I do not mean to brag, but my toddler is a children’s museum connoisseur. We have been to children’s museums large and small, from Philadelphia to Johnson City. While he always enjoys himself, after two hours he is usually over the whole experience and ready to move on.
When we went to visit The Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville, Arkansas, he was totally captivated for the entire afternoon we were there.
Though it opened in 2015 and has hundreds of children run through it each day, the Amazeum looks immaculate. We’ve visited some great children’s museums but the Amazeum really takes the cake in terms of number and quality of activities, appeal for younger and older kids, and looking brand-spanking new (seriously, the cleaning crew gets an A+ from me).
There’s approximately 50,000 square feet of exhibit and learning spaces inside and an acre of outdoor spaces. The rotating exhibits of the Amazeum mean that there might be something new to see every time you visit, although it would also take many visits to see everything. Many of the exhibits are sponsored by major companies — Nickelodeon Play Lab, Nature Valley Water Amazements — so there is some primo technology at play here.
Here is how we explored the Amazeum, and how my toddler, the expert, reacted.
The Entrance:
As you may have seen, my kiddo was super pumped to come into the Amazeum even though he had no idea what would happen inside. He was immediately captivated by a marble drawing intricate patterns in sand. We had to drag him away from both this and the gift shop to get to the actual exhibits.
Toddler verdict: Bus! Get on bus? [There is shuttle service from the Amazeum to Crystal Bridges.]
3M Measurement Rules
Measurement Rules was a new exhibit we got to preview, designed to make things like weight, size, and volume fun. At one activity, only balls of a certain diameter would pass through, but other sizes would be returned. It was great to see his little neurons in action and how proud he was when he figured out the trick. It also made me extremely happy to know that my child weighs eight chickens.
Toddler verdict: BALL!!!
This area was designed for children age 6 and younger, with soft blocks, a machine that blows scarves (huge winner), push carts, and other toys that rambunctious toddlers with no sense of danger can play with safely. There’s another area for kids 2 and younger as well.
Toddler verdict: *giggling for 5 minutes straight at the scarf blown through tubes*
The outdoor areas were divided into activities appropriate for different ages with lots of natural wooden structures. There was a climbing net for older kids, a play house for younger kids, and a wooden obstacle course that taught my toddler how to balance. He saw an older kid walk on beams and jump between stumps and was very insistent that he do it also.
Toddler verdict: Outside!!! Step up? Mama help?
General Mills Lift, Load & Haul
There is a system of pulleys and levers here that let kids haul up blocks (and themselves!) and a much larger, more powerful scarf blower. But there is also the cab of an 18-wheeler Walmart truck and the only thing my toddler wanted to do was “drive” the truck. This was his favorite activity of the whole museum. I am reasonably sure that if I did not physically haul him away, he would still be sitting there today, turning the steering wheel and flipping switches.
Toddler verdict: Driving that truck was the best thing that ever happened to me. Can we go back?
Nature Valley Water Amazements
I knew I had to pull out the big guns to distract the toddler from the “big big truck,” so we went to the water play area. The best part of this exhibit was a water gun that catapulted balls to an upper ramp, where they rolled back down through a whirlpool into a pool where kids could pick them up and restart the process. My toddler was so entranced by this, a cyclic activity he could do on his own, that I was able to sit down for 15 minutes and have a conversation with my boyfriend, which parents may recognize as an actual miracle.
Toddler verdict: Ball! Splash!!! Wow!
At this section you are greeted by a giant hanging Spongebob whose parts move if you turn levers at his feet. There’s also a stop motion animation station, a circular column of musical instruments made of everyday objects (my boyfriend had fun with this), and a build-your-own ball maze. The kiddo had so much fun he tried to take a piece home with him.
Toddler verdict: Wowwwww!
Cloud Puff
One of the many nature-themed stations, this lets kids create cloud rings by pushing down on a table.
Toddler verdict: Boom! Cloud!
There was so much more at the Amazeum that he couldn’t fully appreciate yet, like a giant Canopy Climber where kids could (safely!) climb to the ceiling and explore, an art studio where kids could paint on the glass walls, the Walmart market, the 3M Tinkering Hub, and the Hershey’s Lab where kids do science experiments with Hershey’s candy.
The Amazeum on its own is enough of a reason to visit Bentonville with kids, although there’s lots of other kid-friendly things to do. I’m excited to come back in the future to see what his new favorite exhibits are — although I’m pretty sure the truck will still be high on that list.
