Sanctuary home to more
than 50 birds, reptiles and mammals, take in a show in the
Planetarium, children can be a weatherman in the World Weather
Window, learn how gears work, build a Lego car and race
it on a Lego Racetrack, blast soap bubbles, a walk-in Kaleidoscope
and more. Visit their website for Hours and Admission.
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Middlesex
County:
Kidcity
Children’s Museum, 119 Washington St., Middletown
(860) 347-0495 The Ship - hoist a sail of the clipper ship
and climb aboard. Children will love to climb up to the
crows nest or walk the plank above sharks. The Farm –
a place where children can gather apples, climb the tree
house, farm chores such as gathering eggs from the chicken
coop, and hanging out the wash. Visit Main Street, an area
where children can use their imagination and creativity
at the Downtown Diner, The Market and Grocery Store, Post
Office and Dentist all hands on pretend play. These areas
are designed for children 6 months to 5 years. The second
floor offers a Global Music room which children can play,
an Invention Station where children can create inventions
with recycled odds and ends and more. This floor is designed
for children 6 to 10 years old.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission
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New London County:
Children’s
Museum of Southeastern Connecticut, 409 Main St., Niantic
(860) 691-1111 Stroll by Kidsville where children can use
there imagination and act out being a fireman and slide
down the fire pole, a cook in the diner, be a postal worker,
a news anchor, a lobsterman or a doctor. There is also a
puppet stage where children can put on a show. Visit the
hands-on-exhibits such as the lego station where children
can build, the train room where children can play with the
trains set, the block station where children can build a
skyscraper with the blocks. Also visit the science room
where there is a Long Island Sound Marine-life Tank, submarine
exhibit, a pipe organ, and more. Visit Nursery Rhyme Land
for toddlers.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission
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Other
great children’s museums located outside of Connecticut
Providence
Children’s Museum, 100 South Street, Providence,
RI (401) 273-KIDS The museum features interactive hands-on-exhibits,
such as the Coming to Rhode Island exhibit where children
can learn about four different cultures, why they came to
Rhode Island, what they brought and how they changed it.
The children can dress up in the time period and act out
a scene. Visit the walk-in kaleidoscope, the funhouse mirror,
also there is tree to climb, a cave to explore, build fountains,
float boats, and an area for babies, and more.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission.
The
Children’s Museum of Manhattan, The Tisch Building,
212 West 83rd St., New York, NY (212) 721-1234 Visit Wordplay,
an area for children ages 1 month to 4 years can crawl and
toddle through Baby Babble, rhyme with animals in the Chatterbug
Tree, make believe in Apartment ABC, and more. There is
the Time Warner Media Center for ages 6 and up where children
can go behind the scenes of a television studio. Visit the
Elizabeth Murray Creation Station and the Russell Berrie
Art Studio where children can create their own masterpiece
to bring home, and also the Early Childhood Center where
children ages 18 months to 4 years can slide, climb, sing
and paint.
Visit their website
for Hours and Admission.
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To
watch others act out a story below is a list of Theatres
that offer children’s plays
New Haven County:
Yale
Children’s Theatre,
New Haven (203) 432-4071
Puppet
House Theatre, 128 Thimble Island Rd., Stony
Creek (203) 488-5752
Fairfield County:
Downtown
Cabaret Theatre,
263 Golden Hill St., Bridgeport (203) 576-1636, Children’s
shows, bring your own picnic and refreshments.
Stratford
Shakespeare Festival Theater, 1850 Elm St., Stratford
(203) 381-1600
Stamford
Theatre Works and The Purple Cow Children’s Theatre,
200 Strawberry Hill Ave., Stamford, (203) 359-4414
Westport
Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court,
Westport (203) 227-4177
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Yale School of Medicine