While we were out running our midtown errands the other day, we decided to make an impromptu stop at one of our Tulsa favorites , Philbrook! We only had a few minutes to spare so I asked the friendly docent at the desk if there were any new children’s activities or exibits we should try. She suggested we give the Philbrook Scavenger hunt a whirl. Its quick and light and gives children a look at Philbrook as a home, built by a family who were gathering their inspirations from around the world and bringing them home to Tulsa.
Ask for the “Secrets of the House” paper at the front desk. You read through simple clues that lead from one place in the museum to the next. The whole thing took us about 25 minutes to complete.
Grandmother Pam teamed up with Viggo.
Anyone ever noticed these initials before?
We ended our expedition in everyone’s favorite spot, the gardens!
If you are looking for a place to let your children release their excess of energy in a stimulating and educational environment, the head over to the Tulsa Children’s Museum!
Not only do I really enjoy this place, I’m also just really grateful it’s here now. Having spent the first few years of parenthood traveling to almost every major city with kids and babies in tow, desperately searching out places for those little people to run free, I practically became a children’s museum connoisseur. I have seen them all. Really, all! Whenever we headed home to T-Town, I always found myself thinking, “Where is our children’s museum?!”
Well, here it is!
The kids took off their shoes and went straight to enjoying the fun and practically indestructable exhibits in the large room of the museum.
A huge slide made entirely of tape! A dream.
Willa was beyond proud of herself for being brave enough to slide. She went “again!” and “again!”.
Viggo was digging this bungee maze and was reenacting the scene from Get Smart where Max and 99 limbo around the lasers. That kid.
Another play area where kids can scoot around and catch balls flying out of tubes, or just have your big sister provide all your entertainment.
I couldn’t resist these chairs. They are almost untippable!
In addition to the main exhibit hall, there is a temporary exhibit called red dirt dinosaurs. The exhibit includes animatronic dinos and information on species found right here in OK.
And as if all of this wasn’t enough to engage everyone, there is one more room tucked away in the back of the dinosaur exhibit, where kids can sit down and work through a simple science experiment with the help of the staff. They told us the experiment changes weekly to give frequent visitors something new.
Another snowy day in Tulsa called for a trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium. Here we could at least pretend we were in a tropical environment, observing their wide variety of underwater inhabitants!
We don’t make it to the aquarium as often as I would like because its further south than we usually drive, and since I haven’t purchased a membership, admission for our group can get pricey. However, I discovered a program on their website called “Fish Tales”, which offers children half price admission if you print out a form and fill it with a drawing or story about a fish. It’s a great way to get everybody excited about the aquarium and save a little money too!
River’s Tale
Tales are displayed inside the aquarium.
I love how many hands on exhibits there are for the brave ones in the group.
Hey River! Get out of there!
Probably the most impressive element of the aquarium is the shark tunnel. You walk through and under 15 bull sharks on the move! It’s amazing! The tank is also home to four nurse sharks who are usually found lazily positioned in front of the vents near the bottom, letting fresh oxygen flow over their gills. The bull sharks however must swim constantly which makes for an exciting live action show as you walk through the exhibit.
As Ezra and I hurried ahead to shorten our time underwater, an employee stopped to inform us that under the thick acrylic walls of the tank is actually the safest spot in the museum, and their designated tornado shelter. Thanks but no thanks!
