City Museum

We had heard wild and crazy things about the City Museum in St. Louis, and it lived up to its reputation!  The City museum practices three things that are valuable to me, especially as I practice parenting; celebrate creativity, encourage exploration without a map telling you where to go, and pushing physical boundaries. 

As Claire exclaimed, "this is no ordinary museum!", rather a build-your-own-adventure playground on steroids, created by a collector of eclectic items. An interactive steampunk art museum entwined in a maze-filled obstacle course playground. Sometimes literally entwined. There are a myriad of tunnels, caves, slides, ramps, ladders, some dark, some dimly lit with red, blue or gold light. 

 

Every spot that looks like it could possibly be an opening to the intricate tunnel system is in fact a tunnel. Under the whale, in the whales mouth, under the fin, and in the "seaweed" above. 

Steve was determined to prove that kids and adults of all ages could explore without getting stuck. I certainly found myself in places that tickled my claustrophobia. 

The tunnel system lead to a ten story shoe shaft. The building was the former home of a shoe factory, and the finished shoes were sent down the shaft when completed. Now the vast atrium is full of multiple spiral stairs that lead to the roof, ten stories up. The lights are low and a pipe organ with pipes rests on one side. We had just missed it playing, but the operator was more than happy to boot up the computer and play another song. The sound was amazing as it vibrated off the walls of a ten story atrium. 

From there you could take the ten story spiral slide back to the caves or head for the roof. 

On the roof was a Ferris wheel that is nothing like the MOA. It was much faster than any other Ferris wheel and the operator gave it a little umph just as we rounded the top, making it feel much more like a roller coaster. 

An old school bus cantalevers off the edge of the building, ladders, ropes and slides are all for navigating around on the roof. A climb the inside of a huge dome brings you outside to the highest point, offering a panoramic view of the city. 

Another outside area had a giant ball pit, various wire tunnels and tubes, an couple aircraft fuselage, a four foot wide wire slinkie held up by a cable, a giant obelisk with spiral stair inside, and a fire pit for roasting marshmallows. 

Believe it or not there were sections we simply breezed through. An art room where you can create mosaics, snowflakes, or mixed media collages, 

a skate park, art galleries, a shoelace maker, and collections of everything from color slides to antique door knobs. 

In addition there are a couple restaurants, a coffee shop, a bar and a little cart that makes chicken fried waffles! 

It is well worth the price of admission!