Homeschool Connection: Burpee Museum-Summer Fun

A few months ago we purchased our membership with Burpee Museum. At first I was excited to get this membership for them because it came with a list of over 300 other museums we could go to. However, there's a limitation as to which ones you can go to and that limit is museums within 90 miles of your residence is out. This however, may be great for someone in the boonies, but for those in city limits you may miss out on a few.

We took advantage of this list because we went to the Discovery World in Milwaukee Wisconsin. This place was awesome, even with the 4th floor being closed off for an event. We'll definitely go back a few more times.

It's located on Lake Michigan, yes that's right on the lake, which freaked me out at first because I don't do water like that. The membership is free, but you have to pay for parking, which is based by how long you stay:

1 hour or less $5
1-2 hours $7
2-3 hours $8
3-6 hours $10
6 or more $15
Special events $8
Lost tickets are $15

You also have two options for lunch, bring your own or eat in at the cafe. I do want warn you that the prices are kind of high, but if that's not a problem, then have at it. You can either eat in the lunch room or eat at one of few tables along the entrance to the museum and if there's no room when a field trip is schedule as it was when we went, ask for additional seating and they will gladly provide.

Now there's a total of 4 floors cramped packed with fun learning. The main for were the 5 Great Lakes with some caged creatures to see. There were snakes, fish, and nice display of the 5 Great Lakes with water shooting down.

The lower level was a tunnel, were you walked over the fish tank, as well as walking under the fish tank. It depends on where you were walking. It was pretty cool it was like walking in the middle of the tank. There were all sorts of water creatures, seahorses, sword fish, flatfish, but I could be wrong on that one because I didn't see the sign because I had 3 little hands diving in to touch them. Which that was okay because was allowed, but of course I didn't stick my hand in, LOL.

The third floor was ships, boats, and canoes. They have a huge ship the kiddos can play on. That's where the little ones stayed for the most part of being up there. They were allowed to go down to the bottom of the ship. They were in the captains cabin. However, if your child wants to go to the bottom of the ship, they would need to at least 6 or older to be allowed.

The fourth floor was closed do to an event, but I'm not sure if that was a normal thing. By the time we finished the three floors, we were worn out, or at least we thought we were. As we headed out, we discovered another section, which was a whole lot more of hands on fun. There was a bed of nails that you lie down on and it raised up, but the coolest part was the nuclear tent was awesome. It had the whole thing where the lights went out in the city and the kiddos had to go through the cycle to get them to turn back on, pretty cool for my 6 year old, he light up when the lights came back on in the city.