Travel Adventures in Upstate New York, Part 5: The Strong National Museum of Play

This is the fifth post about our travel through upstate New York. I suggest reading the first, second, third, and fourth posts from the trip before this one. Because I blog about educational travel, I received admission tickets and other benefits for some of the places we visited during our trip. Other places are free for everyone; we paid full price for the rest. This has no bearing on my reviews. If you see any gaps in my narrative, it is because I didn't love that particular attraction, restaurant, or hotel enough to recommend it, regardless of how much I paid or didn't pay.

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The Strong Museum of Play (Rochester, New York)

During our travels to all 50 states, I've visited many outstanding museums. On more than one occasion, I've referred to a museum as "one of my all-time favorites." On Sunday, September 7 we visited The Strong National Museum of Play, which I now can say is definitively the best museum I've ever seen. 

A great museum is educational, engaging, and entertaining to everyone who visits. It draws people in, to a beautiful and comfortable space, where they can learn, explore, and have fun, together or on their own. Of the many hundreds of museums I've visited, I can't think of one that does a better job of that than The Strong. 

What sets The Strong apart is that it is for literally everyone. There aren't a lot of museums that are equally appealing to toddlers and teens, and just as wonderful for adults of all ages. Take a 2-year old to an art museum or a teenager to a Children's Discovery Museum (I've done both) and you'll quickly see how impressive it is when one museum caters to all ages. The Strong is huge and most of the exhibits are hands-on. The topic, Play, includes everything from toys to games, imagination to exploration. It includes video games, treasure hunts, solving mysteries, and so much more. Is there anyone on earth who doesn't enjoy some form of play? Play is universal. 

Steve and I were the first people through the door when The Strong opened that morning. I avoid posting pictures with other people's kids in them, so we wanted to get ahead of the crowd and take photos freely before going back to actually enjoy the museum. The Strong is so large (375,000 square feet!) and has so many fun details that it took us 45 minutes of speed walking to photograph each exhibit. We managed to stay ahead of everyone else, so mission accomplished! 

I can't show you everything since The Strong is so big. But I do want to show you some of the things that make it special, starting with the outdoor play area. There are so many fun ways to interact with this amazing space. Each of the signs tells you more about the featured games. 

When you push the buttons, the dragons come to life and spray water. 

That's a butterfly garden in the back right, the only part of The Strong we did not visit. It has separate ticketing. If only we'd had more time. 

The Skyline Climb is awesome. There are options for high- and low-rise ropes course activities. It's indoors, but the windows in the ceiling make it feel like you're climbing to the sky. 

Another carousel from North Tonawanda!

In this area, visitors draw or color a sea creature at the table, scan it, and then it starts swimming in the ocean. Super cool. 

There are real aquariums nearby. 

Sesame Street!

There is info from each of the years Sesame Street has been on the air. Here are the years when I was watching most regularly. 

  

When Trevor was little, he loved the Berenstein Bears but couldn't pronounce their name properly. Steve and I still refer to them as the "Stain-Stain" Bears. This big play area is adorable. 

While we were visiting, the optical illusion spaces were popular with elementary age kids (not to mention a certain pair of empty nesters). 

Two of my favorite things: Snoopy and the World's Largest anything. 

   

I'm a fan of grocery store play spaces and the Wegmans inside The Strong is the best I've ever seen. It's enormous and has so many fun features. 

It'd be nice if the shelves in real grocery stores were this short. I could actually reach the top shelf without climbing or using another food item to try to push the item I want forward so I can catch it as it falls. (Anyone else? Just me?) 

The Strong is packed with climbing structures, stairs, bridges, tunnels, and slides of all different sizes for active play. Adults can play with their children, or they can enjoy the many exhibits on display near each place space.   

The theming at The Strong is incredible. Some of the most impressive play areas and exhibit spaces feature fairy tales, superheroes, and mysteries. 

Reading is a major theme throughout The Strong. Classic books are on display with their toys, and there are lots of shelves full of books just waiting to be read. 

Or TAKEN HOME! Of all the fun surprises from The Strong, the biggest surprise was that guests with a local library card can check out books from the museum. Each exhibit space has books that match their theme. After reading them, you can return them to the museum or to any of the libraries within the system. Amazing!

This music space was tons of fun. I played Do-Re-Mi on every instrument. 

So far, I've showed you about 20% of the museum, if that. Here's more cool stuff: 

  

The Strong is brilliantly designed to entertain people of all ages simultaneously. Here's a perfect example. While preschoolers are playing with the train table, parents can be right there with them while enjoying the exhibit on the wall about the United States of Toys. 

For those of us whose childhoods are (well) behind us, there's so much nostalgia at The Strong. I enjoyed seeing toys and games from my childhood, as well as the ones from my mom's childhood that I played with as a kid when we visited my grandparents. 

The Strong is home to the National Toy Hall of Fame. Each year, the most impactful toys are inducted into the HOF. 

This entire space (complete with color-changing ceiling) features the inductees. 

  

The Strong is also home to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. The huge gallery is packed with interesting (and often interactive) exhibits. 

Fans of video games from all eras will love The Strong. I enjoyed playing classics from my childhood, including Atari, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Ms. Pacman, and Pong. There's plenty of modern stuff, too. 

  

The Strong does a great job with inclusion. We both enjoyed this fascinating exhibit about female game designers. 

If I had to pick a favorite section of The Strong (an impossible task), it might be Level Up. You put on an RFID bracelet, create an avatar, and then jump into games based on The Strong's Periodic Table of Video Game Elements. 

They are split into five zones based on the main actions of the games: Choose, Move, Create, Compete, and Solve. The elements of each game are on display. This game called Reflexology incorporates Rc (React), Pu (Push), and Ch (Chase). 

There are dozens of games to play. I found it just as interesting to see where they fit on the periodic table as they were to play. It was also fun to identify my strengths and interests on the periodic table. 

I love that the bracelet records your progress and displays it. Steve and I explored this section mostly separately, so it was fun to come together and see what each other had done. 

If you're concerned that The Strong might overwhelm your kids (or you), don't worry. When designing this museum, they thought of everything, including the possibility that families may need a space to decompress. There are multiple rooms available for families to find a quiet space and take a break from stimulation. 

That said, The Strong doesn't feel like an assault on the senses. It's fairly dark (bad for photos, but better for a calm environment). It's not especially noisy. And even with a lot of people there, it's so big and well-designed that it doesn't feel oppressively crowded. 

I had budgeted 4.5 hours for us to spend at The Strong, knowing how much there was so see. It was not enough time. I ended up calling our next destination to see if we could move our appointment time back. We could, so we had another precious hour at The Strong. We used it to grab a quick burger and custard from the beloved local chain, Bill Gray's, located under the Sky Line Climb. 

Then we went on scavenger hunt. You decipher clues to figure out where in the museum to look, then search high and low for the keys. Together, they reveal a secret message. They're pretty well-hidden; we hadn't seen any of them before we actually started looking! 

You may be wondering, as I was, why the National Museum of Play is in Rochester, New York. The answer is because of the museum's namesake, Margaret Woodbury Strong. 

There's so much more I could tell you about The Strong, but I can't cover it all. You can read about the many exhibits here. And when you visit, plan for two days. The Strong is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite museum. 

I hope to return sometime to PLAY!