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Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Address: 3000 N. Meridian St.
Phone: 317-334-3322
Website: www.childrensmuseum.org
Facebook: The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Indianapolis Zoo
Address: 1200 W. Washington St.
Phone: 317-630-2001
Website: www.indianapoliszoo.com
Facebook: Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens
Rhythm! Discovery Center
Address: 110 W. Washington St., Suite A
Phone: 317-275-9030
Website: http://rhythmdiscoverycenter.org/
Facebook: Rhythm! Discovery Center
Other resources
For additional travel resources, events calendars, hotel, restaurant and attraction information and more, check out Visit Indy at http://visitindy.com/ or Travel Indy on Facebook, Twitter or You Tube.
Squeal and splash. Roar and rat-a-tat-tat — you can play out loud in Indianapolis.
Learning and laughter go hand-in-hand, or sometimes hand-in-paw, in Indianapolis, making it an ideal location for a fun family getaway.
As schools go on spring break, parents may want to go west, to Indiana’s biggest city.
Indianapolis Zoo
Visitors are invited to join the party as the Indianapolis Zoo celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
If the past five decades were momentous, 2014 is being tapped as epic with the May opening of the International Orangutan Center, which CNN and the Chicago Tribune have already declared as a “must see” attraction.
Whether you are taking in the experience in a gondola 50-feet in the air or finger painting with an orangutan, the International Orangutan Center will engage and enlighten visitors of all ages.
Helping visitors get up-close-and-personal with its residents is what the Indianapolis Zoo does best.
Bravely touch sharks in the world’s largest shark touch tank. Venture more than 10 feet underwater with dolphins in the world’s only underwater dolphin viewing dome. Get within 1½ inches of tigers, where a single pane of glass is all that separates you from the big cats. Feed a giraffe a snack or feed birds as they rest on your hand. Maybe even race a cheetah.
Want even more interaction?
Guests 54 inches and taller can try the Dolphin In-Water Adventure while younger guests might enjoy the Junior Dolphin Trainer experience.
Art enthusiasts of all ages might like to add an original piece to their collection courtesy of various animal artists — like a dolphin, an elephant, a penguin or a rhino.
Guests can also meet some of the newest additions to the zoo family like Majani, a 4-year-old giraffe who already measures in a 12½ feet tall, or Joy and Holly, two female California sea lion pups.
Spring also means the opening of the Butterfly Kaleidoscope at the Hilbert Conservatory with hundreds and, sometimes, thousands of butterflies flying around guests.
Still want more? How about a train, a carousel and a 4-D theater?
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Have you dug up a dinosaur lately? Journeyed into space? Explored a shipwreck? Created a masterpiece? Discovered a mummy’s tomb?
You can do all of the above and much, much more at the largest children’s museum in the world. Guests can explore five floors of interactive exhibits covering science, culture, history and the arts.
In Dinosphere, you’ll be immersed in the sounds, smells, and sights of the Cretaceous period as you explore one of the largest displays of real juvenile and family dinosaur fossils in the United States. Leonardo, one of only four mummified dinosaurs in the world, recently arrived at the museum just in time to celebrate Dinosphere’s 10th birthday.
From the skies to the seas, there is much to experience. See the stars of the Indiana night sky, learn how a telescope works, and fly past the Milky Way in the Spacequest Planetarium or see a real cannon excavated from the shipwreck of Captain Kidd in the National Geographic Treasures of the Earth. The National Geographic exhibit also includes a recreation of the longest, deepest, and most complete of any tomb in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings. Analyze the intricate details of the tomb walls, explore the burial chamber, and work together as a family to solve challenges.
The museum is also home to the largest permanent sculpture of blown glass by renowned artist Dale Chihuly — Fireworks of Glass which stands at a remarkable 43-feet tall. Young artists can use the sculpture as inspiration to create their own masterpiece in this hands-on exhibit.
If the kids still have some energy to burn, they can ride the carousel, climb a rock wall or immerse themselves in the new Playscape.
Older children and their families might find inspiration in The Power of Children exhibit that tells the heroic stories of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White.
Rhythm! Discovery Center
Want to bang on the drum on the day? Then the Rhythm! Discovery Center is a must-stop destination.
The Rhythm! Discovery Center percussion museum provides innovative programs as well as interactive, educational exhibits and artist performances. Drawing upon cultures from around the world, the Center offers a unique, engaging experience to explore rhythm and percussion and their role in shaping communication, music, art, performance and society.
Ever dreamt of being center stage performing a drum solo? You can grab some drumsticks and have a go at it. Try your hand on a xylophone or slam the cymbals.
Need more cowbell? There are several to choose from as well as bongo drums aplenty.
No one will shush you as you play till your heart’s content on any number of instruments from primitive to high tech. And it won’t just be the young visitors who get in on the act as this highly interactive center is bound to bring out the inner rock star in visitors young and old.
And there’s more — much more
At Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, the Smithsonian Museum Institution's only Indiana affiliate, you'll find that "look, don't touch" becomes "look, touch, smell, taste and hear." As you explore five themed historic areas on 200 beautiful, wooded acres, you'll discover more exciting, memorable ways to experience the past than your family can pack into a day. More information: www.connerprairie.org/.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum houses one of the world's largest collection of race cars — including more than 30 past winners of the Indianapolis 500 — as well as the famous Borg-Warner Trophy. See, touch, and, even, get behind the wheel as you take in a century of racing. More information: www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.
The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art contains one of the world's finest Native American and Western Art collections and is one of only two such museums east of the Mississippi. The current Ansel Adams exhibit includes many of Adams most famous and best-loved photographs, including architectural studies, portraits and landscapes. More information: http://www.eiteljorg.org/.
Coming attractions
Event: Inaugural Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
When: May 10
For the first-time, IndyCar drivers and teams will compete at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway on a road course. This is the most affordable race of the season, kicking off the month of May race festivities in the Racing Capitol of the World. Group ticket prices available.
Prior to watching the race, step inside the Hall of Fame Museum on the grounds of the Speedway to see more than 150 cars on display, including the first ever car to win the Indianapolis 500 in 1911 - the Marmon Wasp.
Exhibit: International Orangutan Center
Opens: Memorial Day Weekend (May) 2014 at Indianapolis Zoo
The zoo’s largest permanent exhibit — the size of two football fields — welcomes zoo-goers to sit face-to-face with orangutans to play interactive games or enjoy a skyline ride 40 feet in the air within 30 feet of the orangutans on the recreated Hutan Trail. Visitors to the new $23 million dollar exhibit will be able to watch an orangutan flip on a light switch each night to light the new Beacon of Hope. Zoologists have called this one of the most important zoo exhibits in the world due to the research being conducted there. Included in regular zoo admission.
Exhibit: Terra Cotta Warriors at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Opens: May 10
This will be the only United States destination where people will be able to see the original Terra Cotta Warriors this way. For the first time ever, the Shaanxi Chinese government is working with a family institution to let this authentic exhibit out of the county. Museum goers will see eight of the original Terra Cotta Warriors as well as more than 100 artifacts from the first Chinese emperor’s tomb. Each warrior was painted differently.
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