Alexander Graham Bell Museum, Cape Breton

Check out the Alexander Graham Bell Museum – Baddeck, Cape Breton

When I told my friends that we were going to Cape Breton for our family vacation, they all said, “You MUST go to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck!”

I approached the Museum and in exchange for tickets for our family, I promised to tell you all about our experience there!

About the Museum:
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum is located in Baddeck, Cape Breton overlooking the Bras d’or Lakes.

The Museum houses models, replicas, photo displays, artifacts and films describing the fascinating life and work of Alexander Graham Bell.

Although originally from Scotland, Graham Bell made a summer home for his family on the Bras D’or Lakes near where the Museum is today.

Best known as the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) did far more than that. He was also one of the outstanding figures of his generation in the education of the deaf and even worked with Helen Keller.

The Museum is divided into different sections from “Sound and Silence” (talking about Bell’s work with the deaf), “Ideas” (outlining Bell’s experiments and inventions), “Air” (showing artifacts related to Bell’s work with man-carrying kites and airplanes, including original parts from the Silver Dart airplane) and “Water,” (showing Bell’s experiments with the hydrofoil).

At the Museum:
When we arrived at the Museum the boys were given an Xplorers booklet. These books are available at all National Park sites and contain activities for children to complete as they go through the Museum.

The Museum is chockfull of information panels and exhibits. You can spend as little or as much time as you want going through and reading all the information and watching all the videos.

With the Xplorers Pass, the children were given the highlights of the Museum. They simply would not have the attention span to go through all the information. In each of the Museum sections the kids were directed to an interactive station where they had to perform an activity and answer questions.

Alexander Graham Bell experimented a lot with kites for his inventions and study of flying. Because of this, one of the first activities was to try flying a kite! Being on the hill above the Lakes made for the perfect windy spot to fly a kite!

Other activities included a touch-and-feel I spy game and learning about phones through the ages. One of my favourite moments was when Daniel came across the rotary phone and wasn’t sure how it worked! How quickly times and technology has changed!

The museum also included a life-size replica of the Silver Dart airplane that Bell invented and the remains of his hydrofoil invention which are preserved here adjacent to a full-sized reproduction of the craft.

Hands-on Workshops:
The Museum offers a variety of workshops for all ages. These range from white-gloved tours of the behind-the-scenes archival material to children’s and family kite-making workshops.

The boys participated in the kite-making workshop for kids. For $2.50 all materials were given to you with step-by-step instructions.

The best part – the kites actually worked! Later on in the day, we had a chance to test them out, and they flew!

Overall:
It took us about two hours to go through the museum (including the workshop) with the boys. Had the children been older, or we had been kid-free, I would have really taken my time to go through all the exhibits and displays. It’s a place worth going back to many times, for as they age, the kids will get more and more out of the experience.

I think that children as young as 4 can enjoy the museum!

Here’s what the kids had to say about their visit:

It was cool!
I enjoyed flying the eagle kite.
I liked making the kites. They worked great!

My husband is a history professor and thoroughly enjoyed the museum. “I liked how there was a great mix of the science and his personal life. It was a really good biographical museum.”

“The Museum is not about the man who invented the telephone, it is about a man who did so much more.”

Visitor Information:
The Alexander Graham Bell Museum is open from May to October.
A family pass is only $19.60. A great bargain for what you will gain!

Try These at Home:
The Museum website leaves you with these cool scientific activities to try at home! Try one and let us know how you do!

If you are heading to Cape Breton, add the Alexander Graham Bell Museum to your MUST do list! You will definitely learn something new and have fun along the way! It’s a great way to have family fun!