Want to get out of the house and do something a little different? Have you ever tried a museum and exploration road trip? 

Pack up the bags and get ready to take a trip into history, learning, and fun!

Start at any point on this road trip that loops through and around Northeast Ohio while you have a fun weekend exploring!

Included On Your Science Road Trip Around Northeast Ohio:

Ashtabula Maritime & Surface Transportation Museum – Built in 1871 as a lighthouse keeper’s home, this museum houses exhibits on local shipping history.

Fairport Marine Museum and Lighthouse – Historic location with 1871-era lighthouse, exhibiting marine artifacts in the “keeper’s dwellings.” Since 1945, the keeper’s dwelling has been home to the museum’s outstanding collection of Fairport Harbor and Great Lakes maritime history.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History – When you visit the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, you become part of a tradition of science and exploration nearly 100 years in the making! Known as a great place for families and children, the Museum is also a center for world-class scientific research. 

Image Credit: Cleveland Museum of Natural History

The Children’s Museum of Cleveland – As a leader in imaginative and creative play, The Children’s Museum of Cleveland (CMC) gives children a place and the tools to write their own script and discover their own adventures through our interactive exhibits and programs. A child will be naturally drawn to those activities that most excite and engage him or her.

We offer an open-ended learning environment giving children the opportunity to imagine, experiment, problem-solve and communicate – building skills for a 21st-century learner. We are an advocate for self-directed play as one of the best ways for a young child to learn.

Great Lakes Science Center – with exhibits, events, programs, daily science demos, and a dome theater, what kid could want more?! There are hundreds of hands-on exhibits to satisfy curious minds and keep kids entertained for hours!

Image Credit: Great Lakes Science Center

Lake Erie Nature & Science Center – Lake Erie Nature & Science Center provides free admission seven days a week and performs wildlife rehabilitation at no charge to the public. The Center offers quality nature, environmental and science experiences through school field trips, preschool, family, scouting and planetarium programs, nature hikes and a variety of wildlife exhibits, along with domestic and wildlife close encounters.

A Christmas Story House & Museum – Not really a science-themed museum, I still couldn’t resist adding this iconic movie house to the list. Plus, if you are planning to make a week or weekend out of the trip, you can book overnight stays at the house!

Photo Credit: A Christmas Story House

Akron Fossils & Science Center – At Akron Fossils & Science Center, participants and visitors become more than observers; they become researchers, experimenters, and even educators. Our exhibits and programs let you experience science first-hand and encourage understanding and deep, critical thought. 

At Akron Fossils & Science center visitors of all ages are provided with balanced, affordable, and hands-on educational opportunities to explore the science of the world past, present, and future. 

Akron Fossils & Science Center features a hands-on tour with science activities that put knowledge directly in your hands. Unlike many other science centers, our fossils aren’t in glass cases; they are in your hands where you can truly experience and learn from these records of the past. Hold real fossils, make your own replicas, interact with live animals, and ask critical questions, just like real scientists.

McKinley Presidential Library & Museum – This hands-on interactive science center, Presidential Museum, and historical library takes visitors on a scientific journey through the past, present, and future.

Photo Credit: McKinley Presidential Library

Oh Wow! Children’s Center for Science and Technology – OH WOW!’s colorful, hands-on environment encourages independent thinking through interactive STEM-based exhibits and EDUtaining programs.

Photo Credit: Oh Wow!

After you’ve finished visiting them all, loop back around to where you started from and share all your wonderful experiences with us! Let us know what you learned and all the fun you had by sharing on our Facebook page, The Mommy Bunch.

Can’t wait to see!

 

 

Thanks to Junction Family Auto of Chardon, Ohio for bringing us all these great museums to visit.