If you are planning your weekends ahead of time, put a big red circle on Saturday, Sept. 26 -- Museum Day. Sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine, on Museum Day, hundreds of museums and cultural venues nationwide will waive their admission fees for the day.
A great day trip or even weekend jaunt, museums have a lot to offer your preschooler. The key is to keep your expectations realistic. Unless your museum of choice is tiny with not very many displays, it's likely you won't get through the whole thing. Nor will you be able to read every exhibit. But you will have fun and your little one will learn a lot as she is exposed to historical and cultural items she's never seen before.
Have you ever taken your preschooler to a museum?
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I’m a huge fan of museums, and I love taking my grandchildren, starting when they were preschoolers. (They are all in school now.) But I do have problems with the cost of museums. So a national free admission day is a grand idea.
We just took our kids, including 3 preschoolers to Chicago for basically a vacation centered around museums. We actually bought a local science center membership and it allowed us to get into all but one museum for free! So it was a cost saving thing as well. Preschoolers can love a museum, just be sure to find one that has at least a small place to physically play and to plan snacks, food and naps accordingly.