Summer 2007 - Museums | TRIS Project | SIU

Museums

With summer here, TRIS knows that the time has come for traveling and vacation time with your family. While you are traveling to your summer destinations, a great idea would be to plan your stops around museum locations. Smaller museums in rural areas are a great place to spend an hour stretching your legs and allowing your children to learn and have fun in a stimulating and education environment.

If you are traveling around the United States and would like to plan museum stops, visit Museums USA. Here you will be prompted to type in a city that you will be traveling to, and it will show you all of the museums and science centers in the area. This website will also give you information about hours of operation, price of admission, and street address.

You might want to take into consider a family membership through a children’s museum or science center. With some museums and science centers, a membership entitles you and your family to free admission to other science centers and museums throughout the country. View the number of museums and science centers in each state by going to Museums USA. At this link, you will be given links for each state and by clicking on a specific state, you will be directed to a page with cities. Simply click on the city you will be passing through and receive information about the museum.

For example, at the Museums USA homepage, we typed in Champaign, IL and were able to view all ten museums that are located in the city. The Orpheum Children’s Science Museum provides children of all ages the chance to explore and learn science at their own pace in an informal setting. Our exhibits are designed to be fun, but also to teach about science.

Be sure to call ahead and check hours of operation. Programs and hours may vary during summer months.