ACM. You know--For Kids.

Once my sister & I went to the Discovery Museum with our 4 kids. I know she likes to shop so I said, "You go ahead and peruse the mall--I'll just stay in this Kid Village part with the kids till you get back."

I really should have know better.
Over 2 hours later she came breezing in.
I realized then she had no watch on. (Not that it would have made a difference anyway.)
But just in case you were wondering, kids can be pretty easily entertained there for long durations of time...

Discovery is part of the ACM, and a good deal if you are traveling with children. The Association of Children's Museums is an organization that provides advocacy and research for play directed learning in childhood.

In Utah this only applies to the Discovery Gateway of SLC, and the Treehouse Museum in Ogden.

All of the museums in their database are listed alphabetically, which means you must search state by state for participators. They don't list stipulations, so contact each museum about their policy.

But a multi-state road trip would make your rest stops much more appealing with this tucked in your wallet.

Wazza AZA you say?

We went with my fun-loving friend Cockatoo and her children to the Hogle Zoo.
 Just getting there involved a death-defying U-turn immediatley followed up with the suburban jumping not one, but two curbs. "No extra charge!" Cockatoo called out as Bowery Bird tried to stabilize the speaker in the back her head had knocked out.

We got in with her wonderful membership allowing friends of family to visit.
Of further interest;

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums allows you to get a membership to one and thus visit others with their participators. The purpose of AZA is to create a standard of quality for creatures in captivity so visitors can rest assured they are being properly cared for.

Click "Find Zoo or Aquarium" at the top right and enter your state.

If you are in Utah you have, of course, only 2 options; the Hogle Zoo or the Tracy Aviary. (Living Planet Aquarium is not on the list).
But if you live anywhere else your options are probably going to open up.

Their restrictions aren't easily displayed, but appear few.  I would again, call first to find out.

NARM Yourself with the Museum Facts

NARM, or the North American Reciprocal Museum Program, is a good option if you are into art and history and travel a bit. Get a membership card from one, and flash it to get into others around country.

The above link lists all particpators alphabetically, but you must call each one to find out their policy.

 I think it clever of the Springville Utah Art Museum, which has free admission, to list themselves.

Salt Lake City lets you ZAP it up

Salt Lake City has a regular free day to several fun family destinations.
It can be will be crowded, but you can't beat the price, and it can be a good time to determine the value of a repeat visit or membership.

The Zoo, Arts, and Parks program in Salt Lake City sponsors these scheduled free days at places such as:

• Tracy Aviary
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts
• Red Butte Garden and Arboretum
• Hogle Zoo
• Living Planet Aquarium
• (the new) Natural History Museum of Utah
• Discovery Gateway (children's museum)
• and Sundance Film Institute does some outdoor shows

Community Exploration cards, free through the SLC library system, is another tempting program.

Tracy Aviary reciprocity

Agreements change every year, but Tracy Aviary of  SLC gives you two great deals for your membership- national AZA reciprocity and local reciprocity.

Depending on your family size,  memberships to the Aviary and Hogle Zoo are about the same since their price increase. But Tracy Aviary allows you to visit more places within Utah, and the AZA nationally. And there are birds there.

So if you love day trips, the Tracy Aviary's local participators are

• Odgen Nature Center
• Hogle Zoo in SLC
• Dinosaur Park in Ogden
• Ogden's Union Station
• Red Butte Gardens
• Willow Park Zoo in Logan
• Thanksgiving Point Farm