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| My young engineers drive the Metra |
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| Outside the museum, give the wheel a crank and watch the train's wheels spin. |
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| Excited train face at the model RR |
The evening before our most recent visit to the
DuPage Children's Museum my oldest developed a stomachache from a bit of overindulgence at a church potluck. He was miserable, not because of any discomfort, but because he was afraid he might miss going to the museum. This is how much this place is loved. Fortunately, time and a few train videos on YouTube cure all ills and the trip went off as planned.
As a children's museum, there's no shortage of fun activities for kids of all ages and interests.
From their very first visits, my children have loved the WaterWays, AirWorks, and Make It Move exhibits.
Last year, however, the museum made itself even more appealing with the opening of a new exhibit: "Trains -- Get On Board!" Kids have always stopped playing to watch the Metra trains zip by just north of the museum's parking lot, but the new exhibit brings the trains right into the museum. Children can be engineers or passengers in a kid-sized Metra. ("It's the old diesel engine," points out my boy who knows these things.) A control tower gives the children something to climb. A ticket window, engineer and conductor clothing allow for pretend play. Of course, the requisite model railroad layout fills the center of the area with viewing areas both outside and within the tracks. A few observant children might even delight in the beautiful Art Deco travel posters recalling train travel of days gone by. For the youngest members of the family, one of the museum's two Young Explorers areas for babies and toddlers is next to the train exhibit allowing fairly easy supervision of all family members at once.
Thanks to the generosity of the museum and our local library, the kids earned free admission passes for participating in the summer reading program. I was happy to find a discount coupon for myself in the
Oaklees Guide. The baby just squeaked in for free since he's a few weeks shy of his first birthday. Without these discounts, everyone under 60 pays $9.50 each, so consider a membership if you'd like to make repeat visits, or do your coupon scouting homework!
The museum is at 301 N. Washington Street in Naperville. Road construction on Washington and surrounding streets is making entering the parking lot a bit of an adventure these days, so watch for construction and detour signs as you approach.
I admit it. I am a history nerd. It is with great joy that I make my family take side trips to see historical markers whenever possible. So, during a rare lunch out with just my husband (We love grandparents; yes we do!) I couldn't resist checking out the old limestone train station just down the road. We were in Lemont, a town I lived in briefly and love for its historical charm. Lemont grew as workers on the Illinois & Michigan Canal settled in the area from the 1830s onward. The rock discovered during excavations there, once known as "Athens marble" after the town's original name, became a fixture in building local structures of every size and purpose. Ultimately, railroad lines played a key role in transporting workers and shipping goods to and from the Chicago area. These days Lemont's little station serves commuters taking Metra's Heritage Corridor line during the workweek, but during its long history it has witnessed Lincoln's funeral train, a violent labor strike, soldiers heading off to war, and speeches from national leaders. Even though this building is "just" a little train station, it's perfect place to sneak in a little history lesson: "Hey, let's go look at the station. Look at this! Did you know that people stood here to watch Abraham Lincoln's funeral train pass on its way to Springfield?" History sinks in to kids minds a bit at a time here and there as we read books and they hear lessons. Those stories start to stick, though, when we can give them pieces of real history to see and touch. 
