Extreme Mammals is a great addition to Fernbank for children

We do love going to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  Having such a large and well planned out museum of natural history is a benefit to living in a big city. However, truth be told, we don’t get there more than a couple of times a year.  Extreme Mammals just opened at Fernbank and is a great reason to discover-or be reminded of what a great museum it is.

Extreme  Mammals has a big collection of some of the furriest, slowest, most armored or biggest creatures you’ll see.  When we first entered the room 3YO Mojo said, “Hippo”.  In a way he was correct, but we walked through this hippo’s legs and had we seen this guy when he was alive he probably would’ve eaten us.

There were dozens of skeletons, models, touchable exhibits, buttons to push and more.  One great thing about the exhibit that they may not have planned on is the massive amount of space between objects.  There is lots of room for a curious (and active) 3YO to explore.

He was curious about all of the creatures and didn’t seem scared of any of them.  There were also many hands on exhibits where he could move objects, play with lights or push a button to make a sound.  It was a fabulous time for a playful 3YO.

Of course we had to sit in the main courtyard under the shadow of the big skeleton.  He looked up and I pointed out the small flying dinosaurs near the ceiling.  It was fascinating to watch his eyes follow the animals and simply imagine what he’s thinking.

I had also forgotten about the playroom on the third floor of Fernbank.  They have some small animals in terrariums and dozens of things to play, crawl on or push.  This is the room that small kids will really enjoy and can easily spend an hour or more without getting bored.

Extreme Mammals is on display at Fernbank Museum of Natural History until August 13, 2013.  We received complimentary admission into the exhibit, all thoughts are our own