We are a family that loves to go and do…. and museums are at the top of our list of favorites.
A museum in Gadsden has quickly become one of our favorites.
Imagination Place is located in the Mary Harden’s Center for Cultural Arts in Gadsden, Alabama.
There are a couple of different parts of the children’s museum. There is a changing exhibit that could be Storyland, Festival of Trees, Let it Snow, or Clifford: The Big Red Dog. When these exhibits aren’t here at Imagination Place they have the big blue blocks and the large games out. My children LOVE this part just as much as any of it.
We have visited two times so far with plans to visit many more. Our first visit we were able to play with the big blue blocks and large games. We used the soft foamy blocks to build a castle, & stack as high as we could. There was no end to the fun with these. We would have been content with this being the only thing we did that day.
Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites (presented by Target) is a place where 7 of your favorite children’s books come to life! The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Snowy Day, Where’s Spot?, Abuela, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, & Tuesday are all here!
Each book is brought to life in this fun hands-on experience of each of these childhood favorites.
If You Give a Mouse A Cookie is one of our absolute favorites. With cookies you can crawl on, an area to “mix” your own “cookie batter”, a place to leave some mail and more. It was so fun to see and experience this book.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is such a cute catchy book. I read the book to my kids while they played (all of the areas has the book with the display so that you can read it to your children). There was a coconut tree and letters you can put on a conveyor belt and lift them up the tree. This was one of my son’s favorite parts.
Snowy Day was probably my favorite. With a spot to “walk in the snow” that makes the crunching sound as though you are actually walking in the snow it was fun for us southerners that don’t often get to experience the joys of snow. There are some fun pieces to make several snowmen. There are clothes to dress warm before you head out into the snow. There was even a little “window” to sit and look out with pictures from the book.
Tuesday was also a fun area. A book we have never read we can see that it clearly has a lot to do with frogs. You can try and find the frogs in the display, which are every where. With a small radio you can turn on and an area to be a star on TV the kids got a kick out of this area.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit was a favorite book of mine as a kid. You can go to the “garden” and find the different parts of clothing for the scarecrow and build him. You can go inside Peter Rabbit’s home and play, or go to the garden and pick some vegetables.
Where’s Spot is not a book that we have read and the only part of this display my kid’s seemed interested in was the stuffed dog that my 3YO just wanted to carry around with her everywhere, which would certainly have led to other children asking “Where’s Spot”.
Abuela had a large Statue of Liberty you can check out. It shared many ways to say Welcome in different languages.
While Storyland is a great adventure in itself, we also love going to Imagination’s Place’s permanent exhibit, KidsTown USA.
You can pretend to be a firefighter and wear the coat and boots and slide down the pole. You can pretend to be a mail carrier and deliver the mail. My kids are wild about the Piggly Wiggly with all the “groceries” to buy, and of course the bank is fun with all the money and the safe on the wall. There is a construction area with all kinds of digging equipment and you can wear a hard cat, safety vest and helmet. My doctor who plans to be a doctor gets a kick out of the hospital and getting to check x-rays, examine the patient, and give her “shots”. And this is only a portion of what is available on the first floor.
On the second floor the kids can check out a diner, work a garden, go for a ride on a train, or even climb back down to the first floor through a series of platforms (I didn’t know this existed the first time and was shocked when my kids magically appeared back on the first floor.)
At the Imagination Place there are also model trains up the escalator. This display features many parts of Gadsden that you know, with details located around the display to tell you about the parts you may not recognize.
Located near the trains is an art gallery. It changes so you should check it out each time you go!
Imagination Place is open year-round except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Monday-Saturday 10am-5PM and Sunday 1-5pm. Admission is free for children 2 years and under and 8.00 for all others. An adult must accompany children at all times. It is located at 501 Broad Street, Gadsden Alabama.
We love our trips to Imagination Place and my kids will talk about it for weeks after we go. We are members of the ASTC and are able to use our membership with them for free admission. Our ASTC membership also got us free admission to the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.
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