A Mom Goes Off On Why She Doesn't Take Her Kids To The Children’s Museum
And the best part is that she has a way better idea.
This past weekend, I took my daughter to our local children’s museum. For an ungodly amount of money, she can run around from station to station, throwing abandon to the wind and touching so many things that probably have hand, foot, mouth disease on them.
As I chased after her with hand sanitizer, I could not get the thought out of my mind that, while the concept of a children’s museum is wonderful (learning, experimenting, etc.), this place was so freaking stimulating.
One TikTok mom went viral for her similar take on children’s museums, opting for a different option that still provides a learning opportunity for kids but without all the sensory overload.
Mom of two Somer Agnor admitted that she skips the local children’s museum and instead takes her two kids to to history or arts museums.
“So, my first reason and probably biggest reason is it's so much less stimulating than a typical children's museum. There's less noise. The lights tend to be dimmer, and there's less interactive stuff. I'm definitely not against interactive stuff. In fact, I love that this museum has a whole entire section for them to play and explore,” she explained while showing a clip of her son dressing up as an astronaut and pretending to walk on the moon.
“Children's museums just have so many activities that it's hard for a younger toddler to focus on one activity.”
Agnor also points out that more traditional museums can be interesting for children and adults.
“It's also really nice going to a museum that can be entertaining for the adult and not just your toddler. And walking around this museum can also count as our daily walk. There's usually always a place to sit down and relax,” she explained.
“This cafe was the perfect place to nurse my baby, and I love that the only money we spent was on our lunch because the admission to get in here is free.”
Agnor’s hot take was met with feedback from other moms who totally resonated with her beef about children’s museums.
“Oooo I love this!!!! Shoot I get overstimulated at children’s museums😅,” one user wrote.
“Yes and as a babysitter it’s so hard to keep up with multiple kids because they want to go opposite ways,” another said.
The OP replied, “YES! You have to constantly keep your eyes on them bc there’s so many crevices 😅”
Another said, “Young kids absolutely can be entertained by dinosaurs, fossils, gems, paintings of animals, sculptures, etc. Super agree!”
“Not the mention that there’s a 99% chance we will all be sick after the children’s museum 😭🙃,” another said.
Others weren’t so sure about Agnor’s opinion and questioned her reasoning.
“I feel like you’re comparing apples and oranges. I work at a children’s museum — it’s meant for high quality play and sensory experiences for children,” one user wrote.
“I’m sorry, but you’re not entertained by all the stuff in children’s museum as an adult? I’m pretty sure I like kids museums more than my kid 😅,” another said.
After receiving some backlash, she commented on her own video with a disclaimer.
“✨disclaimer I still do like children’s museums! It’s just nice to visit ones like this sometimes✨,” she wrote.
