Last month I took our boys (both eight) on an overnight trip to the Field Museum in Chicago. It was part of a program the museum sponsors titled Dozin' with the Dinos. The program allows groups and families with children ages 6-12 to explore the museum after hours. This was the first 'lock-in' type of activity we've done. We loved it. Our group as well as groups of Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, and schools arrived in the early evening on Friday and departed at 9 AM the following morning. There were about 700 of us in all. We attended workshops in the atrium which featured disecting owl pellets to find skelletal remains, making a mummy, and getting up close and personal with tarantulas and snakes. We explored the Egyptian pyramid by flashlight (the boys and I explored the pyramid 6 times altogether.) We watched a movie on the Sue excavation, the giant T. Rex featured to the left (more interesting to me than them.) In the end we left no corner of the Field unexplored. The highlight for me were the dinosaurs, a favorite of mine as a kid. The highlight for the boys was staying up late and sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor of a museum. The pyramid was a close second. We bedded down in the "World of Mammals," but we didn't spend much time there. Every time I thought the boys were burned out and ready for bed we were off to look at something else,bioluminescent insects or Polynesian artifacts. We took a miss on story time at the Maori hut, but there was little we didn't see. I'd definately do it again. The staff was incredibly courteous and the parents and their kids were great.
Dinner and breakfast were provided.
Tickets for the 2014 Season launch July 1, 2013. Please visit this webpage for a list of available dates.
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