Children's Museums

Maine has plenty of family-friendly museums, with exhibits and programs with kid-appeal. Three museums, all in convenient downtown locations, are devoted solely to children: The Children's Museum of Maine, in Portland; the Maine Discovery Museum, in Bangor; and the Children's Discovery Museum, in Augusta. These museums specialize in introducing kids to Maine with interactive displays, programs, and exhibits that stoke the imagination and ignite the sense of play.

Sure, there are traditional exhibits, where kids can play storekeeper or veterinarian, fly the space shuttle or sail a pirate ship. But Maine children's museums offer unique opportunities to experience and learn about the state. At some museums, kids can pretend to stay at a Maine campground and experience the great outdoors; captain a lobster boat and learn about the state's fishing heritage; or fell trees deep in the Maine woods and practice sustainable forestry. At other museums, children can reach into touch tanks stocked with sea critters, discover native animals and birds and explore Maine's ecosystem along a 20-foot waterway. How cool is that!

'Read me a story' takes on new meaning in Maine. Museum exhibits highlight the state's ties to some of America's most noted children's book authors and illustrators, including E. B. White (Charlotte's Web); Barbara Cooney (Miss Rumphius); Robert McCloskey (Blueberries for Sal); Dahlov Ipcar and Margaret Wise Brown (Good Night Moon).