Last weekend hubby and I took our son to visit AHA! A Hands On Adventures in Lancaster, OH, about an hour drive from where we live. The first time I heard about this place was (believe it or not) through Jon and Kate Plus Eight when they had one on one quality time with each kid. Jon took one of the boys (don’t remember which one) to this place and it looked pretty exciting. Basically AHA is a children museum geared towards younger kids from 0 - 7 years old. COSI is a pretty exciting place, but I think it’s more for school aged kids.
I have to be honest, I was pretty skeptical about going to this place. No offense but I consider Lancaster as a small town compare to Columbus. I really don’t know what to expect going to a Children Museum in Lancaster. The entire place is about 4000 sq ft, which is considerably pretty small for a children museum. In addition, No lunch room facility, not even a single vending machine. I went to the website prior to our visits, so I came in prepare. I brought my son’s lunch box and fed him in the area where they do arts and crafts. Not sure why they don’t even have a single vending machine as they could easily make extra money out of it. Anyway, you’ll never know until you experience it and that’s why we went. So here are some of my favorites at AHA! A Hands-On Adventures:
Let’s go fishing!
There is a small fishing pond, which is basically a tub filled with blue plastic balls and some fish. The fish and the fishing poles are both connected with magnetic rings to make it easier for the kids to fish. It’s not really fancy, but my son had a blast.
Pizza Party
I have a soft spot when it comes to pretend play, especially pretend food, market and the likes. I think they are just adorable. They have a section where you can make “pretend pizza” made of cloth, cut out sponges in the shapes of mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and all kind of pizza condiments. They also have the pan to put the pizza in the oven, and the pizza oven. I put on apron and hat on my son and we had so much fun. I think I had more fun that him on this part.
Shopping Spree
Right next to the pizza area, there is a little shop with shelves of pretend food and cash register with pretend money. Again, I was having a blast more than my son did, partly compensating my childhood. We didn’t have this kind of stuffs when I was growing up.
‘Lil Fireman and His Firetruck
This was probably his favorite and mine too since I got to put a fireman outfit on him. He just looked so adorable in that oversize outfit. The left side of the firetruck has all kinds of buttons that look like the controller on the real firetruck. Behind the firetruck was a frame with lights inside that looks like fire. There are some buttons underneath the fire, and if you shoot it with laser “gun” located on the back of the firetruck, the fire goes out.
Singing and Action
There is a stage in the back corner of the place with piano, microphone, lights that the kids can turn on and off, costumes, and makeup tables. I just thought those kids are so adorable when singing on stage. My son actually sang his favorite songs, Old McDonald and Ba Ba Black Sheep. I didn’t expect that since he’s a pretty shy boy.
The ones I didn’t like:
- The sand box could have had more sand. Actually our sand table at home is much better than theirs
- The obstacle course is pretty basic, really nothing special
- The playhouse looks like the one in COSI. I wish we could have one that looks like a real house.
The fact that I’ve been to a much better children museum in Indianapolis and Chicago does affect my opinion about AHA! A Hands On Adventures here in Lancaster. Did my son have a fabulous time? Absolutely. Is it worth driving 45 minutes - 1 hour away? Probably not.
For more information visit http://www.aha4kids.org.
Tags: A Hands On Adventures, AHA, AHA Lancaster OH
