Would You Say That To a Dinosaur?

The Field Museum - Crown Play Lab

Address: 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago

Hours: Monday - Sunday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $15 for adults; $10 children (3 - 11); discounted admission of $2 for Chicago residents

YAY!

• Offers hands-on learning? Sort Of
• Engages an active toddler in play? No
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes

I’ll start with the positive: it was a free day. And now on to the rest of the review....

We had been to The Field Museum before, but had not explored its relatively new toddler play area, Crown Play Lab, for children ages 2 - 6. I had high hopes that it would be as engaging as Shedd’s Polar Play Zone or Adler’s Planet Explorers. I’ll spare you the suspense, it is not.

At the Play Lab’s front desk, I was informed that there was “no running, jumping or climbing.” So basically no being a kid in the kids room.

I had envisioned a place where kids could pretend to be dinosaurs and as a result learn about them & their world. Instead the Play Lab is just a sterile children’s museum. And it held my son’s attention for all of 30 minutes.

The Play Lab did have a music area that he enjoyed, but you can find those anywhere. What would have been unique & fun is an area where he could play with and climb on dinosaurs in a plastic replica of their habitat; you would think this would be a natural extension of their existing exhibits. But then again, this would go against the no climbing rule.

Of course, the real kicker for me was being barred from feeding the baby inside the Play Lab, which turned out to be a major hassle.

So if you’re heading down to the museum campus with toddlers definitely check out Adler and/or Shedd. Your kids can feel free to act like kids because there aren’t any rules about running or jumping. It’s all about having fun, and, of course, learning while doing so.

And unlike Field’s Crown Play Lab, the Polar Play Zone & Planet Explorers are each an extension of the parent institution. At Shedd, the exhibits are built into the play area so you can check out penguins, belugas, dolphins, etc. while you play. And Adler's Planet Explorers engages children in imaginative space exploration for hours.

I think it’s just absurd to build a toddler play zone that discourages natural toddler behavior. But maybe there some toddlers out there who don’t like to run, climb, jump, or have fun...