STL Science Center...

...Sundays this month, AR and I are going to Kirkwood for a Gymboree class. My mom bought us the Groupon and we didn't realize it was so far away from home (about a 45 minute drive). To make it worth the drive, I've decided to pair up something in the area. This past Sunday, we hit up the Science Center.

 

I was already in a funky mood from an issue at the Gymboree class (that's a post for another day!) so I was irritated when I got there and it was $10 to park. I swear I thought it was free but since I don't have a Smart Phone and we were already there, I just paid it and went on. FYI-it's $10 to park by the Science Center but there's a free lot on the other side of 40 where you walk over the bridge and get there.

 

Most of the stuff was WAY over her head but when I was there with camp this summer, I saw the Discovery Room and knew I wanted to take AR there. It's $3.50/person so $7 total for both of us. We got there a little after noon and our reservation was at 1pm. AR and I parked the stroller and ate lunch.

This was about the only thing outside of the Discovery Room that she enjoyed, well besides pushing the stroller. It was just an area where different pictures were projected and you could jump/step on things. I think she was a little intimidated by the other bigger kids because she preferred to stand by me and watch.

Of course, we went over the radar bridge. It's directly over Interstate 40 so all the cars are zooming past you. You can point a radar detector at the car and it'll tell you how fast the cars are going. AR had no idea what was going on but she enjoyed looking through the glass at the cars going by.

Some of the older kids were scared to walk over it but not my kid, she just plopped right on down!

There's this whole contraption in the lobby with a ball going through a maze. You can turn this wheel to try to get the ball to go a different direction. AR stood there and watched for a good five minutes and this kid never let her, or anyone else, take a turn. I have to say I was irritated by the crowd there, again I was in a funky mood already. I had a stroller so I had to take the (slowest) elevator to get to each floor. Seriously, every single floor, the doors would open and like 3-5 kids would run in blocking you in.

Finally, 1pm came and it was Discovery Room time! There was a TON of stuff to do in there, again, some of it way over her head and others perfect just for her. This one you put the balls through the clear containers. It didn't keep her attention long.

Now this thing was her favorite! You dropped marbles down it and it made like rain sounds. She played here the majority of the time.

They had a race track. She was too short to put the cars up top but she'd pick them up and carry them to another kid to put up there.

There was a train tractor which, of course, she loved! Our library has one of these too that she loves.

There was also a digging area which our library also has.

AR and Mommy heading out.

My Thoughts: The place has changed a LOT since I was a kid. There used to be more experiments and interactive activities. Now, it's more technology where you sit and do things with the computer which is current with the times. We spent about two hours there and it cost us $17, not expensive but not cheap either. If we'd parked in the free lot, I would say it was worth our money. I definitely wouldn't make a special trip down there because a lot of the activities in the Discovery Room we could do at our local library and the actual museum part wasn't worth it for AR at her age. It'll definitely be a few years before we go back again.