Of all the family attractions in the greater Dallas area, one that has been most recommended to me to try is The Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Located in Downtown Dallas, the six year old museum sparkles with intrigue and excitement. My family was thrilled to explore and experience all the museum had to offer over the Thanksgiving 2018 holiday.The whimsy excites before you even enter the museum building. Guests are greeted in the courtyard with the playful Leap Frog Forest, an outdoor art installation of giant green frogs that beg to be climbed on and jumped off of. When typical museum experiences with kids are very rigid and hands-off, having room to let loose and get a little crazy in a playful way is a refreshing start (and finish) to a museum visit.
Once inside, you are able to orient yourself with the eleven permanent exhibit halls housed across five floors. The layout is designed to have you ascend the escalators to the top floor, straight into the mouth of a dinosaur fossil, then work your way down throughout the museum. My kids generally want to go straight to the dinos and the Perot Museum doesn't disappoint, encouraging you to start your visit in the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall. Full of ancient animal bones and impressive prehistoric dinosaur fossils, select fossils also sparkle with light show projections as part of ILLUMINATE through January 6, 2019. My kids also enjoyed peeking inside the glass-encased Paleo Lab which shows Museum paleontologists as they process and prepare fossils fresh from the field.
Once inside, you are able to orient yourself with the eleven permanent exhibit halls housed across five floors. The layout is designed to have you ascend the escalators to the top floor, straight into the mouth of a dinosaur fossil, then work your way down throughout the museum. My kids generally want to go straight to the dinos and the Perot Museum doesn't disappoint, encouraging you to start your visit in the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall. Full of ancient animal bones and impressive prehistoric dinosaur fossils, select fossils also sparkle with light show projections as part of ILLUMINATE through January 6, 2019. My kids also enjoyed peeking inside the glass-encased Paleo Lab which shows Museum paleontologists as they process and prepare fossils fresh from the field. 
A highlight of our visit was the Lyda Hill Gems and Minerals Hall. I know what you're thinking - how exciting for kids are sparkly rocks? Forget the old ho-hum displays. The museum uses interactive tablet displays to engage visitors to learn more about each gem and mineral. My kids went from breezing through this type of exhibit to stopping at each and every display, selecting their favorites and learning more about each item's name and origin. The new "Aurora Butterfly of Peace" installation boasts 240 colorful diamonds that are fluorescent under black light. There's also an enormous split 5' tall purple geode. More than just a beautiful piece, the display encourages visitors to close and open the geode by turning a wheel. My kids thought it was super cool!
There were plenty of other exhibits we enjoyed, like the Rees-Jones Foundation Dynamic Earth Hall where we explored weather and experienced varying degrees of earthquakes. One of the most unique experiences was exploring various Texas ecoregions in the Discovering Life Hall. Each region had a variety of native scents, from skunks and coyote urine to bluebonnets and mountain laurel. In the Moody Family Children's Museum, geared for those 5 and under, my youngest kids were able to imagine that they were camping, go grocery shopping, play with water and crawl around a pint-sized version of the Dallas skyline.
We spent more than four hours at the museum and barely scratch the surface! There were exhibits to engage every age of visitor and my family enjoyed the fresh take on how each hall was presented. Senses were tingled, unique displays begged for interaction and we left our visit inspired.
The Perot Museum is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas. General admission is $20 for adults (13-64), $13 for youth (2-12) and $14 for seniors (65+). Children under 2 are free. General hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday with extended holiday hours. For more information, visit perotmuseum.org or call 214-428-5555.
My family was provided complimentary admission for this review. View our full FTC Disclosure Statement here.
