children's museum of phoenix

It's spring break. The boys are unearthing every toy and scrap in their closet and, in doing so, have driven an already partially insane mom completely mad.

So yesterday we dug ourselves out of the wreckage (which I have the immense joy of cleaning bit by bit in the next week), and went on a field trip to the Children's Museum of Phoenix.

It's a wonderful place. I have even blogged about it before. But at $11.00 a head (we don't have a membership and not sure we would get our money's worth), we don't go that often.

Yippity skippity! We had a culture pass this time, so I only had to pay for one of us.

My boys are 3 and 6 years old. And having been before, the museum is good for a few hours of learning and entertainment. We brought a packed lunch and were also able to enjoy the (currently) beautiful Phoenix weather while noshing at the picnic tables on the front lawn, which helped stretch our visit by 30 minutes or so.

Now, brace yourself, this is a picture heavy post for nostalgia sake. Enjoy!

When we entered this time, the first floor was quite crowded, so we did the museum in reverse and started on the 3rd floor and worked our way down. I would highly recommend visiting the museum this way if you arrive close to opening time. You will have the top floor nearly to yourself.

The pictures that follow are taken in a section that was new to us since the last time we visited. I loved it! the fabrics and textures really were a fun sensory experience.

I love these little quilted words. They had velcro on the back and the wall was felt. Like Mad Libs on a large scale!

And I want to make these light fixtures. Half the fun of visiting the museum for adults is to peek into all the nooks. There's clever design and construction all around.

This wall was neat. Different textures make a great tactile experience for toddlers.

Or for a six year old.

Break for lunch.

This is the amazing 3 story climber. This structure has to be gazed at for quite a while to really be appreciated.

Look closely or you might miss something.

At the end we visited the shop on the way out. This easily added another 30 minutes to our overall field trip. They do have a truly nice selection of toys that are both appealing to kids and their responsible grown ups. I gave each a budget of $5 and the boys got something small, but a hand selected item which will help them remember the fun time they had.