Okay, here’s why you need a museum membership, and why the membership to the Austin’s Children’s Museum works for me. It’s a key part of our traveling with kids strategy. There are many benefits to museum membership, but these are two of them.
I make a point to try and visit there at least once a month since we have the membership. So I’m not going to include that in our total of how much we’ve saved ($50 per visit, so that’s a few hundred right there).
Using a museum membership while traveling
But when we went on our trip I looked up all the places that were on the way that were part of the reciprocal program. Since we were traveling up I-35 that led me to a list of about 20 places. Some weren’t exactly on our way, but a lot of them were. I sent that in an email to myself so that whenever we were approaching the city I could just bring it up and we’d know where to go. So, here’s where we went and how much it would have cost for all of us to get in.
Premier Membership: $125
Union Station: $47.5
Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum: $18
Science Museum, Oklahoma City: $65.80
La Crosse Children’s Museum: $25
TOTAL: $156.30
So, I’ve already recouped the costs of the membership this year! This TOTALLY works for me! That’s just from one trip up and down I-35.
Another benefit of museum membership
I don’t know if you know this, but kids get squirrely in the car if they sit for too long.
Then starts the, “I’m bored” litany as they poke their siblings, ask to go to the bathroom, and generally annoy their parents.
A museum membership means we can stop at any of the children’s museums we pass by and enjoy the museum for an hour or so, get the energy out, and drive on for several more hours.
I don’t know about you, but that works for me and is a real benefit of museum membership.
Have you ever had a museum membership?
More fun places to wander around
We love our local children's museum, and we have used the reciprocal feature in several states. We try to go once a month too, sometimes more often.