We know that parents and grandparents are looking for fun, educational things to do with kids around the holiday season but that budgets can be tight.  In the spirit of the season, the National Canal Museum is delighted to offer free admission for children aged 15 and under through December 29.  If you’ve never been to the museum before, you might be surprised to learn that we’re very family-friendly.

Children at the tiller in our boat steering exhibit

We have lots of hands-on exhibits for children of all ages to interact with.  Kids can try their hand at steering a canal boat, learn how simple machines such as pulleys and gears work, build two types of aqueducts, and experiment with the flow of water in our water table.  Two different scavenger hunts, one for younger kids and one for older, add another fun challenge that ends with a prize from the gift shop.  There’s also a working model railroad platform to delight train buffs young and old.

Last, but certainly not least, our special exhibition “What the Rivers Saw: Mapping 200 Years of the D&L Corridor’s Living Landscape” incorporates an oversize puzzle of the D&L Corridor with trivia about the history and places in our area, an activity sheet that helps kids learn about how maps work, and a drawing table where we encourage children to create their own maps of places they know best.

We hope you’ll come and experience all that the museum has to offer before the museum closes for the winter at the end of the year!  The museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30am to 3:00pm through December 29.  Please check our website in case of inclement weather for information about closures or reduced hours.

Learning about inclined planes

Child playing with canal model