Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center

**Imagine Nation has re-imagined how they work with children in the Museum Studios. They now offer intentional facilitator led experiences rather than self-exploration within the museum.  Their new programming includes a variety of workshops as well as community outreach, field trips, birthday parties, and family event opportunities.**

Thank you to Imagine Nation for providing complimentary admission to the museum for my son and I to check out their new Science & Energy exhibit! This review is completely my own. 

I am often amazed at how many children’s museums we have in this state. We’ve already visited 9 museums in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and there is still a long list left to visit.  And finally, we checked off a much-loved children’s museum in this state, Imagine Nation. 

A little while back, Imagine Nation reached out to me because they were opening a new exhibit and they thought my son would love it.  So on one of his half days from school, we took a drive to Bristol after lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon at Imagine Nation!

The museum has seasonal hours. For the summer, they are open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  In the fall,  the museum is open from Wednesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Their winter hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the spring they are open from Wednesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum also shuts down annually at the end of August for about 2 weeks. You can find their calendar with exact dates here. 

Bristol seems like it would be close to Enfield, since its right outside of Hartford; but since it’s not actually on a highway, it was a bit of a drive. From Northern Connecticut, you’re looking at a good 35-45 minute drive. The distance TO a museum is fine, but that distance home from a museum during rush hour, means your child is falling asleep now and not going to bed that night. If you have a car sleeper like I do, take that into account! Otherwise, getting to the museum is pretty easy. 

(from Google Maps)

Getting to the parking lot is a little trickier.  The parking lot is located right behind the museum; however, you run into a few one-way streets, so you’ll want to either turn down Pleasant Street before the museum or drive down to South Street.  Either way, you need to get to West Street so that you can turn down Upson (which is behind the museum). Basically, follow the signs. 

The parking lot is marked with a big sign.  

We visited on a quiet weekday but the parking lot is a good size. 

From the parking lot, you’ll want to head to the front of the museum.  You cannot enter at the side door. This door is for the preschool (which is also part of Imagine Nation).  Don’t use this door. 

This is the door you’ll want to use! 

Through the main doors, you’ll come to a large room where you’ll find the ticket counter. 

They also have a small cafe at the front as well.  The cafe is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. during normal museum hours.  They offer a variety of food including sandwiches, salads, kid’s meals, smoothies, chips, fruit and snacks. 

There is small gift shop located towards the front of the cafe. 

The admission desk is located right by the main exhibit door.  Admission to Imagine Nation is $10 for all visitors over the age of 1.  You can find museum passes at many of your local libraries for discounted admission to the museum.  They also offer a membership for 2 adults and 4 children, for just $140 per year.  

Once you’ve paid your admission, you can head into the first floor of exhibits.  The first thing you’ll notice when you walk in is the museum’s mission statement. Imagine Nation is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, which is an educational philosophy focused on progressive and cooperative early childhood education. You’ll see it throughout their exhibits just how much they try to encourage and bring out a child’s natural curiosity. 

The first floor of the museum has two main exhibits. First you’ll have to go through the little cityscape. 

You will find the Farm to Table experience behind the cityscape. This exhibit includes a farm stand, trucks, chickens & eggs, a real bunny rabbit and a cow you can actually milk. It then leads into the kitchen where children can prep and serve food. 

The other big exhibit room on the first floor is Imagine Nation’s new exhibit: Science & Energy. This exhibit encourages children to learn about forces, motion,  energy and more.

The highlight of this exhibit is the amazing, responsive sand table.  What exactly does that mean? It’s hard to describe but you basically move the sand and watch the landscape of it change. Make mounds of sand and you’ve created mountains with snow-caps, storms and animals appear that live on mountains. Level out the sand and you’ll create beaches or a savanna. Dig deep into the sand and watch it fill with water where the fish swim or an alligator climbs out. It’s pretty incredible!  We spent the majority of our time on the first floor here at the sand table! 

There is even more to discover on the first floor. There is a post office. 

They have a giant magnetic Scrabble board on the wall – which I enjoyed way too much.  Scrabble is a competitive sport in my house – and it’s also been banned by my husband. I may or may not get a little competitive when I play. And win. Every time. 

We also discovered a few little activities tucked away in the shelves including building blocks. We made ourselves at home and pulled up a seat while building with the blocks for a while! There are so many things to discover here at Imagine Nation – you’ll want to make sure you take the time to explore everything! 

The first floor also has a full bathroom. You’ll find family bathrooms on the second floor as well.  

Access to the outdoor learning park is also found on the first floor. The playground is shared with the preschool and, as such, is only open to the public (museum guests) during certain hours.  I tried to get outside with my child but it was too hard to pull him away from everything. I snuck a peek outside (and of course, as we were leaving, he begged to go outside). If you do use the playground, once you are outside, you will have to enter through the main doors again. 

We spent a long time downstairs both at the beginning of our visit and at the end. It took some coaxing to get him to go upstairs. You can reach the second floor by stairs or elevator (the elevator is located near the front door if you do go that way). 

The second floor of Imagine Nation is a whole world of its own. You can start anywhere, but when you come up the stairs you’ll be right near the Wildlife section.  Here you will find snakes and reptiles, a bird and a very curious (and nosey) tortoise.  We were able to meet a few of the critters up close and personal with the help of a really awesome Imagine Nation worker.  

Next door to the Wildlife exhibit is the water play exhibit.  Depending on how your child plays with water, you may want to save this exhibit for last. You may also want to come prepared with extra clothes.  My child is a splasher. I come prepared to every museum because we always need new clothes.  He got into this right from the beginning but thankfully he saved the soaking for the end of our visit. I had to break out the new clothes before we returned to the first floor. 

The water exhibit is fun with a huge water play table, different tubes and toys to play with; a chalkboard where you can write with water and a big bubble maker! I love those! 

Baxter the Robot greets you in front of the next exhibit, which is the Design and Engineering Lab. 

You’ll find a whole section where kids can tinker and build at the workbench with tools.

On the other side of the wall is the design & engineering lab with a 3D printer and building exercises. 

He got a kick out of this giant touchscreen game board that you play with your feet! There were a few different games that you could play on here. 

And the giant light bright is one of my favorite things! I loved these when I was little! 

The Light & Reflection Room includes kaleidoscope and different ways to learn about light.  He liked looking out the window! 

The multicultural exhibit allows children to learn about people, places and the environment through drama, dance, and music from around the world. There are music instruments to try out, an interactive map, dress-up and dolls for children to discover and explore. 

There is a small dance studio with a mat, mirror and ballet wall bar. They have a video playing for kids to learn and practice their moves. 

The wellness clinic was a big hit with my child. He liked putting mommy in the chair and giving me a full checkup (complete with a heart check).  They have lab coats and x-rays to read. It’s a very realistic doctor and dentist office! 

To the side of the wellness clinic is the kinetic room with different building blocks including the big blue foam blocks that kids always seem to love! 

Down the hall, we reached the art studio which was just fantastic! I was told that everything was available for our use  – from crayons to paints, papers, glue, all kinds of things you can imagine to create beautiful artwork with. He settled in for a while and enjoyed painting his own masterpiece.

In the center of the second floor is the Playbox theater. 

The lower level has a dark room where kids can explore with glow in the dark coloring (using highlighters) or play at the lighted block tables. It took some convincing to get him inside here but then he didn’t want to leave!