We took the kids to the Children’s Museum a few weeks ago in Pittsburgh with Jason, Lisa and Vivienne. The one closer to us is smaller, and Lisa had heard good things about this one so we committed to the drive (which actually didn’t end up being too bad).

We tried to leave during Coraline’s naptime, but we all know that Coraline isn’t the best napper in the car. I did see some zzzz’s out of her at least for a little while. When we arrived, it was tough to find parking because they were having a Kindergarten event there! Luckily the crowd thinned out as the day went on and the event ended, but we weren’t prepared for that. We found some street parking though and had lunch first in the cafeteria there.

They recommended we start in the arts and crafts room in case things needed to dry. Jameson did a couple older kid activities (like a cool screen printing) and I got adventuresome with Coraline and did some painting. The aprons were so large I put her head through the arm holes and wrapped it extra around her!

They had an adorable outdoor area and Coraline also got to play in the sand while Jameson climbed up into the tree house and used the pulleys. We were really happy with how many activities Jameson was able to do, which were more advanced than Coraline could do but not too advanced for him. He was a great age for a lot (though not all) of the experiences. There just seemed to be more.

In the “transportation” room I guess, Coraline was dying to get a hold of the balls, but they were for a cool activity that pulled them into the air and onto a track. Brian and Jameson waited for a while to do this.

This is also where I realized that this Museum has a bunch of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood! I am not sure if I was under a rock, but I didn’t realize that is where Mr. Rogers was from. In that room, they had his trolley; in others, they had some of the puppets, and even the castle! (though it had been repainted and repurposed I think).

There was a room a little beyond all the kiddos, so we moved more quickly through that and then to the younger kids’ room. Coraline loved everything in this room. There is some more sand, a giant “lite brite” and this seesaw among other things.

It’s also where the puppets are! I was fascinated to look at all these characters I grew up with.

One of the last areas we visited was the water room. Luckily we brought a spare change of clothes! I forgot about the water areas. All the kiddos were in heaven. I really loved the cool pipe works they had coming from the floor to move water around. What a clever and awesome activity!

The final room was the workshop, which was again a bit beyond the kids’ skill level, but they enjoyed looking at things so to occupy Coraline I went to go find the castle, which is in the theater downstairs. It’s actually on the stage, and in the back there are a bunch of doors opening to each letter of the alphabet, which she enjoyed.

Mostly, I enjoyed the nostalgia of seeing all the Mr. Rogers characters and castle. And the kids having fun, of course! When we left, we saw they were playing Mary Poppins there later and had chalk art outside. It was overall a great Children’s Museum, and one that I think we’d go back to.

We stopped for dinner with our friends on the way home at a local pizza place recommended to us a while ago by Brian’s parents. Very tasty! Though the kids were worn out and just done with everything. Coraline started yelling unhappily, but even after we got on the road, she didn’t fall asleep. Crazy kid!