If you’re in the Chicago/Milwaukee area and are looking for some free fun museums, here are some ideas for you:

Dinosaur Discovery Museum

The accredited Dinosaur Discovery Museum opened 2006 featuring the largest collection of meat-eating theropods on exhibit! Learn what dinosaurs looked like, ate and how they behaved. See life-scale replicas, discover the link between modern-day birds. Visit Carthage Institute of Paleontology’s on-site lab and newly discovered juvenile tyrannosaurus! Gift shop. Hop Kenosha’s electric streetcar and visit the main museum campus on Lake Michigan’s shore. FREE admission open year around! The new museum is a dino-mite success with over 40,000 visitors annually. 5608 Tenth Avenue Kenosha WI Zip: 53140 262-653-4450 Minutes from the Illinois Wisconsin border and Six Flags Great America Gurnee, Illinois in a renovated 1908 Beaux Arts historic landmark located in the heart of beautiful downtown Kenosha Wisconsin.

Civil War Museum

The accredited Civil War Museum opened in 2008 on Kenosha Wisconsin’s scenic lakefront campus. 57,000 Sq Ft covers American Civil War history like no other, offering the enthusiast a chance to learn about the contributions of the Upper Middle West – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan. Already acclaimed for their 15,000 sq Ft permanent exhibit featuring life-scale, interactive exhibits, and audio and video technology. This gallery tells the stories of those whose were changed by the Civil War. Impressive! See significant Civil War artifacts important to the regional and how those people shaped the course of American history. Check online for videos and a calendar of new events, reenactments, lecture series and United States Armed Forces Music Concerts. The Museum includes a veterans memorial gallery, resource center, archives and gift shop and Kenosha’s electric streetcar. General Admission: Adults $7 Kenosha/Somers Adults $5, Members and Children 15 and Under Free 5400 First Avenue Kenosha, WI 262-653-4141262-653-4431 FAX

Kenosha Public Museum

The Kenosha Public Museum, accredited natural science and fine arts museum located in the heart of beautiful downtown Kenosha Wisconsin. Free General Admission every day, Permanent Exhibits: World class art by Chagall, Picasso and Dali. The Wisconsin Story, Kenosha County Woolly mammoth, Native American Village, Children’s hands-on Field Station. Changing exhibits and free family programs and events. Gift shop. Corporate events venue, weddings, birthday parties and group tours. The 2001 facility shares a Lake Michigan shoreline campus with The Civil War Museum and a working electric streetcar! Short walk to the Dinosaur Discovery Museum. 135,000 visitors annually from all 50 states and 25 foreign countries. ADDRESS: 5500 First Avenue P: 262-653-4140 Minutes from Illinois Wisconsin border / Six Flags Great America.

If you live in Austin or plan to visit soon, you’ll want to check out the Austin Family Fun site. It’s full of fun stuff, including Art, Museums & Reading, Outdoor Fun, Water Fun and Food & Farmer’s Markets and other ideas the family will enjoy. Austin is a great city!

Did you know that North Carolina is home to the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers? And that at one time there were over 290 active gold mines in the state? From the mile-high swinging bridge atop Grandfather Mountain to the rare Venus fly traps found at Carolina Beach State Park, kids of all ages find exciting attractions in the Tar Heel State. But hands down, the most spectacular museums are in the Northern Piedmont. Read on to get the inside scoop on the 10 best family friendly, and fun, museums in the region.

1. Catawba Science Center, Hickory, NC

Kids experience the motion of an earthquake, climb an outdoor mountain wall, search for fossils in a brook and more, while learning and having fun. Start by interacting with live sharks in the Marine Touch Pool. Next, explore the Amazon to view butterflies, turtles and brightly colored poisonous dart frogs. Children love Energy Avenue, and the Inventors Workshop, where they explore the power of electricity, and design, build and launch rockets! Wind down in the planetarium exploring distant galaxies, volcanoes and even the human body. Discover the fun of science – Catawba style!

2. Lazy 5 Ranch, Salisbury

Grab a bucket of feed before heading out on this safari! Guest see, touch, and feed over 750 exotic animals from six continents while driving their cars on a 3.5 mile expedition. Kids (and most adultsJ) giggle as zebras, giraffes, oryx, llamas, emus and more, stick their heads and tongues inside vehicles searching for tasty treats. Other activities include a working blacksmith shop, petting zoo, playground, and horse barn. Technically not a museum, but no trip to the Piedmont is complete without visiting the Lazy 5 Ranch.

3. SciWorks, Winston Salem

Families discover the fun of science while touching horseshoe crabs, exploring the inside of an enormous tree, and connecting with amazing wildlife on a journey from the mountains to the sea. Kids create music on invisible strings and a giant keyboard and discover healthy dental habits by playing with enormous sets of teeth. Blast off to outer space in a 50ft domed planetarium before landing back on Earth to visit the Environmental Park where water fowl, sheep, cows, goats, donkeys and a miniature horse play.

4. Children’s Museum of Winston Salem, Winston Salem

Fantasies, folklores and fairy tales are encouraged and created here. Little ones ventures into the Enchanted Forest are rewarded with sleepovers at the home of The Three Bears, walks across the fabled bridge from The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff, and a chance to meet Jack when they climb his beanstalk. Children also learn how to make delicious Krispy Kream donuts (KK was founded in Winston Salem) and take turns designing and building forts with giant LEGOS® and Lincoln Logs.

Did You Know?

• In 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful man-powered flight at Kill Devil Hill near Kitty Hawk.
  High Point is the Furniture Capital of the World.
• Blackbeard frequented the town of Beaufort during the 1700s.
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the oldest state university in America.
• The World War II battleship ‘North Carolina’ is berthed on the Cape Fear River.
• The Biltmore Estate in Ashville is America’s largest home.
• Charlotte is home to the recently open NASCAR Hall of Fame.

5. Castle McCulloch Gold Mill, Jamestown

“There’s gold in them thar hills” and at Castle McCulloch! Families enjoy panning for gold and precious gems at this historic gold refinery turn medieval castle. Visitors walk across the drawbridge (please don’t swim the moatJ) to explore the Queen’s chamber, main hall and gold mill. Other activities include video tours of North Carolina’s mining history, a mineral museum that houses treasures from outer space, and excursions to a rock quarry – think modern day Flintstones!

6. Natural Science Center, Greensboro

Children love this combination museum, planetarium and zoo. Inside, they explore dinosaurs, amphibians, gems, and minerals in amazing touch labs that encourage learning by doing. Then race off to the planetarium to explore the vastness of oceans, black holes in space and view 3-D sea monsters and a laser light show. Outside, they find a zoological park – home to alligators, tigers, monkeys, and bears, all living in natural habitats. Little folks enjoy meeting animals up close at the petting zoo where they interact with donkeys, goats, and furry rabbits.

7. Greensboro Children’s Museum, Greensboro

Learning through play is the theme here. Children enjoy role-play in community centered exhibits designed to let them experience jobs that adults do. In “Our Town”, children enter a world of make-believe where they shop at a grocery store with real kid cash, tend to pediatric patients at the Health Center by assuming roles of doctors, dentists and nurses, and learn how homes are built in the Construction Zone. In the Media Room, kids morph into anchor women and men, before dashing over to the Transportation Gallery to pilot a real DC-9 jet and steer a Petty NASCAR Pontiac.

8. North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, Durham

Have you listened to a caterpillar munch a leaf? Or seen a black and white butterfly? Do this and more on your visit through a three-story butterfly house and insectarium, while getting a bugs-eye view of the world. On the second floor, kids learn that math is fun by creating rhythmic beats, and origami frogs. Outside, they explore the wild by digging for fossils, and using binoculars and telescopes to study black bears. Check out the wetland deck and lab where microscopes are used to zoom in on microbes. And don’t forget to ride the rails and tour the Farmyard, where children pet tame steer, pigs, turkeys and goats.

9. North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, Raleigh

From dinosaurs to ducks, mountains to sea, this is the premier place to explore North Carolina’s unique natural treasures. Meet Willo, the world’s only dinosaur with a fossilized heart, and chat with paleontologists who work there. Then move up one level to the Living Conservatory and Arthropod Zoo for a close-up view of insects, crustaceans and other living things that creep, crawl and wiggle. All kids enjoy the Coastal exhibit where they view incredible live creatures that reside in North Carolina’s coastal waters. Senses are engaged on every floor of this museum for free!

10. Imagination Station, Wilson

See, learn, and do at the Imagination Station. Through Jan 2, 2011, kids engage in hands–on activities that show how stuff is made. This interactive exhibit helps children understand the roles that factories play in making common objects they see and use: Van sneakers, crayons, traffic lights, baseball gloves and more. Kids also assemble golf carts, and miniature trolleys, “deform” metal, plastic and wood into new shapes, and view an “exploded” Cannondale bike. Permanent exhibits encourage exploration through play. Kaleidoscopes are used to look into “infinity and beyond”, a Bernoulli Blower balances the world in mid-air, and miniature worlds are discovered by looking through microscopes.

Discover North Carolina – it’s the place families love to visit!

Written by: Nikola Hartmann is a thrifty gal that believes in “Living Well For Less”. Please visit her blog, Live Well For Less and follow her on Twitter.

Whether you’re a local resident or a guest at Walt Disney World, there are dozens of fun things to do that don’t require a park admission ticket. One activity that particularly appeals to younger children is a visit to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch, Farm & Stables, located at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort.

Walt adored horses; they were often featured in Disney films and play many different roles at the parks and resorts. All the horses at Walt Disney World live at Tri-Circle-D and “commute to work” in trailers. Visiting the stables offers a chance to see some of these cast members on their days off! You might see a blacksmith at work, or catch a glimpse of the white ponies that pull Cinderella’s carriage.

There is also a petting farm for some hands-on animal activity with some gentle barnyard friends. For a bit more horsing around, children ages two to eight wearing closed-toe shoes can take a pony ride for $4.00. Older kids and adults might opt for a relaxed, 45-minute guided trail ride, departing from the Tri-Circle-D Livery at the main entrance of the resort. The trail rides are scheduled several times each day, can be reserved up to 30 days in advance, and cost $42 per person. There are also horse-and-carriage rides, wagon rides, even a “sleigh ride” during the holiday season.

You can purchase pizza or a fried chicken dinner from Trails to Go or enjoy a down-home lunch or dinner at the Trail’s End Buffet. At night, walk down to the beach for perfect views of the Electrical Water Pageant and the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom!

R. D. Gavel, CTC is the owner of Whimsical World Travel specializing in magical vacations to Disney Destinations

With daylight stretching out into longer days of summer, it is time to begin thinking about how to fill the hours usually taken up by the school day.  If your family is like mine, the question of Where Can We Go? can be a daily dilemma. When trying to come up with interesting activities for children, why not combine two of the best parts of childhood: books and field trips?

With today’s delightful children’s literature, if they are read like travel brochures, books can offer exciting ideas for places to visit and things to do.  You can use new books for inspiration or reread old favorites with an eye for discovery and critical thinking. For those not inclined toward curricular enrichment, the process needn’t be daunting.  Here are a few ways to explore even simple stories:

Where and when does the story take place?
Could you go somewhere like that?
What kinds of things are portrayed in the book’s illustrations?
Where might you go to see those?
What do the characters do in the story?
Could you do some of those things too?
What is the central plot of the story?
Where could you learn to solve a similar problem?
What else might the characters like to go?
Would you like to visit those places?
What is the artwork like?
Could you paint or color or take pictures like those?
When the story is over, what happens next?
Could you present a drama or make a movie sequel?

As you plan the outings inspired by your reading, use your community’s resources. Parks, museums, libraries, restaurants, retirement centers, specialty shops, neighborhoods, marinas and natural settings can all provide great enrichment opportunities.  Give your outings an extra boost by helping children make connections between history, science, math, creative writing, leadership, relationships, current events, values and spirituality. Every conversation can be a learning experience.

To give you a head start as a summer tour guide, I have selected several books from my own shelves of children’s literature. Here are three of my favorite titles with related activities:

Corduroy by Don Freeman

Visit a big store with a toy department to imagine a stuffed bear’s perspective
Ride an escalator
Buy interesting buttons and sew them onto cloth
Visit a fabric store to learn about silk and cotton and corduroy
Turn off all the lights and use a flashlight to find something
Visit a Build-a-Bear store
Save up to buy a stuffed bear with your own money

Stella Luna by Janell Cannon

Take a walk in a forest or anywhere outside after dark
Learn about bats and birds at the library or a museum
Watch bats fly at dusk
Eat some unusual foods, then treat yourself to fresh fruit
Hang from the monkey bars in the park
Take a ride in a plane
Fly a kite that looks like a bird or bat
Sleep upside down in your bed
Go someplace where you are different from everyone else
Have a group hug

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin & John Archambault

Find some palm trees to go see
Break open a coconut or eat flaked coconut
Climb a tree and then slide down
Sing the alphabet song or recite the book and dance
Put words in alphabetical order or play an alphabet game
Get some plastic letters and act out the story
Have a family reunion
Pile on top of each other
Put on funny bandaids
Watch a sunset
Watch the moon rise

The next time your family needs an outing, think of books! If you read them as travel guides, every children’s book offers dozens of experiences. This summer, check out your own bookshelves or visit your local library. I’ll bet the perfect activity is waiting for your family to discover it in the pages of a book!

Anne McCrady is a writer, storyteller and inspirational speaker whose company, InSpiritry, focuses on Putting Words to Work for the Greater Good. She has been gathering and sharing children’s books and stories for thirty years, and her studio shelves include two award-winning adult poetry collections of her own. She lives in Texas on six shady acres. You can read more about Anne and InSpiritry at www.InSpiritry.com.