The cure for “I’m bored!”

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Scenario 1: The kid bounced up and down in her seat. Beside her in the darkened theater, her mother tensed. Mom had moved mountains to get tickets to this theatrical adaptation of the kid’s #1 favorite animated movie. Act one was only halfway through. Finally, her daughter looked over and asked, in a whisper that carried for two rows in either direction, “Is it time to go yet?”

Scenario 2: It had taken serious cat-herding, but the whole family finally piled into the car. Two pit-stops and one attempted-fratricide later they finally arrived at the trailhead the guidebooks gushed about as “must-hike” for families in Wisconsin. Thirty-five minutes and a light drizzle later, the choruses of “I’m tired, let’s go home!” began.

As parents and caregivers, we’ve all been there. We want to limit their screen time. We want to get the kids out of the house and doing something “enriching,” but does it have to be so darn hard?

Exhausted and exasperated parents and caregivers: we see you!

At Madison Children’s Museum, we offer a wealth of activities to fit your child’s attention span right this very minute. One day they’re so focused that they park themselves at the light table and build a miniature version of the Louvre Pyramid out of Magna-Tiles. The next day they’re so squirrelly that they do a dab of paint here, a couple of legos there, go down the slide once, and then are off to throw together a felt pizza. And the next day they just want to cuddle up in your lap in a Wildernest pod and read a picture book. Our whole museum is built so that they can follow their bliss, wherever it might lead: inside and out.

Trying to get a toddler into cold-weather gear can feel like prepping an astronaut for a spacewalk. Want them to get some fresh air without the whole nine yards? Take them up to our rooftop to glide around on our skating patch or to run around in the garden and then scoot them inside to visit the critters in the Clubhouse when they start to feel chilly.

A major family expedition is worth attempting every now and then, if only for the stories you can tell later. But for every other day of the year, when you know they need to get out of the house but you “just can’t even” with all the hassle, come to the museum. We’ve got you covered.