Museum Monday: NEMO

Peter recently took a day off and we went to NEMO, Amsterdam's science museum, as a family.  While there, we bought our Museumkaarts, a card that for 40 Euro provides access into 400 museums in the Netherlands.  Having a card like this changes one's relationship to museums.  Instead of feeling like you have to see everything to get your 12.50 worth, suddenly you can go to a museum for an hour, anytime you want.  This was a relationship that I also enjoyed living in Washington, D.C., where most of the museums are free of charge.

I have decided to get the most out of our Museumkaarts, taking M to a different museum every Monday since he doesn't go to school on Mondays.  It's a tall order, taking a 4-year-old to a museum, but I figure we'll start slow, spending a half hour at the museum and then hitting the cafe.  M gets introduced to museums and a new feature on My 'dam Adventure is born:  Museum Monday.

So, our trip to NEMO was exhausting.  It's a long-ish tram ride from our Neighborhood and a long-ish walk from the tram stop.  Once we got there M was so stimulated he bounced from exhibit to exhibit like a pinball.  The museum itself was interesting, if aimed at a bit of an older audience than the preschool set.

There were a couple of really interesting exhibits, including a hands-on one about water that M loved.  We also spent some time in the Wonder Lab, first doing an experiment about color, which kind of bored M, then experimenting on the absorbancy of kitty litter, which was VERY difficult to clean up.  There's a great cafe on the ground floor, and a really crap one, albeit with an amazing view, on the top floor.  In short, the day was exhausting, but M loved it, and I'm sure he'd want to go back.