Review of Exploration Station in Bourbonnais, IL

Today, the family went to meet my sister at the Exploration Station. It's a 1.5-hour drive from Champaign (so a good middle point for relatives in the Chicago area for a meet up).

The outside of the building showed a lot a promise. It is relatively new with great little kid shaped windows that were low to the ground. MacTroll and I forgot the camera, so you'll have to visit the web site for photos.

What we can tell you is that this children's museum would make a great stop by place if you happen to be in the area, but there's nothing about it that stands out as a reason to seek this children's museum out. They have a giant castles the kids can run through. It has a dress up area, and a gate you can raise and lower. But inside the castle there isn't much to do besides go up and down stairs. 

There's a pirate ship, but similarly, it's just a ship with a really wobbly steering wheel. The play table of castle toys are from several different collections and really don't work together. 

There are plenty of play vehicles for toddlers to climb in. X-man was partial to the fighter jet. He liked to pretend it was a rocketship and blast off. But there was also a tractor and a fire truck. Two exhibits -- the commercial airliner and the soda shop were recently redone by 17-year-old Eagle scouts. The soda shop had cloth ice cream to scoop from a cooler and then some puff balls to sprinkle on as topping. X-man enjoyed scooping it up for us and his Aunt Melissa, but I really enjoyed when we went back later and the soda shop was staffed by 2 big girls and a bigger boy. He took 3 minutes to pull himself onto the stool at the counter. Then, they asked him what kind of ice cream he wanted and X-man was able to say, "White with cherries please!" (His favorite.)

There was a post office where he got to learn how to put a letter through a sorter (he liked that) but he wasn't interested in picking up or delivering the mail. The museum is pretty short on safe areas for kids under 36 inches tall. There is one soft matted area especially for them, but the stuff in it is all well worn.

Also worn out or in disrepair were the art table, the water table and this weird giant 6' doll that you unzipped his belly (actually the zipper was broken) and take out his insides (anatomy lesson). Educational, sure. But dude, he was ratty looking.

What I'm finding is that most children's museums get the funds to build exhibits but don't build in the budget to maintain them. And as they fall apart teenage boy scouts use them for Eagle scout projects. I also usually find that most children's museums that are part of park districts are usually better at upkeep (like Bloomington's and Decatur's) but this isn't the case for Bourbonnais.

The admission was $5 for adults and $4 for kids over the ages of 12 months. There is also an animal room for $1 per person entry that has salamanders, newts, a chinchilla, gerbil, iguana, etc. They are also NOT members of the Association of Children's Museums.

But I think I've been to enough Children's Museums now that I can rank my favorites:

1. Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee, WI.*

2. Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, IL.*

3. Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, IL.*

4. Children's Museum of Illinois in Decatur, IL.*

5. Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, PA.*

6. Orpheum Children's Science Museum in Champaign, IL.*

7. Exploration Station in Bourbonnais, IL.

* - designates members in the Association of Children's Museum membership.

I'm taking X-man up to the Chicago Children's Museum on Dec. 4. I'll let you know how that one goes.