Pursue Your Passion for Learning: Experience a “Real” Night at the Museum

Ben Stiller’s blockbuster film, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," is all the rage. And museums across the country are further capturing the nation’s attention with their own impressive versions of “night at the museum events.”

From spending the night in a castle to sleeping with the dinosaurs to science-based sleepovers that will have you and your family armed with flashlights in search of adventure, the unique variety of experiences will help fulfill your passion for learning and create lasting memories for kids of all ages.

The following are just some of the “night at the museum” events nationwide. To find “night at the museum” events in your area, check with your local museums or search Google for “night at the museum events” in your city.

Explore hidden treasures! The American Museum of Natural History in New York City continues its popular "A Night at the Museum” adventure experience, offering new and exciting updates for the current season. Armed with flashlights in search of adventure, visitors can travel like a paleontologist on an expedition while watching the “Dinosaurs Alive!” in the IMAX theater, explore live-animal exhibitions with museum guides, and participate in challenging Museum Quests. You will then drift into dream in the darkened halls of one of the world's most famous museums. Visit the museum online for more information.

Spend the night in a castle! The Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a great choice for school, church, Scout and other youth groups or clubs who are looking for a unique experience at the Northeast’s only museum that’s entirely devoted to the study and display of arms and armor. Travel back in time to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as your group enjoys an educational immersion that focuses on chivalry, heraldry and the history of knights in shining armor. Highlights include: trying on pieces of armor and equipment, a scavenger-hunt quest for the “Elements of the Chivalric Code,” and a knighting ceremony. Learn more about the program on the museum’s Web site.

When one night at the museum isn’t enough, head to the Science Museum of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, where monthly public Bright Nights events will appeal to kids of all ages and interests. Families and school, club, church and other youth groups can participate in these scientific hands-on and fun-filled overnight adventures. Explore the many mysteries and magic of science during the Bright Night of Science. Climb aboard the Hogwarts Express train during the museum’s Bright Night of Harry Potter. Embark on a spine-tingling adventure and explore all things gooey, spooky and hair-raising during the Bright Night of Not-So-Frightening Fun. If you enjoy tracking down evidence and uncovering the science behind crime scene investigations, join the fun of Bright Night CSI: Museum Style. Visit the museum online for more information.

Experience firsthand the submarine lifestyle in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to sleep on a submarine, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum’s Family Overnight program is for you! Spend the night aboard the USS Cobia, the nation’s most fully restored World War II sub. This unique family experience offers not only an educational alternative to the traditional campout, but facilitates an appreciation of history and insight into a unique time in America's past. Not sure you want to sleep on a submarine? Sign up for the Nautical Night at the Museum program instead. This brand new program includes gallery activities, crafts, a submarine tour, flashlight gallery tour, and a movie. Visit the museum’s Web site for details.

If you are planning a trip to Washington, D.C., this summer, check out the dates for the Smithsonian Sleepovers, where you can experience the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History at night. After viewing a special screening of the feature length film “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” at the Johnson IMAX Theater, you will search the museum for the highlights from the film and end your night in the darkened halls of one of the world's most famous museums — sleeping among the dinosaurs, mammals and the giant squid. Visit the Smithsonian’s Web site for details.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in California also has several overnight adventures for groups of 10 or more. Enjoy action-packed adventure as a junior paleontologist and learn all about dinosaurs at Camp Dino; experience what it is like to be an archeologist and participate in a mock dig at Camp Archeology; or jump into a time machine in search of the earth’s treasures at Camp Earth Quest. These are just a few of the overnight programs. For more information please visit the museum Web site.

Who can resist a night Dozin’ With the Dinos at Chicago’s Field Museum? Join Susie T. Rex for a night of family workshops, tours and performances, and then spread your sleeping bag next to some of the most popular exhibitions. New for 2009, you can sign up for one of two new packages. One lets you sleep under the stars in the Evolving Planet exhibition. Another lets you sleep under the stars and get a behind-the-scenes tour with a Field Museum scientist! Visit the museum online for more information.

Have you and your family experienced a “night at the museum?” Share your adventures in the comments section below.


photo credit: American Museum of Natural History Kids Sleepovers Photo © AMNH/D. Finnin

Links to Places That Matter: Museum Edition

Heritage Travel, Inc. recently visited Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love,” for the annual American Association of Museums (AAM) conference. It was a great experience, and we met many people from a broad range of interesting museums located all over the world.

Our biggest takeaway from AAM was the understanding of how many different museums cover a wide plethora of interests, taking visitors on multifaceted journeys through history and heritage. This is the inspiration for this week’s edition of Links to Places That Matter.

Here are a few places that may peak your interest:

• The Museumist blog reviews the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture located in Spokane, Washington. The MAC (as it’s affectionately known) has a diverse collection of exhibits, covering regional history as well as other interesting facets of culture.

• Did you know that the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. reopened in November 2008 following a two-year-long renovation? Mary Billingsley, Director of Media Relations for Heritage Travel, shared her experiences during a recent visit there with a gaggle of third-graders. In her blog post, Mary highlighted some of the museum’s new interactive exhibits that her group of kids really enjoyed.

• RoadsideAmerica.com features sites and museums that are more offbeat. For instance, two museums that were featured recently are the Titanic Museum in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, which is the first Titanic museum in the U.S. and home to a collection of artifacts and memorabilia (many donated by actual survivors), all packed into a couple of rooms at the back of a jewelry store. The other is the Toy Robot Museum in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, featuring one man’s collection of thousands of toy robots – old and new, big and small. Visitors can even play with some of these robots!

• If you have never used Twitter before (or have been avoiding it), you may want to try it out as you plan your next museum visit. More and more museums are using Twitter to get the word out about new exhibits, upcoming events, and even special discounts and offers. Read more about tweeting museums on Worldhum.

Enjoy!

Kari

Kari Rippetoe is the Marketing Manager at Heritage Travel, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation


Photo Credit: Philadelphia, Flickr, vic15

A Shocking Good Time at the National Museum of American History

Third-graders and museums don't always go hand-in-hand. So I wasn’t sure what to expect when I chaperoned a group of third-grade boys and girls on a field trip to the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. It was the first time any of us had visited the museum since it reopened following a two-year renovation. I was excited to see the new museum and hoped my group would enjoy the experience. We set off with the goal of seeing everything on the teacher’s scavenger-hunt list.

Our first stop brought us to the museum’s centerpiece -- the Star Spangled Banner. The dramatic wall art of a sparkling flag confirmed immediately we were in for a treat. The new display is designed with climate controls and dim light to protect the flag. We walked along a ramp with wall displays that described the flag’s history, Fort McHenry and the War of 1812. As we exited, we learned more about Mary Pickersgill, the woman who made the flag. I wasn’t surprised that the kids gravitated towards the interactive computer screen of the flag, where they used the touch screen to learn more about the flag’s history.

All of the new interactive and hands-on features kept the kids interested and engaged. But the museum’s Invention at Play and Spark Lab exhibits were the two that really got the kids excited!

Invention at Play is an interactive and engaging area that let us explore the creative process and the problem-solving skills that lead to new inventions. At Spark Lab, a hands-on science lab, a museum staff scientist conducted an experiment about electricity that "shocked" the students. The expressions on their faces were priceless!

I showed the Woolworth lunch counter from Greensboro, North Carolina to my group. I was surprised by how this multicultural group of kids was unfazed by my dramatic explanation of the civil rights sit-in that had occurred at this site back in 1960. It was good to see such progress in just under 50 years.

If you’re looking for Fonzie's leather jacket or Archie Bunker's chair, they are no longer on exhibit. And the First Ladies dress collection seems downsized. But don't let these changes keep you from going. The museum feels fresh and contemporary as it presents America's past and inspires you to connect with history in your own way. It was fun to watch my group of third-graders discover history through the interactive exhibits and connect in a way that was different from how I experienced history at their age.

I'll return to this museum someday soon. But on my next trip I hope to move at a slower pace, lingering a little longer to soak in America’s history.

Have you visited the renovated National Museum of American History? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Mary Billingsley is the Director of Media Relations at Heritage Travel, Inc., a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Photo credits: Star Spangled Banner, Flickr, catface3 . Woolworth Lunch Counter; the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Web site.