Location http://www.portdiscovery.org/
Address: Inner Habor – Baltimore, MD
Gordie’s Review (3.5 years): “I liked the climber.”
Nicky’s Review (11 months): toys!
Day Pass Cost: $10 for children over 12 months and adults. Seniors $8, under 12 months are free. Re-entry is allowed if you leave your bracelet on. (2013)
Food Services: No food or drink is permitted in the exhibit area but there is an area where you can eat a bag lunch.
Age Range: 0-10 years.
Stay Length: 2 hours to half a day.
Worth the Trip?: Your kids will definitely have a good time.
Overall:
Port Discovery is ranked as one of the top Children’s Museums in the US. It’s the biggest Children’s Museum I’ve been to – we only saw about half the exhibits before we had to leave for dinner. Some of the exhibits look a little tired, but others are brand new.
In the centre of the museum is a 3 level climber – Kid Works – which is designed for kids 5 and up. The climber is pretty cool – Stephen took Gordie up and he loved it. The one problem with taking little kids, is that it has a number of exits onto the different floors so it’s pretty easy to lose track of your kids if they are not old enough to roam around alone. (Ask me how I know).
On the main floor, they have a gas station and grocery store which provide great opportunities for pretend play.
On the 2nd floor they have a wooden train that you can pretend to drive with a crane that you can use to load cargo from the shops just above it. There’s nothing really spectacular about it, but it was definitely Gordie’s favorite part. (what else would you expect from a little train fan?)
On the third floor, they have a diner where kids can pretend to make and serve food. Gordie thought this was pretty fun too. A couple times he’d pick up the ‘olden days phone’ and take an order from the train for sandwiches and then go to the kitchen to make them.
Tot Trails is one of the best toddler areas I’ve been too. It’s beautiful throughout with ocean and forest themes. They have a soft area for babies and a spot with ramps and small steps to challenge crawlers and early walkers.
On the other side, they have a Mountain Trail, where toddlers can climb in and around. They have a little interactive ‘pond’ which Nicky found captivating and a spot where you can catch little fabric ‘butterflies.
They also have a neat block area, a quiet area and a spot for sand play too.
There are a number of other exhibits that we didn’t even get to (a number of which were aimed at school-aged kids). If you are looking to do something with the kids while you are in Baltimore, this would be a great pick.