The following museums are perfect for families. During our visit, there was not a single child that whined about being bored or wanting to leave! These museums had the right stuff to keep everyone engaged and interested. The best museums in Canada we’ve visited so far. If you’re interested to see how we explored Ottawa in 3 days, check out this guide and read below to see what stood out most to us in each museum!
Experience Canadian Nature Indoors at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
I am a lover of all things outdoors so visiting the Canadian Museum of Nature was a natural (ha!) fit.
On this Saturday morning visit, before I even stepped foot in the building, I was welcomed with a farmers market right at the front door of the museum. For someone who never wakes up early enough for the farmers market or live close to one, this was a special treat. We grabbed some berries and pesto bread for breakfast before our visit (which was better than the questionable sausage and powdered eggs from the hotel).
From looking at the map, we assumed we didn’t need more than 2 hours at the museum – we were wrong. Every aspect of the museum had us drawn. There were no closed exhibits or anything that was fenced off (re: Toronto museums). Each floor displayed its own ecosystem. Being able to see dinosaurs brought to life at the Talisman Energy Fossil Gallery, to seeing the massive skeletal display of the humongous whale in the RBC Blue Water Gallery, we were in awe!
We were very impressed with the Canadian Museum of Nature. We went back to the museum on Sunday in hopes of seeing the farmers market again but they weren’t there. I guess it only takes place on Saturdays.
Live through Canadian History at the Canadian Museum of History.
With us both having fallen asleep in our 8th grade Canadian history classes, expectations here was not particularly high. And having just come back from Italy and seeing what their museums offer, a few pieces at the Treasures of Ancient Greece exhibit still caught our eyes – especially the solid gold funerary masks and adornments.
But what really moved me was the Terry Fox – Running to the Heart of Canada exhibit that marked the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope. Do yourself a favour and please do not miss it – first of its kind to bring together all of the Marathon of Hope’s artefacts to display to the public. This exhibit tells the story of an 18 year old boy’s battle with cancer, to a 22 year old man’s will to bring awareness to finding a cure for cancer with his integrity intact. Truly inspiring. From seeing his t-shirts to the iconic Marathon of Hope van, everything brought chills down my spine and maybe a bit of tears too. Prior to this, I only read briefly about Terry Fox, but the exhibit brought his story to life. Kudos to the Canadian Museum of History for doing such an amazing job putting it together!
Lastly, Carl, a child at heart, insisted we visit the Children’s Museum section and so we did. Walking through the doors felt like walking into wonderland, a massive playhouse with themes of different homes around the world, something I only dreamed of playing in as a child. The space contained a variety of props, costumes and hands-on artefacts to stimulate questions and learning.
Fly By at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.
We originally did not plan on visiting this museum but we had some extra time and the word Space jumped out at me. You may not know, but I am a huge fan of Chris Hadfield. I think I may have watched all his youtube videos, read all his tweets and own both his books. I also had the opportunity to shake his space hands and listen to his lecture – ah.mazing.
While originally I thought it would just be a warehouse of planes (which it kind of is), everything there was very open and interactive. I could not believe that I got to see the Canada Arm up close or Hadfield’s soyuz spacesuit.
Of course, seeing the planes was great too, Carl loved reading about the mechanics of the aircraft from different eras and he was hoping to pick up a souvenir for his friend pursuing his career in aerospace engineering (sorry Stanley, we didn’t find anything). At the souvenir shop though, my eyes lit up as I saw the badges I could buy with Hadfield’s name on it. “I’ll take them all”, I said. And all 3 I bought.
What a beautiful end to our trip.
Life Outside the Inbox 