The Magic House Children's Museum: St Louis

The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum

516 South Kirkwood RoadSt. Louis, Missouri 63122314.822.8900Magic House Children's Museum

The Magic House Children's Museum in St. Louis lives up to its name as one of the best, and most magical, children's museums in the country. For families with young children, this is one of our Top Picks in St. Louis.

The mission of The Magic House is to provide children with hands-on learning experiences that encourage experimentation, creativity and the development of problem solving skills within a place of beauty, wonder, joy and magic is met fully in this remarkable museum. The museum is designed with children in mind, and we recommend it for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary kids in particular.

We visited The Magic House recently and it was one of the favorite attractions for my three daughters. For our family, with a crawling baby, an energetic 3 year old, and a newly reading 5 year old, the Magic House offered something for each of them. I was impressed by the quality of the exhibits, with everything in terrific condition, and the cleanliness of the museum.

The "For Baby and Me" exhibit is ideal for babies who are crawling. My daughter enjoyed playing in the bright indoor infant playground with mirrors, tunnels, and great soft play. Best of all, it adjoins the Waterworks Exhibit (her sisters' favorite), where older kids can experiment with water as it flows through a water table and sprays (plastic aprons provided). This layout was excellent for keeping an eye on all three girls at once.

Other favorites for our family included:

• The Children's Village: This is a kid-size village complete with a grocery store, pizza shop, library, ice cream shop, treehouse, home, hospital, and auto repair shop. Kids are able to role play as adults in these interactive exhibits. My girls would have been happy to play here all day long.
• Jack and the Beanstalk: This giant indoor climbing toy resembles Jack's Beanstalk and enables kids to climb up and down from floor to floor in the museum.
• The Sunshine Room: This is a rooftop garden where kids learn about plants from seed to sprout to harvest.
• The Bubble Room: Many terrific bubble experiements are available for play, but the favorite is stepping inside a giant bubble.
• The Train Room: Kids are able to operate model trains in this exhibit.
• The Lewis and Clark Adventure: Kids are able to dress up as early explorers and find treasures as they read about Lewis and Clark and play with historic replicas of supplies used by the explorers. Our favorite was setting up camp on the trails.
• Fun Stuff: The electrically charged ball you touch for a hair raising experience is one of The Magic House's trademarks. Other fun things were a giant kaleidoscope wheel, huge musical instruments, and more "grown up exhibits" like the Star Spangled Experience, where children role play as elected officials... even the President with an Oval Office, and Can You Solve the Mystery where children work as detectives to put together clues from fingerprinting to decoding.

The Magic House is a wonderful Children's Museum and well worth your time when you visit St. Louis. Your kids will beg to go back and you'll be thrilled at all the things they learn while having fun!

Terrific Mom Tips for a Visit to The Magic House:

• With a "Wonderful Membership" at the Wonderscope Children's Museum in Shawnee, you can enjoy free admission for 4 to the Magic House.
• The Magic House is large with many exhibits designed for kids to explore. It is ideal to have a 1/1 adult child ratio on your visit to this museum.You'll want to talk to your kids in advance about family rules and sticking together.
• This is one of the most popular attractions in St. Louis. If possible, visit during the week in the afternoon (after school field-trips) or in the early morning on weekends, for the smallest crowds.
• The Picnic Basket Cafe in the museum sells healthy meals at reasonable prices. Best of all, they offer pre-ordering! Place your lunch order for the Picnic Basket Cafe ahead of time at a kiosk located at the front desk with a debit or credit card, and a picnic basket will be packed for you. You can eat in the cafe, or outside on the the covered porch or in our Play Garden.
• Don't forget the camera! Many exhibits make great family memories. One of our favorites is touching the electricity charged ball that will literally have your hair standing on end!
• This museum is large with dozens of outstanding exhibits that are interactive and engaging. Your children will want to spend time playing and exploring, plan for several hours and bring well rested kids to make the most of your experience.