Harry Potter: The Exhibition at the Museum of Science
The three Picket Fence Post kids and I got to stay out late on a school night in order to see a preview last night of Harry Potter: The Exhibition at the Boston Museum of Science, courtesy of a Parents & Kids press pass.
The exhibit — which runs in Boston from Oct. 25 through February 21 — is a large collection of items (wardrobes, props, set pieces, etc.) from the Harry Potter films. Items included Harry’s wand and glasses, clothing (Daniel Radcliffe was soooo small when he was in the first film! Smaller than my 8-year-old.), his red velvet curtained bed from Hogwarts, his Quidditch gear, his Nimbus 2000 and the Marauder’s Map. There was Hermoine Granger’s gown from the Yule Ball and her Time-Turner. Hagrid’s hut, Buckbeak, the Fat Lady guarding the “picture frame door” to the Gryffinder area, Snape’s outfit and potions containers, Dolores Umbridge’s pink nightmare of an office (complete with kitty plates, the bloody quill and her fuzzy pink ensemble), Tom Riddle’s diary, Dobby and Fawkes were all there as well.
My kids — ages 11, 11 and 8 — loved walking through the mostly hands-off exhibit, though there was a chance for them to pull on some screaming Mandrakes in the Herbology section and toss the odd-shaped leather Quaffles through three Quidditch rings. They also liked the audio tour option; we were given handsets and could enter numbers which correlated with the items on display. That way we could hear Mrs. Weasley’s “howler” letter that she sent Ron as we saw it in his trunk.
However if you’re thinking about bringing very young kids, you might want to consider this: After you walk into the exhibit and are greeted by a robed Hogwarts “teacher” who picks a kid or two from the audience upon which to bestow the sorting hat (The Girl was picked and sorted into Gryffindor), you’re ushered into a darkened room with eight screens which show scenes from the movies. At first you see Harry as he grows up in the films, followed by his buddies and other Hogwarts scenes. Then, accompanied by loud, menacing music and sound, you see sinister images of Voldemort & Co., which caused my 8-year-old to bury his head into my side. I used my notebook to shield him and help cover his ears. A younger boy in our group, about 5, was so terrified by it, that he kept shrieking, “I’m scared! I want to get out of here!”
Other scary aspects of the exhibit included: The Forbidden Forest section, which had the giant spider Aragog, as well as the Dark Arts section which had Lord Voldemort’s billowing costume and two, life-sized Death Eater costumes, complete with skull-like masks. The masks were the scariest things in the whole exhibit, if you ask me, but I’m not 5 and standing from a vantage point of several feet lower than an adult. However these sections were easy to walk through briskly if there was a concern. My 8-year-old didn’t go over to the Voldemort/Death Eater section and avoided looking at the eerie Kreacher.
The exhibit concluded with the crowd being emptied out into the Harry Potter gift shop. And you’d best be prepared to empty your wallet. I think the coolest things we saw in the gift shop were the different wands, the Marauder’s Map and the wizard chess set.
Image credit: Chris Hollo/Museum of Science.

It took some convincing on my older kids’ part to get me to read the entire Harry Potter series. They’d become so enthralled by everything about the world of Potter that I felt as though I’d be missing out on a huge opportunity to bond with them if I didn’t slog through the thousands of pages of J.K. Rowling’s fanciful tale about a humble boy wizard. Surprisingly, I discovered that I adored the books and was very moved by the time I came to the conclusion of the seventh installment. I didn’t want it to end.
Item #1: Meet Max
Item #1: Harry Potter
Author and columnist Meredith O'Brien gives you a peek behind the picket fences of modern day life and parenting in the 'burbs. With humor and candor, it's her take on real parenting in the real world.



