The Bean Museum

We had planned on a hike in Provo Canyon this week, but we woke up to a cold and wet Wednesday morning. So instead, we decided on a visit back to one of our favorite places: The Bean Museum.

For those of you not from this area, the Bean Museum is not devoted to displays of legumes. It's actually a natural sciences museum named after Monte L. Bean. Mr. Bean, if you will. Anywho, my boys love this place and we could happily spend hours here. While I wish it had more going for it in the way of natural light-- it was built in the eighties when boxy, completely artificially-lit buildings seem to have been in vogue-- I'm happy there too.

I'm sure that most, if not all, of this blog's readers have been to the Bean Museum. But there are a couple of things we've learned about the place might encourage you to take another look:

• Reptile Shows. If you call ahead, you can schedule a free reptile show for your group. You can schedule a show for a preschool class, cub scout den, or just you and your kids. They'll show off some reptile skins and shells, talk about what makes reptiles special, and then bring out some live animals-- usually a tortoise, a couple of snakes, and a lizard (our favorite is the bearded dragon named Colonel Mustard). The coolness of this is not to be underestimated. (there are other live animal shows geared towards older children)


• Scavenger Hunts. If you ask at the front desk (where you'll have to stop in for a parking pass anyways), they'll hand you a scavenger hunt list and some pencils or crayons and you and your kids can turn your visit into a fun hunt. They make different lists for different age groups. We like to use the one that has pictures of different animals for little ones to color in.


• The Play Room. In the Southeast corner of the building (near the restrooms and insect exhibit), there's a play/story room. They have a story time there every Wednesday at 11:00. The rest of the time, though, it's a great place to take a break from looking at the animals and let the kids play, be a little rowdy, and enjoy a bit of a snack-- as well as feed a hungry baby if you've got one.


• Saturday Safaris. Kids ages 5-12 can sign up for Saturday morning classes on a variety of topics. The cost is $12 per child (or two from the same family for $22). They also have a summer program for kids ages 6-12, and "nature experienceships" for anyone ages 12 and older.