Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis City

Location: 4746 Gravois Ave, St. Louis MO 63116 (314-832-7790)

Website: http://miniaturemuseum.org/

This museum is right across the street from Bevo Mill in the Bevo neighborhood of the city. They are open from Wednesday thru Saturday 11 am - 4 pm and from Sunday 1 pm - 4 pm.

They charge $5 for adults, and kids 2-12 are $2 each. 

It's basically just a huge museum full of dollhouses. Almost every display has a button you can push to turn on the lights. My 4 year old daughter loved this. They also gave her a little collapsible step stool to carry around so she could see the taller displays. They have 2 stories full of different doll houses.

They buy and sell accessories and have a classroom full of books and magazines. The are very knowledgeable and very helpful if you have questions about dollhouses. I really know nothing about them but am a sucker for anything teeny tiny!

 Trains!

                           

  Look at this replica of the old cathedral! The detail is truly amazing.

The front room where you enter has several doll houses for kids to play with. So after we walked through the museum we sat down and played. They had the Melissa and Doug castle and a bunch of other wooden and plastic doll houses and accessories. Needless to say she wants a doll house now.

This isn't a place I would go to all the time, but my daughter enjoyed it and I'm glad we paid them a visit!

Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum, Maryland Heights

Location: Creve Coeur Airport- 3127 Creve Coeur Mill Rd, Maryland Heights, MO 63146

Website: http://www.historicaircraftrestorationmuseum.org/

Adults cost $10, kids under 12 are $5, and kids under 5 years old are free.  I would call before you go, as they have seasonal hours. During the school year they are only open on the weekends.

Why is it called Creve Coeur Airport if it's in Maryland Hgts? Well it gets its name from nearby Creve Coeur Lake.

They are a non profit and have over 50 antique planes in 4 separate hangars.

We saw about 6 different planes take off, the kids loved watching them!

You can sit on their porch swing and watch the planes take off and land.

The tour guide takes you through the hangars one by one and tells you about some of the more interesting planes. He was 19 years old and you could tell he was really passionate about aviation. I only know this because I asked how long this museum had been here and he said he was 19 and it had been here since he was little because he loved coming here with his grandpa as a kid.

These little planes are RC planes

In the 3rd hangar there is a plane the kids can climb in. This made the trip for them. They LOVED sitting in the cockpit acting like they were flying.

My daughter figured out how to make the ailerons go up and down. It blew her mind. 

This is an old Cardinal baseball team plane!

In addition to old planes they have some old cars too. 

This is the only time they'll ever be in a Mercedes lol.

This old game was a huge hit. It's like an arcade game from the 1950's. You make the helicopter fly around and you try to hit certain targets. They could have played this all day.

This plane was in the Robert Redford movie of the same name, and also appeared in the Rocketeer.

Spinning the propeller

If you have kids who like airplanes I think they would enjoy this place very much. There are a few other options around town for planes but I think this is the best one. There is the Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum in Cahokia, and the Prologue Room in Berkeley. Both of those places are mostly planes you can't touch or play in which may be more suitable for older kids. Every year an air show comes to town also, usually at Scott Air Force Base or at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield.