Have you heard? There is a new dinosaur museum in Tucson! And I can tell you from personal experience...kids think it's Dino-MITE!
I was recently invited to be a guest of Pre-historic Journey Dinosaur Discovery Center. Both C., my 4-year-old princess who LOVES dinosaurs, and E., my 17-month-old who is as destructive a force as any T-Rex, joined me on this adventure. I was hesitant about bringing E., as I had visions of toppling dinosaur fossils, but Education Director Zoey Lee, assured me that little ones come in all the time and do fine.
My first impression as we pulled up in front of the museum was that parking was extremely limited...which, I later learned was the wrong impression, as there is ample parking behind the building. The museum itself is quite small, and as we walked in I thought we'd probably spend 20-30 minutes tops. Again...wrong! Over an hour later I basically had to drag the girls away.
We were greeted by Kota, a cute (yep) animatronic triceratops that small children can sit on, feed, and generally adore. Other dinosaur toys, books and art adorned the entryway, and a very tall, birdlike creature peeked out from above the partitian to the main area. Older children get a quiz as they enter, for which they can find answers throughout the main room. Completion of the quiz earns a small prize.
The main room fits a lot of activity into a small space. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the colorful, fierce, birdlike sculptures along one wall of the room; the dinosaur replicas created by renowned local bird artist Daniel McQuestion. In fact, the proprietors of the Dinosaur Discovery Center originally conceived of a bird museum, until their son, now 10, said, "You aren't going to make a boring museum, are you?" Thus, with the exception of these replicas, everything else in the room is hands-on. And the activities vary from science, to art, to creative play. My girls were completely happy coloring, playing with the dinosaur toys, uncovering fossils and returning periodically to interact with Kota.
I wanted to know what older children thought of the place, and it just so happened that Danny, 7 and Sarah, 11 visited for the first time while we were there. When I asked them their opinions Sarah said she enjoyed finding dinosaur bones and taking the quiz. Danny, who was working on a dinosaur report for school said, "I like that there is alot of information about dinosaurs. You would think small dinosaurs were not meat eaters, but they actually were. I also liked the pre-historic poop. Ewww!"
Clearly, Prehistoric Journey: Dinosaur Discovery Center gets "two horns up" from children ages 17 months-11 years. Interested in visiting? The Dinosaur Discovery Center is located at 2602 N. Stone Ave. It's open Thursday-Monday 10 am-6 pm (opens at noon on Sundays, closed Tuesday and Wednesday). Admission is $5/person, although special discounts may apply. See the website, http://www.prehistoric-journey.org, for details.
You can enter to win a family 5-pack of admission tickets (that's right FIVE-it's not a typo!)
Contest Rules: Simply comment below with a your family's favorite dinosaur. For an extra entry, you can "like" Prehistoric Journey's facebook page (be sure to come back here and comment). No more than two comments per person please. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Must be a Macaroni Kid subscriber to win. Contest closes at midnight on April 27th. Winner will be notified by e-mail and has 24 hours to confirm prize or another winner will be selected. Good luck!
