15 Ways to Have Fun at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in Michigan
This past summer, we enjoyed a wonderful few weeks road tripping through Michigan and one of our first stops was the city of Grand Rapids, home of former president Gerald Ford. We began our exploring with a visit to the Grand Rapids Public Museum to learn all about the city’s history and contributions to American culture.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum was first founded in 1854 as the Grand Rapids Lyceum of Natural History and included donations of collections of specimens and artifacts from local residents. The museum expanded to a new location in the early 20th century and then again to its current location on the banks of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids in 1994. The current museum also includes a planetarium, theater, carousel pavilion, cafe, and gift shop. The three floor Van Andel Museum Center is the main hub for the museum’s collections of over 250,000 artifacts, but the museum also manages other sites around Grand Rapids.
Travel Tips:
15 Ways to Explore the Public Museum:
- Put on your own puppet show in the Puppet Theater. 3rd floor
- Walk through a variety of dioramas that showcase Michigan woodlands, wetlands, marshes and dunes while listening to bird songs and the sounds of waves at the beach. 3rd floor
- Walk in the footprints of various animals, climb into a treehouse, and check drawers full of preserved bugs in the West Michigan Habitats exhibit. 3rd floor.
- Learn about the life cycle of a sturgeon and even see two sturgeons up close in aquarium tanks in the Grand River, Grand Fish exhibit. 3rd floor
- Look at hundreds of photos and artifacts from French fur traders who came to Michigan centuries ago in the Newcomers exhibit. 3rd floor
- Count the number of signed baseballs from the Detroit Tigers (the world’s largest collection) in the Play Ball! Exhibit. 2nd floor
- Build your own Dream Team of Tigers by creating your line up in the Play Ball! Exhibit. Â 2nd floor
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- Compare money from around the world (both in paper and coin form) and become a Numismatist in the Numismatics exhibit. 2nd floor
- Play old games like Tetris in the Arcade and full size chess, Kerplunk, and Operation, and build with massive Lincoln Logs in the Game Garden. 2nd floor
- Pick a favorite toy from the 20th century in the TOYS! Exhibit (check out the robots and stuffed animals!). 2nd floor
- Make your own music by playing a violin or recorder in the display of musical instruments. 2nd floor
- Attempt to count the bones in the skeleton of Finny, a finback whale (the second largest whale) hanging from the ceiling in the Galleria. Also look up at a Driggs Skylark Biplane and a 20 foot by 30 foot American flag on display in the Galleria.
- Peek inside the gears of the St. Johns Engine, a stationary steam engine from 1905 that weights 70,000 pounds, and an eight foot clock from the old City Hall tower on display in the Galleria.
- Walk outside across the pavilion to ride the 1928 Spillman Carousel and check out beautiful views of the Grand River. An additional fee applies.
- Walk through a recreated train station and store fronts including printing office, grocery store, alchemist, druggist, hardware store, and gun store in the Streets of Old Grand Rapids exhibit. 1st floor
Looking for other adventures in Michigan? See our feature of the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park here and our index of features here.
Disclosure: We were given a media pass to explore the museum. All opinions expressed are my own.
