Museums for kids: 4 spots to check out on your next family trip

Whether you’re planning a day trip with the family or a more extended vacation with the kids, there are plenty of opportunities for learning experiences. Here are four places that will supercharge your family’s brainpower:

Please Touch Museum

Philadelphia

Just a few hours’ drive from Long Island, the Please Touch Museum has crafted a reputation for programs that enrich the lives of young visitors by creating learning opportunities through play, laying the foundation for a lifetime of hands-on learning and cultural awareness.

Located in historic Memorial Hall, the museum aims to highlight the past, present and future through six interactive exhibit zones across 157,000 square feet. Four areas have been specifically designed for children 3 and younger.

In a current exhibit about food and family, kids can explore where food comes from and how we can share it within three interconnected zones: a market, a hybrid home-industrial kitchen and a neighborhood festival area.

A popular destination for families is the Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel on the east side of Memorial Hall. Built in 1908, it was recently restored and can be found in its own 9,000-square-foot glass pavilion.

For more: pleasetouchmuseum.org

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

With more than 472,900 square feet of exhibit space on five floors, this nonprofit institution has entertained and educated families since 1925. It is considered the world’s largest children’s museum. Kids can learn about the duties of astronauts and get inspired by the stories of other children, including Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Malala Yousafzai.

For more: childrensmuseum.org

Musical Instrument Museum

Phoenix

This unique museum enables families to see and experience more than 7,500 instruments from more than 200 countries and territories. Live performances, family-friendly festivals and a wide array of lectures and classes are available. Check out the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed “Imagine,” as well as the instruments of Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and George Benson. Kids can enjoy the Experience Gallery, where they can touch, play and hear instruments from different cultures.

For more: TheMim.org

U.S. Space & Rocket Center

Huntsville, Alabama

Do you have what it takes to be a space explorer? Visit this otherworldly technology center to experience the Discovery Shuttle simulator, feel three times the force of gravity in the G-Force Accelerator and peruse one of the largest collections of rockets and space memorabilia on display anywhere in the world.

For those who want to up their game and train like an astronaut, a visit to Space Camp may be a good fit. The camps offer space, aviation and robotics instruction for children ages 9 to 18 and adults of all ages.

For more: rocketcenter.com