It was quite easy to plan low cost, child-friendly activities for our week long “GrandCamp” last summer. I simply thought about all of the places we used to take our sons when they were little. And the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History was the FIRST place that came to mind.
We made a quick stop at The Crowded Closet Thrift Store to pick up some inexpensive notebooks for each of the girls before we headed downtown. (I’ll explain about those notebooks later.)
The University of Iowa campus is beautiful, and the buildings on campus make it easy to see why Iowa City is known as the Athens of the Midwest. I’ve been to Greece (here is a photo to prove it) and I agree wholeheartedly with the title, and you can see for yourself.
Our grandgirls were super excited to explore the campus and they were impressed with everything they saw, including The Old Capital building, but we saved that tour for later. (In fact, we spent so much time at the various displays in the museum we had to go back a second day to see it all!)
The University Of Iowa Museum Of Natural History (located in Macbride Hall) was founded in 1858. It’s the oldest Natural History museum West of the Mississippi, and it is known for it’s extensive collection of birds, mammals and Native American artifacts.
Now…about those notebooks.
When our boys were little, we used to make trips to the museum on a regular basis. I would ask the boys to find an animal or a bird that they liked, and to take notes and draw the bird or animal. I hoped our grandkids would enjoy writing and drawing too. And I was not disappointed!
The girls took their task very seriously, and I think Little Sis Claire summed it up perfectly in her drawings…
Allow me to paraphrase: “I am at college and I can not believe it!”
What a great day for ALL of us!
One of the girl’s favorite specimens was the Giant Sloth. In fact, that sloth is SO popular with the university students he even has a name. He’s Rusty, the Giant Sloth! He was created more than 30 years ago by a three-dimensional artist based on previously found fossils. His “fur” was made from 1,400 cow tails! Those tails were collected from rendering plants all over the Midwest. In the past, Rusty would be “dressed up” for his birthday and for various holidays, but that practice has been stopped to protect his delicate “fur”.
I think Little Sis captured Rusty’s essence perfectly!
We were lucky to get to watch a student as she moved a group of bird specimens.
I told our grandgirls that the student was probably wearing gloves to keep any oils from her hands from contaminating the bird’s feathers. But the student said they wear gloves because those ancient specimens from the 1800’s were preserved with…ARSENIC! Yikes!
The displays and dioramas are very lifelike.
It was so much fun for me as I watched the girls rush from one display to the next. I could remember their dad’s same excitement more than 30 years ago!
The hands-on displays were also a big hit with the girls.
And the Native American exhibits were captivating and educational as well.
After we finished our self guided tour we made a stop in the museum gift shop where we were greeted (Grrr!) by this huge polar bear!
And no trip to a gift shop would be complete purchasing a souvenir. (Thanks Peepaw!)
We walked across the Pentacrest to the Old Capital building.
Built in 1842, it was once the main government building for the state of Iowa, and from 1857 to 1863 it housed almost the entire University of Iowa! It’s the most prominent landmark in the center of the downtown campus.
We spent a few minutes admiring the amazing inversely rotated spiral staircase.
And the girls took turns giving passionate and compelling speeches in the Senate Chamber!
The view from the Old Capital is amazing. That’s the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in the distance across the Iowa River. (That world renowned medical facility is the largest teaching hospital West of the Mississippi.)
I think Little Sis Claire summed up our day beautifully…
It was time to head home to unwind and get some rest. But stay tuned because our First Annual GrandCamp is far from over. And you just might pick up some ideas for entertaining YOUR brood without breaking the bank…just like we did!
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