You Pinspire Me
Sarnia is a frequent destination for our family, since it’s where my husband grew up and his mom still lives there. It is no longer the case that morning AND afternoon naps rule our lives, so we try to get out & about with the kids to encourage active living.
The weather today was absolutely gorgeous, but at 10am, it was still too chilly for our favourite Sarnia activity (a walk by the river) and The Children’s Animal Farm in Canatera Park doesn’t open until May Long Weekend. After a little searching online, Oma decided that we should visit the Stones ‘n’ Bones Museum downtown (a cause which the dinosaur-loving-wanna-be-archaeologist-4 Year Old swiftly took up). Admission was only $6 / Adult & $3 / Child, so we went for it!
If you’re not looking for it, you might mistake Stones ‘N Bones for a Jewelry / high-end knick-knack shop based on the facade on the sidewalk. Walk in the door, however, and you won’t make that mistake again as the giant menacing bear stares at you from down the hallway.
The owners, Jim & Allison, are friendly & eager to interact. Jim gave us the lay of the land and imparted several facts of interest about his collection, while Allison patiently dealt with The Boy’s MANY questions in the gift shop.
Source: The Sarnia Observer
While the museum is only 10,000 square feet, there are over 6,000 artifacts on display – meaning that some of the rooms were a bit crowded, but the kids were absolutely delighted by all that there was to take in!
I’m not going to lie. This room weirded me out a little.
It’s a bit of an eclectic collection – hundreds, I’d say, of (stuffed) animals (from white squirrels and foxes to yaks & zebras), a complete dinosaur skeleton, millions-of-years-old fossils, geodes, gemstones, fish, and moths. So many of the pieces in the collection are rare, too – they’ve got a narwhal horn, the 2nd largest cut gemstone in Canada, and so, so much more.
There was much to see, and all of us found a few things that really caught our interest. My favourites included this brilliant blue geode (which I believe is given its colour by the presence of copper) and the zebras. I’ve never seen real zebras up close before, live or not!
At ages 2 & 4, our kids were a bit young yet to really appreciate most of what they were seeing, but in another three or four years, I can imagine having to drag them away from the displays. Even still, we spent almost two hours roaming the halls before the kids asked to leave.
I always love browsing gift stores, and I was THRILLED with the amount of product in the Stones ‘N Bones gift shop under $5, from shells, starfish, and geodes, to small animal figurines & polished rocks.
The Verdict: I admit, it’s a bit of an odd place and I would have loved to see a little more information on the specimens in each exhibit, but a totally worthwhile place to spend a few hours with the kids – especially with the low price tag. If you’re in Sarnia & looking for something to do with the kids over March Break, stop in! Follow them on Facebook to keep up to date about hours of operation.
I was not compensated in any way for this post.
Jenn vanOosten
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