Place/Event: State Historical Museum of Iowa
Location: 600 E Locust St, Des Moines, IA 50319
Cost: Free
Grade/age range: All ages
Group size: up to 90 for school tours
Hands-on: Limited
Stroller friendly: Yes
Bathrooms: Yes
Food: Yes, but not little kid friendly
The State Historical Museum of Iowa is a wonderful complement for many different areas of study. Admission to the museum is free and so is parking. The parking garage at Grand Ave & Pennsylvania Ave is also used for State Capitol visitors.
The highlight for younger students is the mammoth skeleton and animal exhibit. The exhibits are thorough and valuable to older students for research.
My younger elementary students enjoy the museum for about an hour. They took pictures of exhibits with their camera.
We have visited the museum on a few occasions and I find it most useful to visit for one or two exhibits that complement our study. When the children were in preschool we stopped just to see the mammoth after reading a picture book about them.
The exhibits are done creatively and contain more information then one visit would allow. The museum offers educational programs for school groups.
There is a café, however the menu is geared toward older adults and the atmosphere is more sophisticated. The new addition of a younger children’s play area is located on the main level.
Iowa is full of historic sites and the State Historical Museum of Iowa can help you find resources to enhance your historical study. We will be utilizing this resource over the upcoming school years.
Do you have any information and/or historical photographs of a man from late 19th century Imogene, Iowa by the name of August Werner? I’m working on an article about him for the Iowa History Journal and need them for possible publication.
Hi Steven,
You will have to contact the Historical Society at their address listed above. Thanks