The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is so much more than a kid's museum. Four levels (plus a lower level) of exhibits are connected by a central winding path, inviting the children to run higher and higher to discover things in the museum.

One of the highlights this summer is an exhibit featuring the James Cameron movie Avatar. Kids lined up to be filmed as an Avatar in a movie scene, and to use state-of-the-art cameras and technology in the same ways the filmmakers did. There are actual costumes, robots and machines from the movie. You can stand in the Avatar's shoes for a photo op. The shoes are gigantic, so this was great fun.

Pictured above is a common street vehicle used in Egypt, part of the 'Take me There' Egypt exhibit. A screen in the street car show you how scary and tight the traffic is on the streets. In other sections of this feature, kids can put on clothing items, sit in replicas of Egyptian homes, make jewelry, play instruments, and interact in all sorts of ways.

On level three was one of my favorite exhibits - The Power of Children. It features the story of Ryan White, the young man from Indiana who was infected with AIDS from a blood transfusion and discriminated against. It has his actual toys, posters, clothes, etc. from his bedroom. It has lockers from his school, and shows how other kids and parents were afraid of him. The story of Anne Frank and her life hiding from Nazis in Holland was wonderfully done. It's amazing the Jewish folks hid in that building annex for a year and a half. Her diary, discovered on the floor after the Nazis took them away, was saved by a worker and eventually published: the world eventually knew her story.

Ruby Bridges, the little African American girl who was the first to be integrated into a public school classroom, is also represented in this wonderful exhibit. Kids get the opportunity to see how their small voices can actually change the world, one child at a time. They learn they too, can make a difference.

There's a great ScienceWorks display on the fourth floor, with a freshwater pond, rock climbing wall, and an interactive watershed table. Also don't miss the National Geographic Treasures of the Earth on the lower level, where kids can help uncover three archaeological sites including an Egyptian pharaoh, China's terra cotta warriors, and a Caribbean shipwreck.

Children's Museum - 3000 N Meridian Street, Indianapolis IN 46208. 10 a.m - 5 p.m. Some evenings open later. $13.50 for youth; $18.50 for ages 18 & older. Discounts for seniors and museum membership.