travel with kids: cleveland

I never truly appreciated Cleveland until I had kids. I grew up about 45 minutes away from downtown in a rural township in the middle of nowhere. Cleveland was like this incredible far-off land, filled with adventure and danger. After meeting my now-husband in college and moving to the suburbs, our first child was born which began a whole new view of the world around me.

 

We began doing story-times at the local libraries, leading to some awesome park programs at the Cleveland Metroparks. Whether you are looking to do some hiking, attend a photography class, go snowshoeing or swimming in Lake Erie, the Metroparks has a variety of programs for young and old, as well as some amazing trails throughout the 23,000 acres among their 18 reservations. 

University Circle, less than fifteen minutes from downtown Cleveland, has a ring of intriguing museums, many great for children. As much as 

we love the Cleveland Museum of Art, it can become stressful having a hawk-eyed security guard following you and your train of children around ready to pounce at any sudden movements. I don’t blame them, but it gets old. They do have a digital art area designated for kids where they can design pottery, digitally paint a self-portrait, and swipe various designs on a giant touch screen to compare lines and curves in different famous pieces of art. All of my children love it (ages nine through two), although I would prefer my children to do more creative activities with physical materials. I guess my biggest disappointment with this is knowing what the kids’ studio used to be—magnetic blocks, hanging sculptures, puppets, and a corner divided from the rest of the studio by a wall of drawers filled with all kinds of materials to build with, puzzles, and other creative items. But times change, and one day I will have to accept this digital age in which we now live.

Our favorite museum in this area is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History where the majority of the exhibits are hands-on and 

virtually unbreakable (yea!). After seeing the dinosaur skeletons, we normally venture to the evolution exhibit and discuss how humans are not derived from monkeys, despite popular belief and public school curriculum (I have this conversation with a different child every time we go). Usually by this point, we’ll head over to check out the temporary exhibit which last time was a thrilling display of underwater luminescent creatures with different games and other interactive activities. We have been to this museum dozens of times, and each time the temporary exhibit has never ceased to interest my children. They do a fantastic job and we always learn something new. Most recently added was the outdoor Perkins Wildlife Center, where the kids visit raccoons, coyotes, birds, bobcats, bald eagles, and even a porcupine, and take a climb through the netted tunnel pretending to be like the foxes above them. This museum is always a great time, and even the planetarium shows deliver (and make for a nice nap in the dark for the littlest one…and sometimes Mom hehe).

The Children’s Museum of Cleveland just recently moved out of University Circle to the former Stager-Beckwith Mansion on Euclid Avenue. We have only been to this new location for a birthday party, and it kept me on my toes with its double humongous tree-house style playgrounds, although the majority of the walkways and tunnels are large enough for an adult to chase their toddler through. The Wonder Lab is a hands-on water room with lots of activities to do for all ages, and the location where my children spent most of their time. We did not make it upstairs due to a time shortage since it was a group-outing, but if your child is artsy, that would be the place to go!

Most recently we visited the Great Lakes Science Center in downtown Cleveland. It is right along the coast of Lake Erie, making for some great views from the top floor.

We decided to get our membership here this year, allowing us to take our time on the first two floors. We began with the Nasa Glenn Visitor Center, full of information and history of our local astronautical heroes. The boys were not super impressed, primarily because they were expecting more simulator-style attractions here, although Casey’s (age 5) favorite exhibit out of everything we saw was the lunar rover, able to be controlled from the other side of the room. 

The Cleveland Clinic Dome Theater shows at the science center are free with membership, a wonderful benefit, but still worth the cost if you are just visiting the area. Amazon Adventure, the true story of how the young Henry Bates’ risked his life for science in the Amazon rain forest in the 1850’s, happened to be playing which the boys not only enjoyed, but were zoned in the entire forty minutes. After this, it was lunch time so we pulled out our packed lunches as normal and my mom purchased a lunch from the cafe. She shared her tomato-spinach grilled cheese with which was too 

much for her, and it was DELICIOUS, and only $6.30 for the sandwich, waffle fries, and a drink—as a side note :). Another forty minutes was spent in the ”TapeScape Sticky Science” temporary exhibit. This was ingenious how they took everyday objects—stretch wrap and duct tape—and not only displayed the science and history behind it, but created a massive playground from it! I truly appreciated the TotSpot mini structure for the two-year-old who my mom graciously watched while the other three ran around like wild banshees.

We finished the day with a quick a trip to the “Cleveland Creates Zone,” which was a bit chaotic to keep track of all four with the set-up, but still fun. This area was all hands-on activities with the classic science center stations such as the parachute launch, light sculptures, and even a duct tape area where kids can make a duct-tape hat or their own duct-tape shoes.

After four hours, we were all spent and decided to save the third floor, which includes dozens more hands-on exhibits and an entire play area for the younger ones, for next time. This place is a must-see if you are coming to Cleveland with kids!