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Welcome to AroundTownKids Exclusive "Mom On-the-Go" page! Our "Mom on the Go" reviews are fun write-ups of local kid-friendly businesses. It's written by a local McKinney Texas mom to share her stories & feedback on family fun & fun places to go in the McKinney Texas area. It's viewers like you who make us who we are and we appreciate you very much!

If you have any suggestions, ideas or just want to know more about a fun place, please feel free to contact us.

We hope you find this section fun & enjoyable! Many of these businesses that are featured below have COUPONS on our Coupon page, so be sure to print & take them with you to these businesses next time you go!

*Allen Moms - check out our Allen AroundTownKids "Mom on the Go" featured article!
*Plano Moms - check out our Plano AroundTownKids "Mom on the Go" featured article!
*Frisco Moms - check out our Frisco AroundTownKids "Mom on the Go" featured article!

This Week's Local Business Review

Heard Museum Ice Age Mammals Exhibit

Phone: 972-562-5566
Address: One Nature Place, McKinney, TX

Cost: New exhibit pricing: $9/Adults & $6/Kids 3-12yrs & seniors

Moms, now that school has started you’ll be looking for things to do with your preschoolers as well as with your school aged children on the week-end. We have a solution for you - the Heard Museum!

Before we get into the Mammals exhibit, we’d like to tell you why we like the Heard Museum. It is a wonderful place to take preschoolers for a variety of reasons. First of all, the museum itself is not that big and daunting like a lot of museums you might visit in downtown Dallas or Fort Worth. Therefore your younger child will not get overwhelmed & neither will you! It is a very manageable size that is perfect for younger children. And with it being closer (in McKinney) you don’t have as far to drive as a downtown museum, therefore less time for car melt-downs!

The second reason it’s a great place is because it has a sand box! It’s an educational sand box where children can dig up fossils. Even our school aged children had fun in there now just like when they were preschoolers. To kids, a sand box is a sand box whether educational or not. Kids seem to love them! And since there is no water involved, sand doesn’t stick to you like at the beach!

A third reason is the wonderful trails outside. When it’s hot out you probably won’t spend a lot of time on the trails. But if you get to the museum earlier in the day you can always let your little one burn off some energy while exploring the trail. Then retreat to the nice air-conditioned building!

The main attraction right now is of course the Mammal exhibit. Ten stomping, roaring, life-like robotic Ice Age mammals come alive in this exhibit at the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary. The group includes a hippopotamus-like Baluchitherium, a saber-toothed cat family of four, a woolly mammoth, monkeys plus more. Educational programming encourages aspiring paleontologists to learn prehistoric facts.

The mammals are large and very realistic looking. Some animals move some of their body parts, but they do not come at you. Furry mammals seem to be a little less scary and more relatable than other large non-mammals. Our kids liked the monkeys best. There was a whole family of monkeys eating and cuddling – things humans can relate to!

MOMS TIP: Will my child be scared? You know your children best so take a look at some of the photos we have provided here to determine if you think your child will be scared. Some of the animals do make sounds like growling etc, so just know before you go.

Each mammal has a description with their name so you can identify what you are looking at and use it as a learning tool for your child. If you check the Heard’s website (see link at beginning of this article) you will find a list of the mammal’s names along with some interesting facts about them, such as their size, continent of origin etc. If you have school aged children you might print out the list and bring it with you so they can match up the animals or have fun learning to pronounce their names.

Before entering the mammal exhibit there is a room filled with hands-on exhibits your child will enjoy, such as looking through a microscope or identifying wildlife. The adjoining room contains marine animal displays.