Staten Island Children's Museum

With all due respect to my old pal Phil (a pretty kick ass step-dad from what I hear) and Camp Pouch the only boy scout camp in New York City limits I'm not a huge Staten Island guy. So when Mrs.Gmibp suggested going to the Staten Island Children's museum I sort of balked. But the price was right ($6 per person) and we'd heard a good review of it.

I'll tell you this, the price of admission would have been fair if it were doubled, that is how fun and cool this place was. And being the dead of winter the outdoor exhibits were closed, so there is more to see and explore. Located in the Snug Harbor park, which also has a botanical garden, a playhouse and at least another museum, it was really easy to find coming off the bridge. You are greeted by a gigantic metal praying mantis. And then as you enter the doors you have two choices ... Fire truck or full sized dress up theatre.

We chose the fire truck, which kids could climb into while wearing fire fighter garb (helmets,jackets, oxygen backpacks) they could ring the bell and even slide down a fire pole. Just past the firetruck were all the oversized games a kid could imagine. The hallway had a giant chessboard. Kid sized Lincoln logs, two foot tall dominoes and a twenty foot bowling alley. Honestly we could have stayed in this area for hours. But we chose to check out the explorers room, which had set up for rainforest, arctic, and underwater explorations. You could touch everything ... Except the floor in the rainforest room which was clearly a river that you had to traverse via rocks, log or raft.

We spent a few hours inside and the kids were asleep by the time we pulled out of the parking lot. Well done SI Kids museum. We will definitely come back when the outdoor exhibits are all open, perhaps combined with a ferry ride.