Spend an afternoon with the fishes (and insects, reptiles, and mammals too) at BYU’s Bean Museum
A variety of animals sits on display at the Monte L. Bean Museum at Brigham Young University. Jessica Eyre/Utah Adventurer
Caleb Eyre, 4, reacts to a large, growling bear on his hind legs on display at the Monte L. Bean Museum at Brigham Young University. Jessica Eyre/Utah Adventurer
Grace Eyre, 5, explores an interactive exhibit about animal hides while on an animal scavenger hunt at the Monte L. Bean Museum at Brigham Young University. Jessica Eyre/Utah Adventurer
Caleb Eyre, 4, points to animals on display at the Monte L. Bean Museum at Brigham Young University. Jessica Eyre/Utah Adventurer
A hippopotamus sits on display showing all its teeth at the Monte L. Bean Museum at Brigham Young University. Jessica Eyre/Utah Adventurer
I spent a week in tourist areas of Florida recently, where, from airports to gift shops, you expect to pay a little bit more for everything.
So after I came home, I decided to spend the afternoon at the Monte L. Bean Museum on the campus of Brigham Young University — for free.
It’s been a few years since I’ve visited the Bean Museum, and I had forgotten how interesting the exhibits are. The museum, open since 1978, holds exhibits of insects, reptiles, mammals and fish. And a lot of them.
Upon entering, my kids headed straight for the grouping in the center of the main floor of an elephant, zebra, ostrich and other animals; and they were delighted to move from exhibit to exhibit in discovery.
After walking through the main floor, we found scavenger hunts available for free and in varying degrees of difficulty. We went with the pre-school level hunt, and went back through to find the different animals on the sheet.
I was even schooled by my kids a few times:
Grace, age 5: “That’s not a sea shell, Mom, that’s a giant clam.” (Upon inspection of the name placard, she was right.)
Caleb, age 4: “That’s a beaver, see those teeth? Those are for chopping wood.”
I probably have to thank Nickelodeon’s “Go, Diego, Go” for that.
We spent a good 90 minutes roaming through the museum, looking for animals they were familiar with, such as deer, moose and bears; and discovering some they weren’t so familiar with, such as a warthog (they thought it was neat that it had a nose like a pig), a musk ox (an interactive exhibit allowed patrons to feel its thick hair), and an Arctic fox, with beautiful, pure white fur.
The butterfly and other insects were beautiful to look at — the displays are quite a sight. Watching Grace’s eyes widen at the sight of big, hairy tarantulas was enjoyable, too.
If you ask my kids what the highlight of the museum was, they would probably say the gift shop (they are master window shoppers). But there are a lot of cute trinkets for just a few dollars if you want to come away with a souvenir.
The Bean Museum is a low-key, interesting and educational spot for a family outing. And it won’t cost you a thing.
Monte L. Bean Museum
Where: 645 E. 1430 North, Provo; sandwiched between the Marriott Center and the bell tower.
Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: Free