Missouri Institute of Natural Science

This a pretty awesome collection of dinosaur, prehistoric, and rather old fossils and bones. This is great for any fossil enthusiast, but I would recommend ages 6 and up. This is not a hands on and interactive place for kids, but if they already love Dinos or fossils they will like it. When we went the place was not open when they should’ve been and certain bones were not marked. There was a paleontologist who helped answer our questions. Definitely check out more info on the Riverbluff cave which is literally right at the museum sight and can be seen from farm road 141, although it is not open to the public. It’s supposed to be one of oldest ice age fossil caves in the nation! Worth a look around for sure.

Has lots of neat minerals and fossils. There’s a t-​Rex tooth, raptor claw, megalodon tooth. all sorts of cool dinosaur stuff. It’s free to get in (I always donate when I go because it’s such a cool place) and the people that work there can answer your questions about any specimen they have.