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Throughout the year we'll hear from eight bloggers as they share about their family's time in the brand-new Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience® and how it inspires them to explore these sports back at home.
This post was written by Children's Museum Blog Ambassador Jeanine Bobenmoyer. Follow her posts on the blog and follow her on Twitter @themomista.
Christmas season is key in our house, as I’m sure the winter holidays are in yours. It’s followed closely by birthdays, the appearance of the Easter Bunny, and Halloween. We don’t go all-out with decorations at the Bobenmoyer homestead but really feast on the excitement in the air, the countdown to the fun, and the anticipation of what’s to come. Enter the week leading up to the opening of The Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience®...
“Okay mom, so we’re going on Thursday, right? Because I told all my friends that I’d kick a field goal in the Colts section and Sam wants a picture.” ←that’s Hunter, my 10-year-old who's already learned the art of wild boasting among guy pals.
“MOM. I MUST GO UP THAT TREEHOUSE.” ←that’s Emerson, my 7-year-old who truly talks in shouty, capital letters. For the sake of this post, I’ll downsize them to regular font but please know the lowercase is a lie.
When Thursday arrived, we pulled into the Children’s Museum parking garage {greeted by a smiling, waving attendant—isn’t that always the best way to kick off any Museum visit?}. We made our way down the walkway, but not before both kids pressed their noses to the glass overlooking the entire sports experience venue, excitedly chattering a mile a minute. The day had finally arrived.
Our visit was a blur of thrill, fun, and activity. The drive home was an excitable one as we talked through all the things we saw, did, and learned! To help spread that thrill to your own family, Hunter and Emerson wanted to take over this post and offer tips FOR kids BY kids. Here we go:
1. When you visit, make a game plan.
“There’s lots to look at and do!” said Hunter. He liked that we stopped on the walkway leading into the museum, looked at the big map decal on the window, and made a plan of three areas he wanted to go to, and three that Emerson wanted to go to.
2. If you can’t fit it all in, plan a follow up trip!
Remember how Hunter had to prove he could kick a field goal? Well we spent a lot of time in the Indianapolis Colts Football Experience doing just that. And because the time for our first visit was somewhat limited, it meant we have a good list of spots to stop at during our next visit—this is where our Children's Museum membership definitely comes in handy for planning repeat trips! “If you can’t see everything, talk to your parents about going back again,” says Hunter. In our family’s opinion, getting a good, rich experience in a select few areas vs. spending a couple minutes in all of them is always key. And yes Hunter hit that field goal {Sam, a photo is coming your way!}.
3. Try something new.
“I’ve never raced in cars before that I had to kick with my feet like a bicycle!” said Emerson. She’s referring to the pedal cars in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pedal Car Racetrack Experience and Church Brothers Collision Repair Drag Strip. And that was just one of many new experiences we had. We shot street-hockey balls at the Indy Fuel Hockey Experience, spent time learning about new-to-us sports legends on the Avenue of Champions, and channeled our inner Serena Williams and local tennis legend Barbara Wynne on the Seymour and Rheta Holt Tennis Center courts. Why not try something new?
4. If you have questions, look for a Children’s Museum employee.
“They’re everywhere and they’re wearing orange shirts!” said Emerson. Everyone we encountered were super helpful and knowledgeable, and believe me, Em {a budding reporter} peppered everyone she saw with questions. “They really knew what they were talking about!” ←Emerson again.
5. The Tree House has the best view of everything.
The view from the walkway is beautiful but Hunter insists that the best view of the sports experience is from the top of the Children’s Museum Guild Fantasy Tree House of Sports. He’s right! It’s definitely worth the climb up and kids, take your parents too! Oh and one thing this momma needs to mention: We broke the rules. We did. The Children’s Museum was still in the process of printing mini signs that say "don’t climb the outside of the Tree House" and we not only did it, but posted a photo on Instagram. Kids and parents: This is a big no-no which we didn’t know at the time but now we do and we’re sharing—please learn from our mistake!
There you have it—5 tips by my kids for your kids. Admittedly I pared them a little bit {unless you’d like Hunter’s play-by-play on how to shoot the perfect jump shot in the Indiana Pacers and Fever Basketball Experience?} but hope they’re a help for planning your family’s visit.
