For every car, truck, motorbike, airplane, and locomotive fanatic out there, this post is the one for you! (What else has an engine inside of it? If I've missed anything on my list, just add it, because I'm sure it will be covered here at some point!)
We just returned home from a day trip to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in the city of Wetaskinwin, Alberta. It is a sprawling, three-building museum complex loaded to the brim with historical vehicles, including but definitely not limited to antique farm equipment, fancy cars, and old-school biplanes. My kids and I literally spent three hours combing through the galleries, admiring the displays, engaging in the various children's activities, and pretending to drive everything from race cars to helicopters.
This museum was a super fun way to spend an afternoon, and I learned more about cars than I really ever need to know. You don't even have to be a vehicle or airplane enthusiast to enjoy what the Reynolds-Alberta Museum has to offer. If you aren't sure about visiting, read through this online museum tour - I'm sure you'll be convinced by the end!
Let me explain the layout of the museum complex to you to start, just so you don't feel overwhelmed when you arrive.
 |
| A map of the Reynolds-Alberta Museum shows how large the gallery space is. |
There are three buildings on the museum grounds, although one of the buildings isn't open to the public and only acts as overflow storage. You initially pull up to the main building, which is huge and sparkles in the sun due to its massive front wall of windows.
 |
| My kids were thrilled right from the start, when they found a 'Canada' airplane. |
Upon entry, your gaze is immediately hooked by the large and working steam engine (a Leonard and Sons 16x36 Corliss Steam Engine to be exact). It whirls and twirls away, mesmerizing in its efficiency. Eventually you have to tear your gaze away and head to the admission booth for entry. The prices to visit are extremely reasonable - I paid $13.00 to enter, and both of my kids were free. Visit their website for a full run-down of admission prices.
The wonderful lady at the admission desk handed me a map of the museum, which I recommend you take as it very much comes in handy. The map showed where all of the rotating exhibits were located, where the permanent exhibits were, and most importantly, where all of the children's activities and cars you could play in were located.
 |
| This car has chauffeured kings and queens! |
We began our tour through the museum with the McLaughlin exhibit in the Great Hall, a temporary exhibit that will remain on display in the Reynolds-Alberta Museum until the fall. This exhibit features various vehicles from the McLaughlin family, and discusses how the family contributed to Canada's auto industry.
To be honest, with both kids running excitedly ahead of me in search of the next 'cool car', I didn't have time to read the placards at my leisure. I filmed what I could, read what I could, and ran to catch up with my kids in an attempt to keep them - well, namely my son - from climbing into every car that struck his fancy. He is a bit of a car fanatic.
To the right of the Great Hall is a full theatre, showing special museum presentations every half hour. We did not end up visiting the theatre, as the kids wanted to move ahead and see all of the displays, and we never did seem to wind our back to the theatre doors. Oh well! That gives us something new to see next time we come to the museum!
At the end of the Great Hall, we strolled up to a balcony that overlooked the Main Gallery. This 'balcony' gives visitors a panoramic vista of the amazing contents held within that wide open space. The Main Gallery is massive, filled with antique cars, farm equipment, airplanes, locomotives, and even a replica grain elevator! My kids couldn't wait to explore!
A ramp leads you down into the gallery, and a pathway guides visitors in a circuitous path through the plethora of vehicles on display. You begin with a factory, where assembly-line technology paved the way for mass production of anything with an engine.
Following the path, you pass by the various cars and trucks, which clearly display how different technologies and advancements changed the shape, size and function of each type of vehicle. While I had no idea what types of vehicles I was gazing at, I did know I liked the pretty, shiny ones! (Next time I'll have to go back without kids and actually have a fair shot at reading the educational material!)
In the far left corner was the replica grain elevator. I liked this display mostly because it brought back strong memories of my childhood, where I did elevator runs with my grandpa in his big farm truck to the elevator where my uncle worked. My uncle would hand me a fistful of wheat grains to chew into 'gum' while Grandpa did business and emptied the grain truck. Such strong emotions from a replica grain elevator!
Halfway through the Main Gallery, you have a choice. You can continue walking the circular path to the other end of the gallery, or you can move inside the circle and explore the farm equipment stationed there. We chose the latter option, and the kids were ecstatic to discover that the massive tractor in the centre had a staircase inviting them inside!
They happily climbed into the tractor and played around with the steering wheel and gear sticks until I begged them to come down, worried we'd be stuck until sunset. I might have been better off leaving them in the tractor, because they soon discovered the Farmhouse, which was stocked full of Canadian-made toys: Lego, dolls, stuffed animals, trucks, blocks, games, books - oh goodness, you name it and it was probably inside the Farmhouse!
My kids played for at least half an hour before I could finally drag them out. They loved it! Well played, Reynolds-Alberta Museum... well played.
I convinced them to leave the Farmhouse in favour of the Service Station, a replica 1950s gas station tucked into the far right corner of the Main Gallery. Once again, bad call for someone actually trying to make their way through the museum. But a great choice for the kids!
Inside the Service Station were tables set up with colouring crafts, a magnetic board with 1950s style magnetic paper dolls, and other activities. My daughter immediately set to colouring, while my son immediately set to disrobing all of the magnetic dolls. Typical! What was really neat about the colouring station was that the colouring pages were actually postcards, and my daughter was able to drop her postcard into a working mailbox, where the Reynolds-Alberta Museum will collect it and mail it for her! How cool is that?
We finally completed the circular route in the Main Gallery, ending with the Drive-In Theatre. This place was very creative - the back ends of several different cars had been cut off and converted into theatre seats. Canadian-made cartoons were playing on the theatre screen, and drive-in style speakers were set up beside each car/seat. Naturally, my kids wanted to sit in their own seats, so we ended up spread out through the whole little theatre.
Past the Drive-In Theatre was the East Hall, which contained the last little bit of the rotating McLaughlin exhibit, and a smaller exhibit on military motorcycles. At this point I believe my kids were starting to tire of looking at cars, no matter how interesting or shiny, but the timing of the museum's flow was impeccable.
Just beyond the East Hall, a set of doors lead outside to an asphalt pathway that meanders over to the Aviation Display Hangar, which houses Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. It was a gorgeous spring day, so the kids piled into a museum-provided wagon and graciously allowed me to pull them the entire way to the hangar.
Inside the Aviation Display Hangar, planes dangled from every available ceiling space, making the warehouse seem both cavernous and cramped at the same time. Not only were there multiple airplanes and aircraft hanging from the roof, but they were packed into the floor space like Tetris pieces as well. I couldn't believe the amount of things to see and do!
My kids instantly gravitated towards the two pieces you could climb inside: a model helicopter, and a wood-frame two-seater airplane. The helicopter was a sturdy piece of engineering, made of metal bars and mounted on a solid steel frame. They happily played inside the machine for at least 15 minutes, and wouldn't even let me have a turn!
The wood-frame airplane was a bit of a different story - it was very delicate looking, and was set on a pair of wooden boxes. The whole contraption looked like it might tip over if I tried crawling inside, and in fact, we started to enter but then chickened out about three times. Finally, one of the janitors noticed our hesitation and came over to persuade us to give it a try.
Carefully we climbed inside, and happily, nothing tipped over, broke, or collapsed. The three of us jammed into the two seats, and the kids began enthusiastically twirling the steering wheels and shifting gear sticks. To my surprise, the turning wheels actually allowed the flaps on the airplane's wings to lower and rise - the kids were so excited to be 'driving the plane for real'!
Another fun area in the Aviation Hangar was the science display that demonstrated Bernoulli's Principle. If you don't remember your grade 6 science classes, Bernoulli's Principle basically breaks down how a large, extremely heavy aircraft can remain in flight, despite being much, much heavier than air. I won't get into it, because I remember barely understanding it while TEACHING grade six science, but it has a lot to do with velocity, pressure, and the shape of an airplane's body.
The display allowed kids to see Bernoulli's Principle in action by having them balance a plastic ball in mid-air using a jet stream of high pressure air. I might not be explaining it very well, which is why I took a lot of video (the video is located at the end of this post). They played with this demo activity for quite some time.
A second activity tried to teach kids about aircraft design. It asked participants to cut a paper cup into whatever 'aerodynamic' shape they could think of and then thrust it into a wind tunnel to see if it would 'fly'. Luckily, another family was there to show my kids how to do this properly, as the way I cut my paper cup was a complete fail and it refused to leave the ground. Did I mention I taught grade six science? An apology goes out to all of those students who had me as a teacher for their "Air and Aerodynamics" unit.
When we finished exploring the Aviation Hanger we returned to the main museum, again by walking down the sunny path between buildings. (Again, I had to pull them in the wagon because apparently I am on some sort of 'Tiny Trainers' workout program.) This pretty much marked the end of our museum tour, with just one last little display, The Reynolds Room, to see on our way out.
We skipped the gift shop and cafe, although I was extremely tempted to buy little bomber jackets for the kids. They were super cute!
For someone who honestly isn't that into cars or trucks - if you ask me to identify a car for you, I can only give you its color - I really enjoyed touring the Reynolds-Alberta Museum. It isn't just a 'car museum': it is filled with history, beauty, activities, and yes, shiny pretty vehicles! The effort that has gone into this museum to make it more than just a showcase for antiques is commendable.
Please remember to watch the video, which will really help you to visualize what the museum has to offer. If you haven't already, I beg you to subscribe to my YouTube channel (my goal is to have over 1000 subscribers!). Also, if you have been to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum, leave a comment here on the blog - what is your favourite section of the museum? Any tips or tricks for exploring the space?
To be honest, with both kids running excitedly ahead of me in search of the next 'cool car', I didn't have time to read the placards at my leisure. I filmed what I could, read what I could, and ran to catch up with my kids in an attempt to keep them - well, namely my son - from climbing into every car that struck his fancy. He is a bit of a car fanatic.
To the right of the Great Hall is a full theatre, showing special museum presentations every half hour. We did not end up visiting the theatre, as the kids wanted to move ahead and see all of the displays, and we never did seem to wind our back to the theatre doors. Oh well! That gives us something new to see next time we come to the museum!
At the end of the Great Hall, we strolled up to a balcony that overlooked the Main Gallery. This 'balcony' gives visitors a panoramic vista of the amazing contents held within that wide open space. The Main Gallery is massive, filled with antique cars, farm equipment, airplanes, locomotives, and even a replica grain elevator! My kids couldn't wait to explore!
 |
| My kids give the Case eagle some lovin'! |
A ramp leads you down into the gallery, and a pathway guides visitors in a circuitous path through the plethora of vehicles on display. You begin with a factory, where assembly-line technology paved the way for mass production of anything with an engine.
Following the path, you pass by the various cars and trucks, which clearly display how different technologies and advancements changed the shape, size and function of each type of vehicle. While I had no idea what types of vehicles I was gazing at, I did know I liked the pretty, shiny ones! (Next time I'll have to go back without kids and actually have a fair shot at reading the educational material!)
 |
| I love how shiny and well-kept the vehicles were at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum! |
In the far left corner was the replica grain elevator. I liked this display mostly because it brought back strong memories of my childhood, where I did elevator runs with my grandpa in his big farm truck to the elevator where my uncle worked. My uncle would hand me a fistful of wheat grains to chew into 'gum' while Grandpa did business and emptied the grain truck. Such strong emotions from a replica grain elevator!
Halfway through the Main Gallery, you have a choice. You can continue walking the circular path to the other end of the gallery, or you can move inside the circle and explore the farm equipment stationed there. We chose the latter option, and the kids were ecstatic to discover that the massive tractor in the centre had a staircase inviting them inside!
 |
| Some of the vehicles were open for people sit in and 'drive'. |
They happily climbed into the tractor and played around with the steering wheel and gear sticks until I begged them to come down, worried we'd be stuck until sunset. I might have been better off leaving them in the tractor, because they soon discovered the Farmhouse, which was stocked full of Canadian-made toys: Lego, dolls, stuffed animals, trucks, blocks, games, books - oh goodness, you name it and it was probably inside the Farmhouse!
My kids played for at least half an hour before I could finally drag them out. They loved it! Well played, Reynolds-Alberta Museum... well played.
 |
| The Farmhouse was loaded with activities for kids - I had to drag mine out! |
I convinced them to leave the Farmhouse in favour of the Service Station, a replica 1950s gas station tucked into the far right corner of the Main Gallery. Once again, bad call for someone actually trying to make their way through the museum. But a great choice for the kids!
Inside the Service Station were tables set up with colouring crafts, a magnetic board with 1950s style magnetic paper dolls, and other activities. My daughter immediately set to colouring, while my son immediately set to disrobing all of the magnetic dolls. Typical! What was really neat about the colouring station was that the colouring pages were actually postcards, and my daughter was able to drop her postcard into a working mailbox, where the Reynolds-Alberta Museum will collect it and mail it for her! How cool is that?
We finally completed the circular route in the Main Gallery, ending with the Drive-In Theatre. This place was very creative - the back ends of several different cars had been cut off and converted into theatre seats. Canadian-made cartoons were playing on the theatre screen, and drive-in style speakers were set up beside each car/seat. Naturally, my kids wanted to sit in their own seats, so we ended up spread out through the whole little theatre.
 |
| Watching cartoons at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum drive-in theatre! |
Past the Drive-In Theatre was the East Hall, which contained the last little bit of the rotating McLaughlin exhibit, and a smaller exhibit on military motorcycles. At this point I believe my kids were starting to tire of looking at cars, no matter how interesting or shiny, but the timing of the museum's flow was impeccable.
Just beyond the East Hall, a set of doors lead outside to an asphalt pathway that meanders over to the Aviation Display Hangar, which houses Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. It was a gorgeous spring day, so the kids piled into a museum-provided wagon and graciously allowed me to pull them the entire way to the hangar.
 |
| My kids waiting patiently for me to haul them to the Aviation Hangar. |
Inside the Aviation Display Hangar, planes dangled from every available ceiling space, making the warehouse seem both cavernous and cramped at the same time. Not only were there multiple airplanes and aircraft hanging from the roof, but they were packed into the floor space like Tetris pieces as well. I couldn't believe the amount of things to see and do!
 |
| We spent three hours at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum between the two main buildings. |
My kids instantly gravitated towards the two pieces you could climb inside: a model helicopter, and a wood-frame two-seater airplane. The helicopter was a sturdy piece of engineering, made of metal bars and mounted on a solid steel frame. They happily played inside the machine for at least 15 minutes, and wouldn't even let me have a turn!
The wood-frame airplane was a bit of a different story - it was very delicate looking, and was set on a pair of wooden boxes. The whole contraption looked like it might tip over if I tried crawling inside, and in fact, we started to enter but then chickened out about three times. Finally, one of the janitors noticed our hesitation and came over to persuade us to give it a try.
 |
| I loved this airplane displayed in the Aviation Hangar. |
Carefully we climbed inside, and happily, nothing tipped over, broke, or collapsed. The three of us jammed into the two seats, and the kids began enthusiastically twirling the steering wheels and shifting gear sticks. To my surprise, the turning wheels actually allowed the flaps on the airplane's wings to lower and rise - the kids were so excited to be 'driving the plane for real'!
Another fun area in the Aviation Hangar was the science display that demonstrated Bernoulli's Principle. If you don't remember your grade 6 science classes, Bernoulli's Principle basically breaks down how a large, extremely heavy aircraft can remain in flight, despite being much, much heavier than air. I won't get into it, because I remember barely understanding it while TEACHING grade six science, but it has a lot to do with velocity, pressure, and the shape of an airplane's body.
The display allowed kids to see Bernoulli's Principle in action by having them balance a plastic ball in mid-air using a jet stream of high pressure air. I might not be explaining it very well, which is why I took a lot of video (the video is located at the end of this post). They played with this demo activity for quite some time.
 |
| My kids learning about aerodynamics in the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame. |
A second activity tried to teach kids about aircraft design. It asked participants to cut a paper cup into whatever 'aerodynamic' shape they could think of and then thrust it into a wind tunnel to see if it would 'fly'. Luckily, another family was there to show my kids how to do this properly, as the way I cut my paper cup was a complete fail and it refused to leave the ground. Did I mention I taught grade six science? An apology goes out to all of those students who had me as a teacher for their "Air and Aerodynamics" unit.
When we finished exploring the Aviation Hanger we returned to the main museum, again by walking down the sunny path between buildings. (Again, I had to pull them in the wagon because apparently I am on some sort of 'Tiny Trainers' workout program.) This pretty much marked the end of our museum tour, with just one last little display, The Reynolds Room, to see on our way out.
 |
| We had a total blast at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin! |
We skipped the gift shop and cafe, although I was extremely tempted to buy little bomber jackets for the kids. They were super cute!
For someone who honestly isn't that into cars or trucks - if you ask me to identify a car for you, I can only give you its color - I really enjoyed touring the Reynolds-Alberta Museum. It isn't just a 'car museum': it is filled with history, beauty, activities, and yes, shiny pretty vehicles! The effort that has gone into this museum to make it more than just a showcase for antiques is commendable.
Please remember to watch the video, which will really help you to visualize what the museum has to offer. If you haven't already, I beg you to subscribe to my YouTube channel (my goal is to have over 1000 subscribers!). Also, if you have been to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum, leave a comment here on the blog - what is your favourite section of the museum? Any tips or tricks for exploring the space?
No comments:
Post a Comment