Beneski Museum of Natural History

I have rarely seen a small museum this refined. It is a real gem... The collection is varied and rather large (the walls are lined with pull-drawers filled with fossils that tell a story when opened in order), and while some sites labeled it as "not kid friendly", my 4-year-old was enchanted with the awe inspiring towering fossils of full dinosaurs, skulls and 2 gorgeous specimens of mammoth. He delighted in pulling open every single drawer, and asked for an explanation of every single one. True, it's not a "touchie feelie" kind of museum, but it's a museum that presents its collection in a kind of halo of awe and reverence for the countless eons it represents, and certain kids will pick up on this and become enthralled...! There are certain pieces that you can touch, especially in the very large "footprints" collection, which my kids loved pretending he was a dinosaur in :D