The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum - Kirkwood, MO
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Wampa-One
N 38° 34.398 W 090° 24.384
15S E 725944 N 4272616
Nationally acclaimed children’s museum offers more than 100 hands-on educational exhibits for kids from one to 101.
Waymark Code: WM4HWB
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 08/28/2008
Views: 15
DESCRIPTION: The Magic House is a hands-on Children’s Museum located in a three-story Victorian home in suburban Kirkwood. The Museum is a not-for-profit organization, which specializes in providing creative learning experiences for children. That has translated into “fun” for children for more than 28 years. More than 400,000 people visit The Magic House each year. Zagat Surveys’ U.S. Family Travel Guide named The Magic House the number one attraction for child appeal, besting Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. It has been voted best children’s museums in the country by FamilyFun Magazine and it was on that magazine’s list of the top 12 family destinations.
ADDRESS: 516 S. Kirkwood Rd., St. Louis, MO 63122
LOCATION: West St. Louis County in suburban Kirkwood.
PHONE NUMBER: 314-822-8900
WEB SITE: www.magichouse.org
GETTING THERE: From downtown, take I-44 West to the US 61/Lindbergh/US 67-50 Exit (Exit 277B) and turn right. Lindbergh becomes Kirkwood Road. Take Kirkwood Road south about a mile to The Magic House which will be on the right.
HOURS: Summer hours (Memorial Day - Labor Day): Monday - Thursday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Labor Day - Memorial Day: Tuesday - Thursday, noon - 5:30 p.m.; Friday, noon - 9 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Closed Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Call or visit The Magic House web site, www.magichouse.org, for special holiday hours. “A Little Bit of Magic,” a special area for preschool children, opens at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday - Friday. An average visit to The Magic House last two to three hours.
ADMISSION: $7.50; children under 1, free. Group rates are available for groups of 15 or more with an adult supervisor for every five children. Classroom teachers (one per class) receive free admission to The Magic House during any reserved Preschool, Children’s Village or Classic Tour. Call 314-822-8900 for more information.
There is free admission on the third Friday evening of each month from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. thanks to a sponsorship by Target stores.
Groups can hold special events in the Whitaker Theatre or in the Backyard open-air Pavilion. The entire Magic House can be rented during the evenings for meetings, school fundraisers and other events.
SLOGAN: Spark Your Imagination
ANNUAL ATTENDANCE: 400,000
HIGHLIGHTS:
One of The Magic House’s oldest and most popular exhibits allows visitors to touch an electrostatic ally charged ball and see their hair fly wildly on end. They can even purchase a button with a photo of them in their hair-raising state as a souvenir of their visit.
Visitors can slide down a three-story slide for a quick trip from the top floor of The Magic House to the main floor.
A giant gear wall allows visitors to make a simple machine and see how one gear turns them all.
At the Children’s Village, kids can learn about daily life through a number of hands-on activities. They can work in a grocery store, be a teller in a bank, make or serve pizza in the pizza parlor or work for a construction company among other things. Children can also put a “fish” into a nearby stream and watch as the stream carries it back to the pond near the Village.
In the Math Path, children can learn about various math concepts through hands-on play.
First Impressions, one of the country’s largest moveable art sculptures, contains more than 75,000 plastic rods and is more than eight feet tall. Visitors can make an impression of their hands, head or body in the sculpture.
Visitors can make their own buzzing burglar alarm at the Electric Company exhibit.
At KIDS-TV, The Magic House’s television station, kids can forecast the weather and experience what it’s like to be a news anchor.
At the Shadow Wall, another popular exhibit, visitors can jump or move their bodies against a wall in a darkened room. After a flash, the visitors’ movements are frozen in a picture on the wall.
Edward’s Attic, a third floor exhibit, recreates what life was like for the Edwards Family, the home’s original occupants who lived in the house from 1903 to 1919. Children can dress up in period clothing, have a tea party, “study” at an old school desk and play with kitchen items from that time period.
For Baby and Me is a unique area especially designed for children under 2. Parents can interact with their babies in a peek-a-boo house, help their child play on a baby gym and watch their toddler drive a toddler-size school bus while learning important child development information.
WHAT’S NEW: The Magic House will soon be so much more than ever before! Currently under construction with a new 25,000-square-foot addition that will connect to the original historic home; the expansion will include a light-filled Victorian Conservatory to welcome visitors; lots of new exhibits; a rooftop garden, an Education Center with classrooms for students of all ages; the Star-Spangled Center, a unique learning environment with exhibits and educational programs on citizenship; and an outdoor Play Garden. Combined with additional parking, restrooms and a new café, The Magic House will be even more magical.
ANNUAL SPECIAL EVENTS: Visiting artists come to the Magic House the first weekend of the month from September to May and visitors can learn from them as they demonstrate various techniques in workshops that run throughout the day. Children have an opportunity to work with the artists on projects, which include everything from painting to theatrical works. No registration is required but seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Visiting Artist Series is made possible with the support of the Regional Arts Commission and Talx Corporation.
February is Scout Month at The Magic House. All Scouts in uniform and their leaders are admitted at the half-price rate of $4.00 per person. To receive the reduced rate, Scout groups must provide two adult supervisors for every 10 Scouts. Signs throughout the museum will show Scouts how using an exhibit can fulfill a badge requirement.
The Magic House celebrates the beginning of Cardinals' baseball the day before the season opener with a Kids' Tailgate Party. Kids can meet Fredbird, eat kid-friendly stadium food and participate in a Cardinals' craft project.
The Magic House makes Mother's Day and Father's Day magical. Moms get in free on Mother's Day and can shop in the Market with their children, have a bite to eat in the Restaurant and spend time in the Victorian House. Dads get in free on Father's Day and can fish in the Children's Village Pond with their kids, build a skyscraper on the beach at Sandcastle Beach in the museum's backyard or dabble with electrical circuits in the Electric Company. Children can wish their moms and dads a very special day by creating a one-of-a-kind keepsake just for them in the museum's hands-on Expericenter.
April and October brings Fairy Tale Tea with Cinderella to The Magic House. Your princess or prince charming is invited to a very magical tea where they can sip on a cup of tea or apple juice, enjoy tea cookies and pastries and make a Cinderella tiara or Prince Charming crown to take home.
In September, children can bring toys and other items they no longer want to The Magic House and sell them at the Kids' Flea Market. Besides all the great bargains up for grabs, shoppers can enjoy face painting, clowns, attendance prizes and a chance to win great prizes. Also, in September Big Truck Day provides an up close and personal experience for children with big trucks including a fire engine, backhoe, earth mover, manlift and more. The event includes a hot dog meal, a construction hard hat to decorate and admission to The Magic House.
During the weekend before Halloween, children of all ages are invited to trick-or-treat throughout the four-story Magic House for a "spook"tacular, fright-free Halloween extravaganza.
During the holiday season, The Magic House decks the halls with hotcakes with a special appearance by Santa at Breakfast with Santa. Parents can enjoy a stress-free evening of holiday shopping when they drop their children off after-hours at The Magic House where kids can play in the house and participate in a holiday-themed arts and crafts activity.
On New Year's Eve, children can visit The Magic House a few hours early and make their very own noisemaker and party hat. Later while visiting the Children's Village, children can count down to the New Year with confetti and their new party favors and attire.
HISTORY: Jody Newman and Barbie Freund, two St. Louis women, created the museum in 1975. They devoted several years of their time to raise funds from 60 donors including foundations, corporations and individuals to renovate the building, which had been a private home. The house was built in 1901 for George Lane Edwards, first president of his family brokerage firm, A. G. Edwards and Sons. He was also a director of the 1904 World’s Fair.
The Museum was designed to handle 30,000 visitors a year when it opened in 1979 but some 165,000 visitors toured the museum during its first year. The Magic House’s popularity made it a favorite with local families and a “must-visit” attraction for visitors to St. Louis. In the years that followed, the museum’s popularity led to several expansions. In 1985, The Magic House opened a new 4,000-square-foot addition, which included an exhibit called “A Little Bit of Magic” designed to refine gross motor skills and build self-esteem in children aged 1 to 7.
Four years later, another addition enlarged The Magic House and added a wrap-around porch and an expanded lobby and reception area. An elevator was also added to make the Museum handicap accessible to all visitors.
Another expansion in 1997 more than doubled the size of The Magic House. The addition included a Children’s Village, Math Path, a Fitness Center and an area for children under two and their parents.
In 2001, The Magic House garden grew with Backyard Magic, an outdoor expansion project that features an open-air Education Pavilion, Children's Sculpture Garden and Exhibit Patio, for emerging outdoor installations ranging from a gigantic sandcastle to a miniature safety town.
HANDICAPPED ACCESS: The Magic House is handicap accessible.
WHERE TO GET LUNCH: There are several restaurants just west of the Museum in Kirkwood Junction, the central business district of Kirkwood. There are also food vendors at the Kirkwood Farmers Market in Kirkwood Junction Thursday-Saturday April through September.
GIFT SHOP: There is a gift shop in The Magic House, which carries a line of toys, books and games designed to teach and spark a child’s imagination as well as items relating to special exhibits.
WHAT’S NEARBY: Kirkwood Junction with a historic train depot; Stages, professional theatre group; Laumeier Sculpture Park, Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, Historic Hawken House and Sappington House are nearby.
PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT: Kim Geminn, Director of Marketing at (314) 822-8900, kim@magichouse.org.
Updated: July 2, 2008
~ from official tourism website
The "Official Tourism" URL link to the attraction: [Web Link]
The attraction’s own URL: [Web Link]
Hours of Operation:
School Year Hours
(September 2 to Memorial Day)
Monday: CLOSED
Tues -Thurs: 12:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Friday: 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Saturday: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am to 5:30 pm
During the school year, A Little Bit of Magic, a special area for children ages 1 to 6, opens at 10:30 am Tuesday through Friday.
Summer Hours
(Memorial Day through Labor Day)
Monday: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Tuesday: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Wednesday: 9:30 am to 9:00 pm
Thursday: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Friday: 9:30 am to 9:00 pm
Saturday: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am to 5:30 pm
Admission Prices:
$7.50; children under 1, free
Approximate amount of time needed to fully experience the attraction: Half of a day (2-5 hours)
Transportation options to the attraction: Personal Vehicle Only
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