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CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS, ART
MUSEUMS, SCIENCE MUSEUMS
Chapel Hill - Durham -
Raleigh, NC
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CHillKids.com featured FAMILY OUTING:


Dinosaurs & Astronauts!!!
(and butterflies, and farmyard
animals, and wolves and lemurs and rockets, and trains, and sail boats & water fun
and so much more at
the Museum of Life +
Science . .
. )
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Museums
and Art Galleries
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North
Carolina Children's Science & Discovery Museums
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Museum of Life
+ Science
433 Murray Avenue, Durham, North Carolina
27704.
Map and
directions.
(919) 220-5429.
The Museum
of Life and Science in Durham is a wonderful place for children and
families and an amazing treasure that everyone will enjoy. The Museum features both outdoor and indoor fun,
including a large playground area (Loblolly Park), train ride (Ellerbee
Creek Railway), farmyard animals, Carolina wildlife nature park, water
features including a FUN remote-control sailboat outdoor plaza, aerospace, geology, discovery rooms, small science, and the Magic Wings
Butterfly House, a glass-enclosed tropical garden with butterflies from
Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.

Click for Panoramic View
The Remote-controlled Sailboats are
always a favorite activity at the Museum. (It seems like kids could
while away the whole day adjusting the sails and racing one another at
the remote control stations - each located under sunshade umbrellas.)
Click on the photo above to see a
panoramic view of the Museum of Life + Science sail boats and remote
control stands.

Museum of Life + Science Wetland Exhibit Deck
Click
here to see more thumbnail images of the
wonderful indoor and outdoor
activities at the Museum of Life + Science and plan your next visit!
From the
Museum of Life and Science website: "Situated
on 84-acres, the Museum is home to one of the largest butterfly
conservatories in the southeast, more than sixty species of live
animals, as well as beautifully landscaped outdoor exhibits which are
save havens for rescued black bears, endangered red wolves and exotic
lemurs. Other visitor favorites include the 5000 square foot remote
controlled sailboat pond, the Ellerbee Creek Railway, Dinosaur Trail and
the Fossil Dig Site and a lab where visitors can participate in a
variety of hands-on experiments to discover the science behind health."
The Museum also
features special exhibits throughout the year. Check the
Museum of Life
+ Science website for special exhibits and events.
Albertosaurus on the Musuem of Life +
Science Dino Trail

Enlarge view
Admission charge;
free for ages under 3. Train rides require separate tickets -
(purchase your train tickets when you arrive at the Museum; some time slots do sell
out.)
Museum of Life + Science Hours
(As of April 2011:)
Monday-Saturday: 10am - 5pm (Members admitted at 9am)
Sunday: Noon - 5pm
The Museum is CLOSED on
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.
Click here for
current Museum of Life
+ Science Days of Operation and Ticket & Membership information.
Museum of Life
+ Science
Highlights:
* The
much-anticipated, amazing Dinosaur Trail! is now open at the Museum of Life
+ Science!
* Don't
miss the cool soundSpace exhibit! The soundSpace exhibit is an interactive music
installation where movement is transformed into sound as people dance,
walk, sway, and jump to the beat on a grid of multi-color squares on
the floor. As you move from one space to the next, a different
musical percussion instrument and beat plays.
* Become the Captain of your own sail
boat as you steer your boat and harness the wind's power to take
your boat where you want it to go, skimming across the water to the
other side and back again. Kids and adults alike are
captivated by this wonderful exhibit. It would be easy to stay
and play there all day long! (But there are too many other
wonderful things to do at the Museum of Life & Science to stop
there.)
* Children enjoy visiting the
Museum's farm yard animals after playing, jumping and running in the
playground, and before heading on to the Butterfly House or the
other outdoor exhibits.
* The Museum's Explore the Wild
offers a lovely walk over wetlands on a beautiful boardwalk/deck
path, and from there the path will lead you to the lemurs, bears,
foxes and other wildlife at the Museum.

Explore the Wild at the Museum of Life +
Science
* The Magic Wings Butterfly House is
a magical, wonderful world filled with beautiful butterflies and
exotic plants, running streams, and exotic birds. Butterflies
sometimes take a rest on your shoulder or your finger, and you can
meander down the pathway to see butterflies emerging from their
cocoons (behind a glass-fronted case.) On the other side of
the Butterfly House there is an amazing exhibit featuring all sorts
of BUGS; you can zoom in to view a caterpillar crunching on a leaf
and magnify the sound of the crunching too, so that you are watching
the tiny caterpillar crunching on a leaf right in front of you, and
you can also view the zoom video camera image of the caterpillar
crunching on the video screen that you control, while listening to
the caterpillar munching loudly on a leaf. How fun! (Check
out this Museum of Life + Science "MunchCam" link to see a munching
caterpillar and lots of other munching critters in action at the
Museum. Our kids LOVED watching all of the Museum critters
munching!).
Visit the
Museum of Life
+ Science online at:
www.lifeandscience.org
www.ncmls.org
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Kidzu Children's Museum,
123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
(919) 933-1455
Founded in 2006 and located in downtown Chapel Hill, NC, Kidzu
Children's Museum is an interactive museum, offering exceptional hands-on exhibits and weekly programs for young
children (0-8 years) and families. During the museum's first two
years of operation, Kidzu featured fun & hands-on educational traveling
exhibits rented from other children's museums. In the Summer of 2008,
Kidzu unveiled its first original exhibit "KidZoom: The Power of
Creativity" celebrating the local community's creativity. Kidzu also
provides field trips for schools, preschools and child care centers and
other groups and is a great location for birthday parties.
123 West Franklin Street in University
Square now serves as Kidzu's location until the future (approx. 2015),
much larger Kidzu facility will be built atop Wallace Plaza. Kidzu's 123
West location offers great interactive exhibit areas along with lots of
fun and educational programming .
See Kidzu's
Website for Museum Hours and to learn more about this wonderful
children's museum located in the heart of Chapel Hill, NC.
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(Monthly)
2nd Friday Art Walk in Chapel Hill and Carrboro
Every second Friday from 6:30
pm - 9:00 pm visit Chapel Hill and Carrboro art galleries and art
display locations. Enjoy live music and other art-related
entertainment as you view a large variety of artwork; admission is free.
See www.2ndfridayartwalk.com
for more details.
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Ackland Art
Museum
South Columbia and Franklin Streets, UNC-Chapel
Hill Campus.
(919) 966-5737
www.ackland.org
The Ackland Art Museum's
permanent collection of over 15,000 objects includes the art of Asia,
Africa, Europe and America, with works ranging from ancient times to the
21st century, including the works by masters such as Degas, Rubens and
Pissaro. In addition to its permanent collection and featured
exhibitions, the Ackland Art Museum offers specialized programs for
school-aged children grades K-12. Hours: Wed. - Sat. 10 am - 5 pm, Sun. 1-5 pm.
Special Exhibit at the Ackland Art Museum through July 18:
"Converse: Big Words Mysterious Characters."
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Carrboro
ArtsCenter Gallery
300-G East Main St., Carrboro.
(919) 929-2787.
www.artscenterlive.org
Located in the center of the ArtsCenter building, the Gallery features
the work of local and regional artists. Monthly exhibits; free
admission; purchase prices may be obtained by inquiring at the box
office.
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Chapel Hill
Museum
523 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
(919) 967-1400.
www.chapelhillmuseum.org
Features interactive and educational exhibits focusing on Chapel
Hill's history.
Wed-Sat. 10 am - 4 pm. Sun. 1-4 pm.
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Chatham County
Courthouse (ca. 1881 ) and Historical Museum
12 E St., Pittsboro, NC 27312.
(919) 542-3240.
www.chathamhistory.org/museum.html
Hours: Wednesdays, 12-3pm, closed
holidays. A 1907 monument to the Confederate soldier stands guard outside the courthouse;
the museum
is located inside the courthouse. Current exhibit includes artifacts from the now-closed
Pittsboro silk mill, including a sample book of labels from famous manufacturers that were made at Chatham Mills.
Permanent collection includes handmade bricks from the former store and post office at St. Lawrence, an iron mortar and pestle used by Dr. Hanner, a letter written by Governor Charles Manly, a set of letters written by members of the Hadley family during the Civil War and another set sent from Indiana in the 1840s, a bowler hat owned by Judge Walter Siler, tapes from concerts given for the Pittsboro Arts Council, bound volumes of several early years of the Chatham Record, and an original copy of the Ramsey 1870 map of Chatham County.
Also housed in the museum are books from the John London collection and photographs used in The Architectural Heritage of Chatham County, North Carolina.
26-volume set of State and Colonial Records is also available for
researc; the index volumes are in the Pittsboro Memorial Library, two blocks away, where most of the research tools for genealogical investigation are kept. Cemetery and gravesite data are available on the museum computer, and correspondence related to Chatham families can be accessed through a cross-indexed file of inquiries. All publications of the Chatham County Historical Association are available for sale.
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Marbles Museum
(fka Exploris),
201 E. Hargett St., Raleigh, NC. www.marbleskidsmuseum.org
(919) 834-4040.
Features hands-on exhibits, global-themed activities and events, and an
IMAX theater. IMAX big screen movies (some examples of past offerings are "The Polar Express," "Space Station
3D," "Amazing Caves," and "Lewis and Clark"),
exhibits, activities, summer camps and more. As described on its
website, "Marbles Kids Museum is a hands-on, interactive museum that inspires children to be creative thinkers, active learners and confident individuals in today's world." See the Exploris
calendar of events for information about upcoming events.
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Greensboro
Children's Museum (further afield)
220 North Church St., Greensboro,
NC 27401
www.gcmuseum.com/
(336) 574-2898.
Open Mondays for Members Only from 9:00 AM - Noon; Tues ? Sat 9am -
5pm; Family Friday Nights 5:00 PM ? 8:00 PM; Sun 1pm ? 5pm.
Before you go, check out the website for parent/teacher
guides outlining learning activities for pre-kindergarten through fourth graders
and which are designed to be coupled with a visit to the Greensboro Children's Museum.
Admission
charged.
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North Carolina Railroad Museum
& New Hope Valley Railway
Old U.S. 1, Bonsal, N.C.
(919) 362-5416
www.nhvry.org
50-minute train ride through Chatham and Wake counties. Train Ride Days are the first Sunday of each month from May through November. In December,
the Railway offers Christmas Train Weekends. 2005 Schedule: May 1,
June 5, July 4, August 7, September 4, October 2, November 6.
Departures at 11am, 12:15pm, 1:30pm, 2:45pm, and 4pm. Children
ages 1-12, $6; others, $8.
Directions: Take US 15-501 South, turn left onto Mt. Carmel Church Road, travel south to Wilsonville, cross US 64 and continue south on Beaver Creek Road. Bonsal is 23 miles from Chapel Hill. Beaver Creek Road leads right to the museum.
Park in the Bonsal road lot across old US 1 on train ride days.
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North Carolina
Museum of Art
2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh
(919) 839-6262
www.ncartmuseum.org
The permanent collection
includes numerous diverse art collections spanning spans more than 5,000
years, from ancient Egypt to the present (open Wednesday-Sunday, free
admissions); also check out the fun kids' learning center area.
Through July 8 is "Temples and Tombs" (tickets
required). In the summer the Museum Park offers great outdoor
entertainment, including the ?Movies on the Lawn?
series. The Museum also hosts weekly summer camps for kids
ages 6-10 years. One Saturday a month, fall through spring, the
Museum's Children's Performance Series offers puppetry, music,
storytelling, dance or drama, and short films, including some based on
award-winning children's literature. For more info call
(919) 839-6262.
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North Carolina
Museum of History
5 East Edenton St., Raleigh, NC.
(919) 807-7900
www.ncmuseumofhistory.org
Tues.
- Sat. 9 am to 5 pm; Sun. Noon to 5 pm. Exhibits focus on state
history including NC Folk Life, Pioneers
of Aviation, North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, Tar Heel Junior
Historian Association exhibit (award-winning history projects by North
Carolina students) among many others.
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North
Carolina Museum
of Natural Sciences
11 W. Jones St., (at the corner of Jones and Salisbury Streets), Raleigh, NC 27601-1029.
(919) 733-7450 or toll-free (877) 4NATSCI
www.naturalsciences.org
Museum Hours: Mon. - Sat. 9am - 5pm; Sun. - noon - 5pm.
First Friday of each month: 9am - 9pm.
Exhibits include dinosaur fossils, whale skeletons, and re-creations
of North Carolina habitats. Highlights
include Willo, "the world's only dinosaur with a fossilized
heart"; the "Terror of the South,"the only
Acrocanthosaurus skeleton displayed anywhere in the
world; "Mountains to the Sea,"
an exhibit re-creating five North Carolina habitats, complete with live
animals and a 20-foot high waterfall; great whale skeletons; and
numerous special exhibits throughout the year.
Visit www.naturalsciences.org
for more details about the following fun events throughout the
year. September: Bugfest; October: Chemistry Day, Natural History
Halloween; November: Archaeology Days; December: Governor's Tree
Lighting, First Night; January: Astronomy Days; February: Groundhog Day;
March: Reptile and Amphibian Day; April: Earth Day; May: Meet the
Animals Week.
First Fridays after 5pm. On the first Friday of each month the
Museum hosts a "First Friday"
event, including a free "Natural Horror Picture Show," along
with exhibits, shopping, and food from 5 - 9 pm. (Movie starts at
7 pm). Visit the Museum's calendar
of special events for children for more family fun.
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N.C Collection
Gallery
(University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Wilson Library, 2nd Floor)
(919) 962-1172.
www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/gallery.html
Mon-Fri. 9 am-5 pm, Sat. 9am-1 pm, Sun 1-5 pm.
Tours, Wednesdays at 2 pm. Features state and university history
displayed through books, maps, photographs, furniture, prints, and
more.
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Orange County
Historical Museum
201 N. Churton St., Hillsborough.
(919) 732-2201
www.historichillsborough.org. The Museum collections span the pre-Colonial,
Revolutionary War, and Civil War through the early 1900s. Exhibits
include "A Time of Hard Living: The Rip Van Winkle Period
1790-1850" and "The Road to Orange," covering the period
from 1740-1760. The museum also is the home of a
second-floor gallery featuring different artists' work every month.
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Patterson's Mill Country Store
5109 Farrington Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514. (Between
Hwy. 54 and Old Chapel Hill Road)
(919) 493-8149.
Beautiful old country store serving the community in the same spirit
as the original Patterson & Company Store of the 1870's.
Patterson's Mill is a haven for those seeking a moment from an earlier
age! (You may feel as though you just walked into the General
Store from Little House on the Prairie days!) Contains some of the
finest collections of mercantile American in the country, including a
nationally recognized pharmaceutical collection and tobacco memorabilia
collection. The rambling store building houses a furnished early
twentieth century doctor's office, early artifacts from the Patterson's
Mill community, and aisle after aisle of memorabilia, much of which has
remained in the same farming and merchant family since R.S. Leigh opened
the store on his plantation over 100 years ago. Admission is
free. Permanent collections are not for sale, but a large
selection of local and regional crafts and many antiques and
collectibles are offered for sale. (Patterson's Mill also hosts a
wonderful Christmas Tree and Greenery sale during the holidays.)
HOURS: Tues.-Sat. 10-5:00pm, Sun. 2-5:00pm, closed Mondays.
(CALL BEFORE VISITING FOR UPDATED HOURS!) |
Playspace
Children's Museum
410 Glenwood Ave., Suite 150, (behind the Creamery), Raleigh, NC
27603
www.playspacemuseum.com/
(919) 832-1212
Fun and educational
museum for children ages 6 months-7 years. Interactive, hands-on
exhibits include a play bank, pretend cafe, pretend grocery store, art
room, castle, computer lab, fire truck and car, pretend hospital,
pretend train depot, stage and dress-up play (with a close-circuit
camera and TV), waterfront for water play and splashing, an infant area
for babies to crawl and play, and much more. Adults must accompany
children. The Museum also offers Movement classes, Tumbling
classes, Ballet and Jazz classes. Call for details.
Make-n-Take crafts daily, 2 pm.
Hours:
Tues.-Sat. 9 am - 5 pm; Sun, 1-5 pm.
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Sanford
Railroad House Museum (further 1/2 hour from Pittsboro)
Located approximately 30 minutes from Pittsboro, south on 15-501.
www.downtownsanford.com/railroad_house.htm
(919) 776-7479
Museum includes displays and artifacts and pictures detailing life in the area from the 1874 to the present. Visitors
can see the Old Steam Locomotive #12 located behind the building.
Hours: various hours Monday through Friday. Call (919) 776-7479
for more information.
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For more Chapel Hill - Durham - Raleigh NC
Year Round Fun activities, please
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