So, with still three weeks left before the end of the sweltering summer and your younger kids have to go back to school, where can you take them for a fun day — any day — in air-conditioned comfort?
I suggest a trip to the Glazer Children’s Museum, located in the heart of downtown Tampa’s Arts District, right near the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and the Tampa Museum of Art.
I had two reasons for wanting to visit the Glazer Museum. The first was that Jannah and I were going to be babysitting our young grandchildren — 4-1/2-year-old Rosie and her 15-month-old brother Gio — for five days and there’s only so much pool, TV/screen and dining out time this Grammie and Grampa can handle without having something to do and Gio isn’t old enough yet to sit through a movie, much less Busch Gardens or (gulp) Disney.
The second motivation was the fact that the museum was hosting a new traveling, temporary exhibit that first opened in May — the “Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit.” Even my sons, now both in their 30s, grew up being read, and then reading themselves, Carle’s most famous book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and when I saw the promotional photos for the exhibit, with giant versions of each page that kids can walk through, I thought the opportunity was too good to pass up — especially at only $18 per person.
But, while Rosie enjoyed the Carle exhibit — especially standing in front of the butterfly wings of Carle’s transformed caterpillar and tromping through the tall grass like the author’s The Very Clumsy Click Beetle — Gio was too young to appreciate it and even Rosie found almost everything else at the museum to be more interesting — and fun!
Even before you get inside, your kids will know a big, fun time awaits them!
Your kids will love tromping through the tall grass like Carle’s The Very Clumsy Click Beetle.
Gio thinks shopping carts are just so much fun, whether they have food in them or not!
Something For Every Young’n!
While I refuse to call them “littles,” there’s no doubt that if you have children from toddler age up to at least 6-8 years old and maybe as high as age 10, there truly are many things all of them will enjoy at the Glazer Children’s Museum.
On the first floor, your journey begins with “Tugboat Tots,” where the kids get to steer a mini tugboat, “fish” off a mini-pier and play “I Spy” with an ocean mural. There also is an open play space for kids ages 3 and under that Gio loved, especially the “tasty” blocks (photo left). Rosie put on a smock and played not only with gliding boats through the water, but also with light and sound on the colorful “Light Cloud” piano, which also is on the first floor.
But, the second level was probably both of the kids’ favorite. It started with a visit to a farm, where Rosie sat on a pig statue’s back and bottle-fed it and got to “milk” a cow statue (with fairly life-like udders), while Gio gathered tomatoes and oranges in a wheelbarrow and walked around with them.
From there, Gio spent a lot of time checking out the “Safety Village,” where he could put groceries at the Publix supermarket in a shopping cart (he thought the empty cart, above, was super-fun, too!), sit in a fire truck at the firehouse and play with stuffed animals at the “Vet Clinic.” Rosie first checked out the Eric Carle exhibit and then flew off to the two-story-tall, fully-enclosed “Water’s Journey Climber,” where she climbed way up high (tentatively at first, but she caught on fast) and then loved the journey back down even more!
Rosie also got very into the “Family Play Project” area, where she cut and pasted different paper and fabric swatches to create a unique artwork.
Both kids enjoyed the “Twinkle Stars Theater,” where Rosie tried on costumes and Gio loved banging the buttons that controlled the lights and sound on the theater’s stage.
Rosie then found the “Vet Clinic,” where she looked at pretend X-rays of some stuffed animals and then took time to properly groom them with a blow drying hose.
Rosie also felt like a big girl while sliding down the fire pole at the firehouse and watching her skeleton move along with her on “Skelevision” at the “Hospital” sponsored by St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Among her favorite exhibits on the second floor, though, were the “Pizza Place” — where she created and “cooked” a pizza of her own design in the oven that looks hot, but isn’t — and the “Ice Cream Parlour,” where she made a two-scoop cone for Grampa and a cup of ice cream with toppings for Grammie.
On To Big John!
The third level of the Glazer Children’s Museum is where you’ll find “Big John,” purported to be the “world’s largest” triceratops. The 66-million-year-old fossilized dino, which is on loan for three years from Tampa-based businessman Siddhartha Pagidipati, is the focal point of the museum’s dinosaur exhibit. Big John was reportedly reconstructed in less than a week upon his arrival to the museum.
Gio had a blast playing with the plastic dinosaurs and popping out of a dinosaur egg, while Rosie properly matched bone shapes to a small version of Big John’s skeleton. Both kids also got a kick of weighing themselves against Big John’s 10-ton weight.
Of course, by now, the children had to visit the cute store back on the ground floor, where we bought them a mini-copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a transparent car filled with plastic dinosaurs.
The museum also has a great private room for hosting kids’ birthday parties.
Hop On The Pirate Water Taxi!
Of course, after this three-hour romp, the kids were tired and hungry and, since we parked in the lot next to the museum, we were able to walk down to the Hillsborough River at the adjacent Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and catch a ride on the Pirate Water Taxi that took us upstream to Armature Works — only one stop away. Because we’re Florida residents, adults can stop at all 16 of the Pirate Water Taxi stops all day for $26, while children ages 2-12 can ride all day for $16 (those under age 2 ride for free). Rosie thought it was so cool that she was riding a boat since her parents were on a cruise while we were watching them!
More About The Glazer Museum
The 53,000-sq.-ft. Glazer Children’s Museum opened in 2010 after a $22-million capital campaign, with construction beginning in 2009. It was named in honor of the Glazer Family Foundation, which donated $5 million. The Foundation, at that time led by Edward Glazer and his brother Bryan, was founded by their father, the late Malcolm Glazer, who was the owner and president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Manchester United Football Club.
The Glazer Children’s Museum dates back to Tampa’s original Safety Village, located in Lowry Park, which opened in 1965. According to the museum’s website, the museum’s Mission is to “create and foster engaging, impactful PLAY experiences for children and families to learn and thrive.” Its Vision is “a community that values PLAY as the foundation for the learning and development of families across generations.”
All I can tell you is that it is a super-fun place and a great way to spend a day with your children or grandchildren.
The Glazer Children’s Museum is located at 110 W. Gasparilla Plaza in downtown Tampa. A “Playmaker Membership” costs just $250 ($55 tax deductible) and includes 12 months of play for up to six members, access to members-only events and other discounts. For more information, including everything about memberships and donations, call (813) 443-3861 or visit GlazerMuseum.org. For the Pirate Water Taxi, visit PirateWaterTaxi.com.
Rosie had so much fun creating and then “baking” her pretend pizza in the oven at the museum. “Don’t worry, Grandpa,” she told me. “It only looks hot. It’s not really.”
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