Flatirons Mall Play Area

I found some old pictures from a day we spent at Flatirons Mall in Broomfield.  They have a great indoor play area by the foot court and a huge sandbox play area right outside. 

Great way to end a day of shopping.

Children's Museum

The Denver Children's Museum-  We have only visited twice but my daughter loves it so much that we just purchased a membership so I am sure we will be visiting on a regular basis now.  There are a number of different rooms that all have their own theme- Fire Station, Grocery Store, Train Station, Bubbles, Nature Zone, and Construction.  There are also an art studio where your child can paint and get messy, a dress up area, music/dance area, a puppet theater, and a large magnetic board area full of letter, word, and shape magnets. 

They also have rotating exhibits.  The first time we went, January of 2011, the rotating exhibit was a Vet's Office.  This last time, February of 2012, it was a Physic's lab with wind tunnels and plane launchers.

A large part of the first floor is dedicated to the really young children.  It is designed for the infants and toddlers in mind.  There are cushioned areas to sit, places to let babies crawl, and play structures that are easy for young toddlers to climb on.

Here are some pictures from our first visit right before my daughter turned 2.

Baby/Toddler Area Slide

Rubbing plates in the Nature Area

Watching bubbles

Playing Trains

Dressing up in the music/dance area

Fire station dress up

Driving the fire truck

Here is a link to the Denver Children's Museum- http://www.mychildsmuseum.org/

Butterfly Pavilion

The Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado is another great field trip idea.  You can wonder through a large room full of different types of butterfly's.  You can get up close and really examine them when they land on branches next to the walkway and even on the walkway itself.  There is a room full of other interesting insects and spiders (luckily these are all in cages).  Another room has starfish and other little sea creatures.  My daughter's favorite area is the large playroom.  There are large 3d insect puzzles, insect rubbing plates, a climbing structure that looks like a section of a bee hive, and more.  They do story time in the butterfly area on a regular basis but we have not been so I'm not sure when it is or for how long it lasts.

We have only visited once, shortly after my daughter turned two.  I really enjoyed it and my daughter loved the play area and sea life room but at the time she was scared to get too close to any of the butterflies.  She would get upset when the butterflies landed on the walkway in front of her and would turn around and go the other way.  So as much as she liked the playroom and other areas I cannot bring myself to pay admission if she will not even walk through the butterfly area.  Now that she just turned three I think we will try and take her again (One of her little friends has a membership and goes all the time so hopefully she will get caught up in excitement with him).


Here are a few pictures from our visit.

Entrance

Sea Life

Sea Life

Walkway in Butterfly Area

Walkway Again

Play Area Activity

3D Ant Puzzle

Butterfly

Climbing Structure that looks like Bee Hive

Here is a link to the Butterfly Pavilion- http://www.butterflies.org/

Nature and Science Museum

The Nature and Science Museum in Denver is a lot of fun even for the little ones.  There are hands-on learning boards in almost every section.  The Space Odyssey exhibit is my daughters favorite because of all the interactive areas.  Another big hit exhibit is the kid's area where they can explore magnets, wind, and magnification.  They can also do puzzles, build with large soft blocks, use paint brushes to unearth dinosaur bones, and listen to story time. 

The museum also has a large dinosaur exhibit (FYI- It is difficult to do this exhibit with a stroller so I recommend leaving your stroller in the stroller parking area outside the exhibit doors).  This exhibit has a lot to offer older children but fewer hands-on things for the little ones.  However, this is still one of my daughter's favorite exhibits because really what kid doesn't find dinosaurs fascinating?

We recently bought a membership because my daughter asks to go here all the time.  With the membership we are able to get discount tickets for the Imax shows and the Planetarium which we usually skipped because of the prices.

Here are just some random pictures we have taken during our visits.

Here is a link to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science- http://www.dmns.org/

Zoo

I love, love, love the Denver Zoo.  I loved it as a child and I love watching my daughter love it.  They have added some great exhibits over the years and have created a lot more hands-on learning opportunities.  I am really excited for the new Asian Tropics Section to open up later this year.  If you live in Colorado or are planning to visit the zoo is an absolute must.


Here are some my favorite things about the Denver Zoo.

Hands-on learning- many areas through out the zoo have these touch and feel boards that are at good level for preschoolers.  There are also life size animal statues placed around some of the exhibits.  My daughter loves pointing out the fake lizard and turtle sunning themselves on the rocks.

Underwater viewing-  There are underwater viewing spots at the Polar Bear and Sea Lion exhibits.  It is hard to catch the Polar Bears in the water but we usually make the trip down to the underwater viewing area anyway so that we can get a picture of our daughter next to the life size polar bear.

She is just waiting for the day that she will be tall enough for his hand to touch her head.  So Cute!

Hippo Play Structure- great place to take pictures and let some energy out.  Daddy likes it also.

Animal statues- also great picture opportunities

Here is a link to the Denver Zoo website- http://www.denverzoo.org/