The Gilbert House Children’s Museum is a much-loved landmark for kids in the Mid-Valley Region. Named after A. C. Gilbert, the polymath inventor of the children’s building toy, the erector set, the museum includes Gilbert’s historic childhood home as well as four other historic homes. The museum is inside these houses and includes a fantastic outdoor area.
Gilbert House Children’s Museum Rooms
Since the houses are old, many rooms are small, but each has a different theme. In the first house visitors enter, kids can play in the “Main Street” exhibit, with a restaurant and construction setup. Upstairs, there’s “Salem Station,” where visitors drive a city bus (complete with actual seats) and play with a train set. Toddlers and friends will love the “Forest Friends” room, with everything sized for the smallest children. Finally, the “Recollections” room is an amazing multi-colored projection that allows visitors to move in front of it and see their shadows reflected and refracted in an array of colors. For a lot of kids, it’s a mesmerizing experience.
A. C. Gilbert’s Childhood Home
The other main building that houses the museum is A. C. Gilbert’s childhood home. The entrance to this section houses an enormous kaleidoscope. Visitors can watch the assorted colors cover the walls as the sun moves through the room.
The “Up, Up, and Away” room is next and features aviation and aerodynamics. Kids can sit in a plane setup and enjoy creating paper planes to test in the wind tunnels in the center of the room. “Farm to Table” revolves around agriculture, and guests can ride tiny pedal tractors and gather eggs, apples, and potatoes. In the “All About Me” room, a partnership with a local healthcare group, children can learn about the human body, play a life-size game of “Emergency,” and take care of babies.
Upper Floor of the Gilbert House
Upstairs in the Gilbert House is one of the most popular exhibits, “Lights, Camera, Action,” which features a stage, costumes, and a green screen. Kids can watch their own performances projected onto the screens with preset backgrounds like castles, space, and the old west.
“Grandma’s Clubhouse” in the next room is filled with large blue blocks children can use to make kid-sized structures that hold up. It is fun for parents, too! At the vet clinic, young people can care for stuffed animals, pretend to work at an office, and learn more about how our pets’ bodies work. The U.S.S. Gilbert room next door is set up to look like the inside of a submarine, complete with an old metal column with buttons in a tiny room that mimics the size of a submarine.
“The Sensory Portal,” one of the final rooms upstairs, has an array of toys and items that allow visitors to explore their senses. It is an excellent area for kids who are neurodiverse or may find other areas of the museum too stimulating. “Fortopia” is the last of the rooms and mimics a bedroom area. There are blankets, pillows, beanbags, and a loft bed frame – all for kids to build comfy forts to play in. Hooks throughout the room help make it easier to hang blankets and get creative.
Other Areas of Gilbert House Children’s Museum
There are two much smaller houses on the grounds of the museum with areas for visitors. The Parrish House has a creative space and engineering studio, with art supplies and materials for engineering projects. Kids can use the materials and create or build whatever they can imagine. One important note, however, is that this area is closed in the summer because it is used for summer camps, and at other times of the year, it is closed when there are different events. The final and smallest indoor area is an exhibit geared primarily toward older kids and adults called “A. C. Gilbert and the Legacy of Play.”
The recently refurbished outdoor play areas are the real stars of the Gilbert House. A new bubble area is impressive – kids can stand inside a giant bubble of their creation and make bubbles with various tools. Since bubbles get sticky fast, there is even a sink where visitors can wash off after playing with bubbles.
At the back of the grounds is a giant playground built to mimic an erector set, with various levels and slides towering over the rest of the play area. The sandbox that looks like a dinosaur dig has been around for a long time and always proves popular with the little ones. A wooden structure with ramps and tunnels provides shade (and some seating) as well as a wonderful place to run, and a new “campground” area with tarp sunshades is fun for imaginative play. Visitors to the museum will find something to capture their interest at the Gilbert House.
Gilbert House Children’s Museum
116 Marion Street NE, Salem
