Explore and More Children’s Museum in Buffalo, New York
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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course. 2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.
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Who:
Myself, my husband, and our daughters, Zoe – 3; Cora – 2.

What:
A children’s museum located just outside Buffalo in East Aurora, New York. The exhibits include a variety of cultures to explore, a boat you can climb into and go fishing, a construction zone where the kids can build, an entire room dedicated to arts and crafts cleverly decorated with faux-Van Gogh prints, and a kitchen/farm stand area. There is also a small area designated for kids who are still crawling so they can find things to safely explore without being trampled by the more mobile children.

Why:
True confession: hubby and I had been having some intense cravings for Duff’s Famous Buffalo Wings. We knew from past misadventures in dining out with our kids that the secret to a successful dining experience for our family lies in meeting their needs first, which brought us to the door step of Explore and More.

The High Point:
Whoever set this museum up gets some serious bonus points for creativity and efficiency. It is a relatively small space, but every inch of it is well thought out, organized and planned. I was really blown away by the ‘cultures’ that the kids could explore. Each ‘culture’ is walled off and is packed with hands on, child friendly activities including (play) foods, tools that culture uses, musical instruments, and clothing. So, you can ‘travel’ with your kids from Mexico to Asia to the Netherlands all under one roof – too cool!

The Low Point:
Being that daughters are 2 and 3 years old, we only last about 3 hours at any given destination before my little angels lose their halos. So, if I had to pick a low point, it was that we were unable to experience every exhibit in our 3-hour time frame.

The Kids’ Take:
They loved each exhibit more than the last and had a fantastic day. Dress up clothes from various cultures, the plethora of musical instruments and the arts and crafts room topped their list of faves.

The Bottom Line:
This is a wonderful place to spend a few hours with kids of any age. If your young ones are interested at all in other cultures or you want to teach them more about the way people live in other parts of the world, the ‘culture corner’ is a learning opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. $5 a person is a bargain for the amount of fun that this place packs in. And if you’re wondering, our master plan (which tends to be hit or miss) actually worked and our girls were perfectly happy to sit still and color at Duff’s while hubby and I got our grub on.

September 6th, 2010 | by Julie Breitigan 1 comment