Thursday, October 11, 2012

Children's Museum of Indianapolis' Wicked Workshop

I'll preface this post by saying that I'm not really a Halloween person. I'll happily dole out candy to the trick or treaters who come to our door, but I gladly gave up dressing in a costume many years ago. And while I enjoy debating with Big Arrow what he wants to be this year (we've narrowed it down to astronaut or cowboy), I don't spend hours handcrafting him an outfit.

But the Children's Museum of Indianapolis totally convinced me that this is a pretty cool holiday afterall. I got a sneak peak of their annual haunted house yesterday (it opens to the public Friday, October 13).

First, I loved the theme. Called "Wicked Workshop", it's the Halloween version of what I envision Santa's workshop at the North Pole to look like. Each room is a different take on how Halloween is created. We checked out the witch's brooms being made:



And the masks hanging to dry:



Second, the creativity in the decor is amazing. The volunteers who put on this annual fundraiser for the museum do not miss a thing. So what might look like an ordinary wall of skulls (is there such a thing as an ordinary wall of skulls?):



holds lots of tongue-in-cheek details, like this Colts fan:



I remember feeling this way when I worked in a cubicle:



But maybe it was the signs hanging in the employee break room that did him in:



And some of the features are larger than life. Have you ever walked right through a pumpkin (complete with dripping pumpkin guts and pumpkin seeds bigger than your head)?



New to the experience this year is a spooky black cat that must stand at least 10 feet tall (don't be frightened by his glowing green eyes!)



Like everything the Children's Museum does, it retains an element of education. With a Halloween-themed question in each room that will engage your child (and at the very least, force them to pause before running to see what the next room has inside!)



It can be a pretty frightening experience, though. Over at the Indiana Insider, I offer 9 tips for visiting, including some guidance on age-appropriateness. I was thankful we visited during lights-on hours. I was amazed Big Arrow was willing to touch the tunnel of snakes.



Perhaps he was inspired by my nephew, who was the only one brave enough to run through the rotating tunnel of flames.



Even if we were a little scared, it was a fun Halloween memory that none of us will soon forget. And I may just get inspired to put up a scary decoration or two this year.



This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

Disclosure: The Children's Museum of Indianapolis hosted us for this sneak peak experience.



4 comments:

  1. We have been to the Indy Children's Museum once and were really taken back by the sheer size of the museum! Its an amazing place...this halloween event looks awesome too; can't wait for a return visit.

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  2. Well I'll be darned, a new take on Halloween! I love it! I am a total Halloween lover, and this just looks like a real treat (pun intended!) for kids!

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  3. That looks like so much fun. I think I'd skip the wall of snakes though. Even plastic snakes are too much for me! I wonder how many meters of fake cobweb were used in the displays.

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  4. Yeah...a daytime visit sounds about right for me too. I have no enthusiasm for things trying to scare me, which unfortunately has come to my kids attention. Just living in my house is the equivalent of a haunted house in October. Your kids are very brave.

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