The Perot Museum of Nature and Science recently invited me to attend its annual Holiday Family Blogger Day, and I was thrilled for the chance to get a sneak peek of all the new holiday happenings at the museum. Dallas-area friends, if you haven’t had a chance to make it out to the Perot Museum this holiday season, there’s still plenty of time to experience what’s new—including the newest mammoth, the Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence traveling exhibit (here through Feb. 21) and four new 3-D National Geographic films.
I was most excited to see Ellie May, the nearly intact and pristine Columbian mammoth discovered in an Ellis County gravel pit in May 2014 (hence where she got her name). I came across this video about the excavation process while I was reading about it, and it’s amazing to see how complete her skeleton was when it was uncovered!
breakfast at the museum + cute mammoth cookies and coloring pages to celebrate ellie may
We got the chance to hear from Perot Museum CEO Colleen Walker at the event, followed by Dr. Ron Tykoski (the museum’s paleontologist and fossil preparator) about his experience working to preserve the new mammoth from start to finish.
Here’s a partial view of Ellie May in her new home on Level 3 of the Perot Museum. She was around 8 to 9 feet tall at the shoulder and is anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 years old! One of the coolest features of the display is that her skeleton is presented in a unique way to allow museum guests to see her as she appeared at the excavation site. It was neat to be among the first to see her in her new home before the museum officially debuted her at “Meet Your Mammoth Day” the following weekend.
the fully-mounted male mammoth on display in the “life then and now” exhibit hall
my little one and i on our way in to see the dinos
The dinosaur exhibit is always one of the best parts! I remember being so in awe of them when I visited nature and science museums as a child.
c pressing the buttons to see different dinosaur footprints light up in the display
the 85-foot-long alamosaurus is center stage in its 11,000-square-foot exhibition space
The dinosaurs and other fossils were fascinating to see and still my favorite part, but if you have a little one, the real gem of the Perot Museum is the Moody Family Children’s Museum. There is so much to do in this play area alone, and my son would have spent all day playing in there if he could. It’s the perfect spot for the 5 and under crowd to explore.
The miniature Dallas skyline is adorable. Kids can climb up a replica Reunion Tower and slide through the child-size city of replica buildings.
C especially loved the small-scale Dallas Farmers Market. He had a blast “driving” the big blue delivery truck and loading up his shopping basket with fruits and veggies. (How cute are those little farmers market aprons?!)
There’s also a sensory-rich baby and toddler park, an art lab, an indoor nature hike, indoor water play and a dinosaur dig in the outdoor sand pit. The Children’s Museum was our first stop, and we eventually had to distract C long enough to get him out of there so we would have time to visit all the other floors!
the “being human” exhibit hall
the “discovering life” exhibit hall
The Perot Museum has 11 permanent exhibit halls spanning from sports to robots and from wildlife ecosystems to the solar system. You can check them out here before your visit for an overview of what the museum has to offer.
c enjoying the leap frog forest in the plaza on our way back to the car
I could have spent all day exploring the Perot Museum, but you know how little ones need their nap times. I’ll be planning a trip back soon to get a more in-depth look at some of the exhibits I only got a quick glimpse of. If you’re heading to Dallas, definitely plan to spend some time there during your stay. It’s one of the great attractions in our area. Visit the Perot Museum’s website for additional information on hours and directions, tickets, programs and events, special exhibits, memberships and more.
A big thank you to the Perot Museum for hosting my family at this event and providing my readers with an opportunity to enjoy the museum as well! If you missed it last week, I held a 24-hour flash giveaway on Facebook for two winners to each receive two tickets (see winning announcement here). If you clicked on both of those Facebook links, you know that I still have four more tickets to give away! Enter below for your chance to win!
Two (2) winners will each receive two (2) tickets for admission to the Perot Museum and the Creatures of Light exhibition ($52 value per set of adult tickets). Tickets are valid from Jan. 11–Feb. 21, 2016.
This giveaway begins at 12 a.m. CST on 12/29/15 and ends at 12 a.m. CST on 1/4/16. All entries will be verified. Winners will be randomly selected and announced here. The winners will also be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond. If there is no response in the timeframe provided, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!
UPDATE: Giveaway closed. Thanks to everyone who participated and entered! The winners were selected from the 48 total entries through Rafflecopter using random.org. Congratulations to … Kimberly T. and Corie R. for their winning entries. I hope you both enjoy the Perot Museum as much as we did!
Awesome info on the museum and LOVE pics of you and baby boy!!! Can’t wait to go sometime soon!
Thank you so much! It really is a great place, and we had such a great time. I can’t wait to go back!
Great pictures! Looks like C had a real fun time with so many fun things to do. The pretend Farmer’s Market is adorable!!
Thank you! I adored the farmers market too. It was my favorite play area (and C’s), but the entire Children’s Museum is wonderful.
Thank you for the sneak peek! I have to take my 4 boys! We just have to figure out what to see first. Baby C is so adorable!
Thank you, Corie! Your four boys would have a blast. With so much to see and do, there is something that would interest each of them!
Yay! Thank you so much – we can’t wait to go to the museum with our little guy! Thanks to you and C for the tour!! xoxo Kim
You are so welcome! Congratulations! Glad we could give you a glimpse into the museum through our pictures—I hope your little guy has as much fun as C did!
What a great way to spend the day! That children’s area looks amazing! I wish we had something like that closer to us!
Totally! It’s a bit of a drive for us but so worth it. I wish we could play in the Children’s Museum every day!
Wow, the mammoth exhibit looks amazing! It’s so incredible how these awesome creatures once roamed our earth. The dinosaur exhibits also look fantastic, but my 3 year old would disagree. I tried to take him into one at a museum near me and he was petrified when one roared, LOL.
I was really looking forward to seeing the mammoth and dinosaur exhibits, and they did not disappoint! There weren’t any roaring dinosaurs here, but my son would have had the same reaction as yours if there were :) Thanks so much for your comment!
Looks like an awesome place to explore! When my son was studying dinosaurs we were looking for a museum with dinosaur bones, but couldn’t find one around here. He would love a trip to that museum!
Oh no, how disappointing you couldn’t find one near you. Museums are always a fun stop while traveling, so hopefully you’ll find some dinosaurs on your next trip! The Perot Museum just opened a few years ago, so it was nice for us to get a new nature and science museum in our area.
Wow! What a neat experience! We do not get to our children’s museum often enough, but I really should take my toddler more. Thank you for sharing this at #mommymeetupmondays!
As you can see, my toddler certainly enjoyed himself :) It’s a little far for us to go as often as I’d like, but once nap times aren’t a factor it will be much easier to spend more time there (not that I want nap times to go away any time soon)!
That looks like a museum and science centre all in one. We’d have a blast there!
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
Yes, lots of science! I’m really looking forward to that aspect of it as my son gets older. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Wow! What an amazing place to visit! My boys and I have gone to several museums for field trips. They would love to see that mammoth exhibit in person.
I always enjoyed school field trips to museums. I’m excited to take my son to different museums while we travel as he grows up. It’ll be a great way to tie in learning and education with the cities we visit!