The State of Pennsylvania Museum in Harrisburg has the cutest children’s museum for kids 5 and under. When a friend told me she took her two year old and loved it, I was all about trying it out for Tommy. For something fun to do for a toddler, I definitely recommend making the trip.
Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for kids (ages 1-11). It is the general admission price for the whole museum so you get to see everything. Hours are Wednesday- Saturday 10:00 AM- 4:00 PM and Sunday 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
The frugal in me would say $19 for a museum is expensive (even though it isn’t) but it is so worth it! They also have group rates and availability to book for birthday parties which would be fun. It was maybe a little smaller than I expected but there was so much to do that it made it worth it. They curiosity center can hold 45 kids at a time.
We went for Tommy’s second birthday, Tom, Tommy and I, in the middle of the day on a Friday. I have heard it gets crowded but it was pretty fine while we were there. Oh my goodness, Tommy had so much fun.
The whole children’s wing is interactive, it’s kind of like a big play center with real life toys- totally my thing. And it’s all farm stuff, or some of it- oh my gosh.
We train hard for mutton busting.
I loved the mixture of toys and how everything was interactive and could move anywhere without a lot of fuss about if someone took something from one area to another. Carrots were thrown on top of school buses and squirrels were coming out of lego bins but it was all good because kids were playing. 
For the most part it was a really relaxed atmosphere. Educational and fun. Best of both worlds. Tom and I played with Tommy and also let him explore on his own and there was so much to do, we could spend all day there.
Tommy was kind of the cutest and did everything there was to do.
Afterward, we thought we would take a look around the bigger museum since we were there and Tommy loved that too!
They exhibits were well done- we loved the mammal hall, with taxidermy of native mammals to America and Pennsylvania, there was a dinosaur hall- I’ve never seen my child’s eyes get so big. And also a car and plane area, which maybe less exciting but still fun for him to see up close. All in all for a toddler’s first trip to a museum it was kind of the best.
For good family fun near Harrisburg, especially when you have a toddler, check out the PA State Museum.
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