The Burpee Museum of Natural History

We went to visit the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois during our summer vacation. This is a great little museum and is highly recommended. It is a good size to see in only a couple of hours but it still has quality displays in spite of being small. The kids really enjoyed it.

There are some notable features of the museum. First is Jane, the juvenile T-Rex skeleton. ”She” is smaller than the specimen that is in the Field Museum, but it is still the size of a mini-van. I’m glad these creatures are no longer roaming the Earth.

Second are the paleontologists that work in the basement that are happy to speak with the kids and explain how they are extracting the fossils from the rocks they are embedded in. The kids really enjoyed asking them questions.

Ian really liked the replica forest with the giant dragonflies and Cami enjoyed the tunnel you walk through before getting to the museum. Along the walls someone had painted the silhouettes of various animals so you can compare their sizes. By the way, the adult T-Rex dwarfed the whale silhouette. Here is Cami comparing “Mr. Husky” to a wolf.

I was happy that the kids enjoyed the nature displays of current animals and I was especially pleased that they enjoyed the bird section and even knew the names of some of them. I enjoy birding and often the kids go with me. Both of the kids were pointing out birds we’ve seen while bird watching.

Another display the kids enjoyed were the Native American displays with the replica teepees and bison.

If you get a chance go to the Burpee Museum. It’s a great little museum and the entrance fee is reasonable. All of it can be seen in only a few hours and it is clean and well-lit. One of Aura’s complaints about the Field Museum is how big it is and how you can go so deep into the galleries and it gets dark and creepy. The Burpee Museum is definitely not dark and creepy.