Play: KidsQuest Children's Museum

We finally got a chance to try out KidsQuest Children's Museum in Bellevue. I've been posting about events at the museum for a few months now and it was nice to finally put a "face to the name".

I took advantage of the Free Museum Passes program through KCLS and picked up a set of tickets two weeks before we wanted to go. You should definitely check out this program and snag some free tickets, too. It's a great way to try out a museum to see if you'd be interested in getting a membership.

We got to KidsQuest right after 10 a.m. after circling the parking lot trying to find the best entrance to use (the entrance next to Target works well). There was a group or two of preschoolers and a moms group already there. But even with a few groups it wasn't too busy or crowded. We've been to Imagine Children's Museum on a very busy field trip day and it was a little overwhelming for both me and Finley.

The museum is just the right size - not too big that you're worried about losing a kid but it has more than enough to keep your kids busy for a few hours or more.

We started off in The Garage Exhibit. Grady was IN LOVE with the big truck. No surprise there. He is  totally into cars and trucks and anything with wheels these days.

While Finley was busy playing with all the other displays...

...Grady was doing laps through the truck.

Next it was time for some water play at the Waterways Exhibit. This was by far my kids' favorite part. They had so much fun trying out all the areas. They only made it through about half of the displays before they were pretty wet, so we tried out The Backyard so they could dry out a bit.

The Backyard is an enclosed area for kids 3 and under. There were kids of all ages playing. Crawling babies up to big kids like Finley.

There are cute little birdhouses with different displays and games.

And a nice big train table. They also have a puppet theater, blankets and chairs to make forts with, and a little climbing structure.

Next it was time for some more water fun. Finley and Grady could have stayed here all day long.

 It was around lunchtime so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

Finley had a great time playing on the pipe fountain table. Though by the end the water was just flowing straight onto her. And then I found Grady with the pockets of the bib FULL of water.

So when the kids started shivering we called it quits and headed to Target for a new set of clothes. My biggest piece of advice if you're headed to KidsQuest Museum, or really any museum with a water play area --- bring an extra set of clothes!

Taking two soaking wet kids shopping for clothes (while of course scouring the clearance racks for the best deal) is not so much fun. And then trying to change them both in the public restroom while they're putting their hands into every dirty space possible... yeah, not so much fun either. But, two dry kids in cute new outfits and a bag of popcorn and all was well!

Play, Stay Away or Just Okay
This museum gets a Play from me! We had a great time here. After writing this up and looking at their website a bit I realized that we didn't even play with half the stuff there. (They have a great treehouse but I just couldn't swing it on my own with two kids.) I'm sure we'll be back again for another soaking soon!

If you're looking for more outings with your kids, check out the Play Reviews page.