We got to visit the Ric and Jean Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University this Sunday with our 3 year old to catch their family show. In the past, going out to any event where we had to sit for an extended period of time has proven disastrous. My kid is sweet and good natured but cannot sit still. So far we have left the movie theater 15 minutes into the show, (but not before we spent $45 on snacks and drinks) and walked out of a animal show 5 minutes into the show starting. (walking across the entire front row to get out was fun) The longest she has watched a how in public was at the Kroc Center's last Dive In Movie where she was floating in the pool and swimming around during the movie and she still didn't make the entire show. So needless to say we do not really take her to shows right now especially ones that cost money. But when I saw on our site that the Ric and Jean Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University was showing a 30 minute long Sesame Street science show for $4 a person I figured it would be a good opportunity to see if her attention span had lengthened.
Spoiler Alert: It was a great opportunity! Also... her attention span had not lengthened.
The Planetarium is the perfect size for bringing your toddler to a show, roomy enough where littles can walk around your aisle if they have the wiggles, yet small enough where you aren't worried about loosing them. If your kid is a pipsqueak like ours be careful of telling them they can get their own seat like we did. As soon as she climbed into the theater style seat it started to slowly folding up and she cried out that it was eating her. If your kid has sensitivity to loud sounds you might want to being earmuffs, most of the kids there didn't think it was too loud but at times my partner was requested to hold their hands over my daughters ears to block the loud sounds. The nice part about the sound is that because the room is round you don't really hear the other kids during the show. (which is great because at any time there wasn't singing my daughter would start to loudly inquire if it was time to leave) 30 minutes was perfect because I am certain that any longer and we would have a melt down. In fact, in true toddler fashion as we walked out of the theater my daughter was crying because she didn't want to leave!!
Overall our trip to the Ric and Jean Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University was great. I hate going places that claim they are toddler friendly but make me feel guilty for my kid acting like a toddler and the Planetarium was not like that at all. Parents are able to leave with their kids in the middle of the show and because we are all looking up, no one really notices. We were all encouraged to call out to the characters and sing along which is always fun, and the show had us talking about space on the way home.
Want to catch a show? Check out their website https://sites.rowan.edu/planetarium/
*This article was not sponsored by the Ric and Jean Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University I simply am writing an article based on my families experience.
