Perot Museum of Nature and Science – Dallas

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science opened in Dallas last month in a landmark building near Victory Park.  My family visited the museum today to see what all the buzz was about. I love the outside of the Perot Museum building and couldn’t wait to explore what the magical slanting window held inside. We purchased a charter family annual membership online prior to our visit along with tickets for the museum.  We were so glad we did because when we arrived, there were families everywhere.  Our entrance time was 10:00 am and all other entrance times until 6:00 pm were already sold out. The glassy slanted structure on the side of the building holds the escalators that take visitors all the way to the 4th floor to start the tour. Space and dinosaurs await above. The fourth floor starts with a journey through the solar system with interactive exhibits and museum guides.  The Alamosaurus skeleton is the only complete one in the world. It is huge. It stands two school buses high and two school buses long. I was amazed by the scale of some of the other skeletons.  It is impressive to see how overwhelmingly large they are. We then went up to the Hall of Birds and then down to level three where energy, minerals and dynamic earth exhibits were displayed. The first part of the dynamic earth exhibit is a re-enactment of an earthquake. There is a platform that you can stand on and then dial up the size of earthquake you want to experience.  It gives you a feeling of what the difference between a 4.2, 7.1 and 9.2 quakes. Weather was next!  The cycle of water from ice {above} to steam could be touched. You could also reach out and touch a tornado. My family’s favorite exhibit was the news station.  Complete with suit jacket, teleprompter and green screen, we took turns delivering the weather in a very amateur fashion. I truly believe that there were WAY too many words on that teleprompter to say in the short time allotted! The next area we toured was the Gems and Minerals Hall. There were many things to see.  I probably took 50 pictures of just the stones because they were so pretty.  This was a really unique interactive exhibit. It is the “grape jelly” Geode and it is massive.  There is a large hand-wheel to turn which opens and closes the geode.  The photo doesn’t do the purple amethyst crystal inside justice. We went through the energy exhibits and headed down to level 2.  The museum is gorgeous.  The lighting is natural.  There are so many cool photo opportunities throughout. The Being Human Hall, Engineering and Innovations Hall and Discovering Life were ahead. Life in and around Dallas is explored through the exhibits in the Texas Blackland and Prairie tour.  I even SMELLED it.  Seriously, there are areas where you can not only look, listen and touch, but also smell. This area was incredible.  Every single exhibit was interactive in a different way.  We spent a majority of our visit time in this area.  I took two self portraits… One in temperature. And one in blocks. This block mural moved when it detected any movement.  It was fascinating to watch kids dance and run in front of it and see the results. The Sports area on the lowest floor had activities that the kids could throw themselves into. In this dash, my boys were racing a cheetah.  As you can see, the cheetah is winning. There is also a children’s museum on this floor for kids under the age of 5.  The exhibits are bright and cheerful and the kids were busy while moms chatted nearby. We loved our visit to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and highly recommend visiting. * Perot Museum of Nature and Science is located at 2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, TX 75201. Hours of operation are M-S: 10-5 pm and Sunday:  noon-5. Advanced ticket purchase is also a really good idea!