South Carolina State Museum: Field Trip Review

Nearby South Carolina capital Columbia boasts several museums and family-friendly sites like the Riverbanks Zoo to draw the Greenville crowds south.

The South Carolina State Museum is situated right in Columbia and the trip from Greenville over to Columbia is easy to navigate and the museum is a breeze to locate.

Our family recently made the drive, along with a handful of other Upstate families, to spend a day exploring the museum and its many exhibits.

As a homeschooling family in the middle of a year long study of Roman history, our primary draw to the museum on this trip was their featured exhibit – Julius Caesar: Roman Military Might and Machines.  This exhibit is still at the museum until May 22 so you have a chance to see it yourself if you hurry.

Although the museum itself is easy to locate, finding the ticket entrance was a little less clear.

The staff was helpful and kind to point us in the right direction, but it did seem to be a hidden ticket office nestled in beside the planetarium.

The museum has four floors to explore and if you have little ones who need to feel welcome to make a little noise every now and again, there is a convenient Discovery Room downstairs near the art gallery that allows for free play and quick movement.

I was excited for the kids to explore the Julius Caesar exhibit.  (There was an additional fee to see this exhibit, as there will be for any of their rotating exhibits.  The permanent exhibits are included in the cost of your admission.)

The kids were able to see the busts of many of the most famous leaders of Rome, as well as Roman coins.  The primary focus of this exhibit was the military machines the Romans created as they battled every neighbor they had for world domination.  The Romans creativity and ingenuity is nearly impossible for us to comprehend in our technologically advanced age, but the giant wooden machines on display were helpful to see.  Many of the machines were hands on displays and my six year old and his buddies loved the battering ram effect of knocking down small wooden blocks over and over.

All of the kids, big and little (we had kids ranging from two to thirteen with us that day), were interested in trying on the Roman war gear.

Although the museum certainly is not expansive, the displays were plentiful and interesting.   We learned about South Carolina history and about the parks in our state and the kids particularly enjoyed a replica of an old fashioned one room school house.  (As if they don’t get enough of school on a normal basis, they all kept pretending to be in school in the classroom.)

I don’t think the target age for the museum would be preschoolers although ours were huddled along with their big siblings and had a jolly good time.  With a lot of the displays involving reading and observing, preschoolers would generally miss some of the more educational aspects of the museum.

We had all packed a picnic lunch and headed outside at noon to look for a spot to eat.  Mostly surrounded by parking lot, it was a bit of a challenge to find a spot to park ourselves in relative shade.  We ended up next door at the Children’s Museum’s outdoor pavilion.  I’m still not certain that was “allowed”.  After we viewed more of the museum in the afternoon we saw an indoor lunch area that looked as if we could have used their space for our lunch.  That might be a wise idea to look into if you are packing your lunch like we did.

Midway through our visit we enjoyed a show at the planetarium.  (Again, this is an additional fee not included with your admission.)  There were two show choices to choose from and each show was available at several stated times throughout the day.

Additionally the museum houses an art gallery that my family did not tour on this trip.  Our friends did and they said there were lots of lovely works of art and it was worth their time to wander through and see it all.  There is also a 4D theatre experience available.  (Again, an additional fee is required for this.)

Quick Facts:

South Carolina State Museum
301 Gervais St, Columbia, SC 29214
Open daily – see website for specific hours
Prices start at $6.95
(Special note: Homeschoolers can receive free admission with a valid homeschool ID.  Lower rates for the extra exhibits and planetarium are available for homeschoolers as well.)