kids museums - Pitstops for Kids

Exploring Spokane and Northern Idaho with kids

September 3, 2020 By Amy Hagstrom

Two of my three kids were born in Spokane, Washington. During the time we lived in this Eastern Washington city, downtown Spokane remained fairly sleepy, with quiet, understated shops and eateries framing beautiful Riverfront Park. In the years since we moved to Oregon, we’ve been lucky enough to return multiple times for the wonderful outdoor opportunities in Washington and Idaho, and have watched Spokane grow into a more robust, even trendy city with a vibrant downtown.

This past June, we were able to spend three fun nights in Spokane, enjoying the city’s annual Hoopfest street basketball tournament. As we often do during road trips, we looked for a hotel with plenty of space to spread out, plus a complimentary breakfast or kitchenette to make our own. With three kids (two of whom are teens), we highly value the ability to make some meals en suite. We found a Staybridge Suites hotel that fit the bill: The Holiday Inn Express Spokane Downtown, and were even able to use our IHG points to book during this popular time to visit Spokane.

What to do in downtown Spokane (any time of year):

Downtown Spokane is pedestrian-friendly, and from the Holiday Inn and Suites, we were able to easily access Riverfront Park. The walk through the park is lovely, and takes visitors directly into the main downtown core. Here’s what we never miss in downtown Spokane:

Riverfront Square:

This downtown urban mall includes multiple stories of trendy shops, dining options, and activities for families. Directly next to Riverfront Park, families can retreat here for a bite to eat or a movie after a fun day outdoors along the Spokane River.

Mobius Children’s Museum:

Located in Riverfront Square on the lower level, this award-winning children’s museum includes hands-on exhibits for kids from babies and toddlers to pre-teens. We love the ride-on toys and trucks best with boys!

Riverfront Park:

Much more than an urban green space, Riverfront Park was once the location of the World Expo, and infrastructure from these days still exist. During the summer months, families will find a permanent carnival area with Ferris wheel and bumper cars in the park (in winter, this area is transformed into an ice skating rink) and there are walking and biking paths throughout the park and along the roaring Spokane River. Take a gondola ride over the falls, or catch an IMAX movie.

Outdoor Recreation in Northern Idaho:

Spokane is an ideal home base for outdoor recreation. Northern Idaho includes some of the most unspoiled wilderness we’ve seen, with multiple sun-kissed lakes perfect for hikers, fishermen, and boaters. Where we love to go:

Lake Coeur d’ Alene:

Drive 30 minutes to downtown Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, and enjoy a full day at any one of a number of public sand beaches along the lake. Families can rent motorized watercraft, or just float on river rafts. An excellent wooden playground structure is within easy walking distance.

Haiwatha Trail:

This rail trail in Northern Idaho is ideal for family cycling. It’s been named a top 10 mountain biking trail in the US, but it’s not difficult for kids to navigate. The scenery throughout the Idaho panhandle is breathtaking, heading over seven trestles and through 10 tunnels.

Timberline Adventures:

Located in Couer d’ Alene, this outdoor adventure park includes multiple tree canopy zip lines. A big favorite of teens, kids start out on four-wheelers, which deliver them to the top of a mountain to experience over two hours of continuous zip lines.

Holiday Inn Express Downtown Spokane review:

When we plan a vacation that will take us outdoors and around town, and keep us out until late, our prime criteria for our hotel includes location, space, easy parking, and free breakfast. As a family of five, we need as much room as we can get, and food is always being consumed by our crew! We don’t necessarily need a pool or complimentary WiFi, but those are sure nice, too.

Holiday Inn Express is a division of IHG hotels, which means we could use our earned points. The Downtown Spokane Holiday Inn Express was especially clean and friendly, with a great breakfast and perfect location. It put us located right by the park, so we could walk around Spokane, but also very close to I-90, so we could hop in the car and be in Northern Idaho in no time.

As a happy surprise, our hotel offered the special touch of fresh cookies in the lobby nightly from 7 pm-9 pm. When we arrived back at the hotel after a full day of city walking and basketball, we were very happy to see these waiting for us!

Do you use hotel points when you travel? Which ones?

Salt Lake City: Natural History Museum of Utah with kids

February 15, 2017 By Amy Hagstrom

Considering a visit to Salt Lake City’s Natural History Museum of Utah with kids? Absolutely go! This is one of the best natural history museums we’ve visited, with five stories of exhibits on earth and life science. The museum is located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, and families can easily spend a full morning or afternoon here.

If you’re visiting in the warmer months, allow time to explore the outdoor spaces, including terraces with views of the Wasatch Mountains and downtown, and hiking trails that lead from the museum. During my visit in winter, these areas were closed due to heavy snow, but this may not always be the case.

Natural History Museum of Utah with kids:

The building housing the museum alone is impressive; its copper exterior and LEED Gold certified features echo the message of the permanent exhibits: one of sustainability and eco-responsibility. Start on the second level (admissions is on level 1) and check out the topographic map in the lobby. Then start in Past Worlds, which houses an impressive dinosaur exhibit with a paleo lab.

In this area is the ‘backyard’ room for young kids; be sure to check it out with toddlers and preschoolers.

The Past Worlds section will lead seamlessly into the First Peoples and Land areas…just follow the sky bridges and pathways. In this way, this natural history section evolves from prehistoric times slowly to present day life, with sections on early humans and anthropology as well as geology and local Salt Lake climate studies. This leads to the large Life section, which has a working naturalist lab with glass walls so kids can watch scientists at work.

At the very top of the museum on Level 5, the Sky section offers amazing city views, an elevated outdoor terrace, and exhibits on the night sky. Past Sky, the circular Native Voices room showcases present-day Native American culture on the Wasatch Front and further, including beyond the Salt Lake basin.

Be sure to check out the current special exhibit, which is housed on Level 3. During my visit, it was an extensive exhibit on poison; both natural poisons found in nature as well as human myths, lore, and history of poison. It was very interesting and had something for all ages.

Admission and hours:

Admission information can be found here. At the time of my visit, adult admission was about $15, teens were $13, and kids 3-12 were $10. The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm. As with many museums, it is usually worth looking into a museum membership if you have a large family or plan to visit more than once a year. You can turn your day admission into a membership at the time of your visit.

Note: there is a cafe on site, as well as picnic lunch areas available.

Directions:

The museum is located at 301 Wakara Way, within the University of Utah campus. There is ample parking, and it’s easy to access from the TRAX public transit system.

Kansas City with kids: LEGOLAND Discovery Center and Sea Life

September 14, 2015 By Amy Hagstrom

Ready to explore Kansas City with kids? Kansas City, Missouri’s Crown Center is a year-round draw for families, in part because of two high-profile attractions: LEGOLAND and Sea Life.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center:

A visit to LEGOLAND Discovery Center-Kansas City begins with a short demonstration of how the iconic bricks are made. Afterward, guests can opt to ride the Kingdom Quest laser ride, an instant hit for the video gamers in your family. Caution: this is a now-or-never proposition. You won’t be able to come back to it later, which can be tough on kids who need time to warm up to a new environment.

The day of our visit, our Star Wars-loving crew was over the moon to find a room dedicated to Episode IV (A New Hope). The detail is everything you would expect of LEGO. On one side of the Death Star, kids can try their hand at blasting TIE fighters.

Next door, we lost the ten-year-old to a large Ewok Village construction set. He didn’t resurface until we pried him away for a 4D movie. In the meantime, the younger kids found the play place and Earthquake Tables, where we tried to build earthquake-proof structures out of LEGO. (Although any child will tell you it’s far more fun to try to make them fall down!)

Kids can also build and test race cars, and there’s an area devoted to LEGO Friends as well as Merlin’s Apprentice, a carnival-style ride. Height restrictions apply, but the employee running the ride was very accommodating to families with small children.

LEGOLAND is a high-stimulus attraction, and my three-year-old was a little overwhelmed. But he found his niche in a sandbox-style pit filled with Junior LEGO cars—one of several sprinkled through the facility for free play.

We arrived early on a school day; even so, the building reached critical mass well before noon. It can be chaotic, so it’s a good idea to have a low adult-child ratio in your party. Plan to spend a minimum of three hours. Outside food and drink are not allowed, and re-entry is not permitted; however, there is a cafe inside. Admission is limited and often sells out, so I recommend booking online ahead of time. Online tickets start at $15.30* for both adults and kids (2 and under are free).

Sea Life:

If you need a breather after the high-power intensity of LEGOLAND, Sea Life is just the ticket. From the moment the doors open, the low lighting and ethereal music transports visitors to another world.

The displays are beautifully designed and lit, and the aquarium is set up to guide the flow of traffic along a set pathway through the facility, which makes it easy to keep track of kids. Each child receives a passbook with activities and room for stamps to mark their progress through the aquarium.

Sea Life’s marquee attraction is the pair of walk-through tunnels in the shark and ray tank, but the kids will also love the “bubble” indentations in the center of several of the tanks., where they can get right in the middle of the marine action. A touch pool holds starfish and crabs, and a raised deck lets you look down on stingrays from above.

There are also several play areas; when we visited, one of them was devoted to the Octonauts. Our only problem in this area was that the competing video animatronics made it hard to hear the game instructions.

Admission:

Sea Life-Kansas City advance tickets start at $15 for adults and $11 for kids 3-12*. You can see the whole aquarium in around an hour and a half, but you won’t exhaust the possibilities for learning and enjoyment in that length of time. If you can, give yourself time to read the displays, which are on video monitors rather than static boards, and attend some of the educational talks that are spread throughout the day.

Better yet, take advantage of the combination tickets that offer admission to both Sea Life and LEGOLAND, which share a building, a ticket counter, and gift shop. Start your day by exploring the lower-stimulus Sea Life, then switch over to LEGOLAND and return to the aquarium if your pack has time and energy.

Hours:

Sea Life-Kansas City and LEGOLAND open daily* at 10 and close at 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursdayand 6p.m. Friday and Saturday. However, Sea Life remains open to guests already inside for two more hours.

*Note: Hours and ticket prices fluctuate by season and holiday, so check the website for the most up to date info.

Directions:

Crown Center is located in the heart of Kansas City at 2450 Grand Blvd. Full directions to Crown Center.

Our family visited Sea Life and LEGOLAND as guests of Visit KC in exchange for an honest review.