<p>smoda61--I tried the note-taking gambit with my son, as well, though he was only 8 or 9 at the time. Those notes weren't bad, either (well, the content was pretty good; the penmanship was another story ;) ), and he also made up a nickname for each college. For example, one particularly hilly campus was dubbed, "Stairmaster School."</p>
<p>Actually our all-purpose, all-campus (well, almost), all-weather solution to the little sib on tour was to bring S2's razor scooter. Outside, he scoots; inside, H or I carry it, folded. He's scootered at Bates in the snow, CMU in the pouring rain, St. Mary's in the heat, and about ten other schools. Nobody's every objected, and it's kept him interested and happy. There are campuses he remembers better than S1. </p>
<p>(He doesn't remember much of his stroller/walking/sitting in the admissions office tours with D, but he was only two --> three at the time.)</p>
<p>Thanks, Queens Mom. That would be very helpful. And if you're visiting nearby Union College when you're at RPI, your 9-year-old might want to see the 16-sided Nott Memorial building in the center of campus.</p>
<p>I really should get the notebook back out for her to look at as she looks at schools for herself. Unfortunately, very few schools overlap the two kids. That is great that your son was able to handle that at 8/9. And MS with all his nicknames for them, he will actually remember details about them in the future.</p>
<p>One could give them a camera, even a disposable one, and make a game of documenting something. Gargoyles, squirrels, students' fashion trends, stately doors, sculptures, mascot symbols, anything particular to the college which may be something to notice. Or the sibling can actually be given the responsibilty to take all the photos so he/she would feel a sense of contribution.</p>
<p>My kids liked The MIT Museum. And UC Santa Cruz is just a few minutes away from the world-famous Mystery Spot.</p>
<p>Glad you liked the Claes Oldenburg button in front of Van Pelt library at Penn. My kids could play on that for hours when they were little. Tweens would also love the University Museum (mummies!) there.</p>
<p>Yale has an Oldenburg lipstick. No climbing, though. But kids still like it. And the inside of Beinecke Rare Book Library is not to be missed. Even if you don't appreciate the Gutenberg Bible, the effect of the translucent marble from the inside on a sunny day is really cool. And the Law School has hilarious carvings all over it. Also Davenport College (not often visited by the tours) with its gothic facade and Georgian interior. Finally, you can play find-the-secret-society-buildings.</p>
<p>Cornell has a creamery and lots of labeling on the trees and bushes, too.</p>
<p>Little kids and big kids alike will enjoy climbing on the rocks that line Northwestern's lakefront (running the whole length of campus except for the beach at the south end), and reading all the colorful "graffiti" (declarations of love, marriage proposals, celebrations, etc.) that has accumulated over the years. Beautiful views, including downtown Chicago, and often good people-watching too. Fair weather only though.</p>
<p>The University of Kansas has the Booth Hall of Athletics. It's a museum adjacent to the basketball arena that displays all sorts of sports memorabilia from the last 100 or so years, not just your average trophy cases. There are Olympic medals, a relay torch, Wilt Chamberlain's jacket and all sorts of KU stuff.</p>
<p>The University of Miami has really cute canopied gliding tables at its outdoor Rathskeller eatery. The "Rat" is on the edge of the lake and you will often see an alligator sunning on the banks and unusual fowl wandering through the cafe while you eat.</p>
<p>There are animal barns with milking demos and great ice cream at the UCONN Dairy Barn.</p>
<p>Every Land Grant University has a Farm! These are usually, but not always flagship state schools - and this is the reason Cornell and Penn State have a "Creamery" and great ice cream.
sometimes you have to go out of the way to find the Farm and sometimes they are spread out - many schools specialize as well. The barns are usually open to the public and even most city kids love the animals.
While these are research farms, they are working farms with student workers who are often willing to talk.</p>
<p>There was a thread on here about colleges, and specifically libraries, that looked like Hogwarts. That might be engaging for a tween, to look at a school and figure out which dorm Harry would live in here, which hall looks like... you get the picture.</p>
<p>At Johns Hopkins: 1) The Buffano Sculpture Garden (all whimsical animals); 2) In the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy--the old telescope and equipment on the first floor, and the modern observatory on the roof; 3) the mummies in the archaeological museum (which may be temporarily closed due to the renovations of Gilman Hall; 4) Rodin's "Thinker" in the art museum (kid's love this!). Finally, I don't know if this is on public display anymore (it used to be years ago) but the embryology laboratory at the Carnegie Institute (now on the western side of campus) has ( or at least had) the largest and creepiest collection of embryos in the world.</p>
<p>And if you want a library that looks like Hogwarts--check out the Peabody Library at Hopkins--it is unreal!</p>
<p>cornell: johnson museum, dairy bar, AD White room at Uris Library (looks like its from harry potter :) ), shopping at the 2 level campus store, ivy room, dairy bar, observatory...</p>
<p>dairy bar :D</p>
<p>My son also liked the tunnel on the edge of the Swarthmore campus that leads to the train station, though that might have been because there was a Dunkin' Donuts on the other side. :)</p>
<p>I like that disposible camera idea. UChicago: squirrels, gargoyles (esp. the animals on the zoology building, Oriental Institute (mummies!)</p>
<p>tweens would love the "womb" chairs in the Oberlin Library. Arizona State has great fountains around campus with a really interesting one outside the Memorial Union building.Also, they have a structure called the "nipple of knowledge" which is really a skylight for underground levels of the library.
The gargoyles on the buildings at Wash U inSt Louis could be fun to photograph for tweens while on a walking tour. S's college, the University of South Carolina has the country's largest "Green Dorm" which might interest a tween interested in enviornmental matters.
I guess the trick is keeping them interested while you're trying to tour,it's hard to find the time to seek out special stuff for them .I like the camera idea,it actually can be a help to have them take pics for you while you are trying to pay attention to the tour guide.
The reward of a visit to the food court/ice cream/special food spot would ber helpful as well.</p>
<p>But there are also things to do that work most anywhere. Because I've visited lots of campuses with my son, starting when he was about 5 or 6</p>
<p>Im curious, as part of your work or with an eye towards getting him thinking about college?</p>
<p>My own 12 year old begged to be left out of next week's 4 school tour, so she is being flown to grandma and grandpa's for 4 days.</p>
<p>Someone suggested taking pictures. Here's an idea that a tweener with a digital camera might enjoy: Our daughter had to do a photogrphy project for yearbook class. When we were in Barcelona, she photographed all of the "people symbol" signs...you know, like the man and woman on the rest room door....there were very funny ones of stick people falling down stairs, stick people falling off towers, etc. I bet you could do the same thing at colleges.</p>
<p>You might also give the tweener a job, like evaluating the dining options, the dorms, etc. Let her develop a checklist with the college bound sib and let him or her complete the checklist and supplement it with photographs.</p>
<p>At UW-Madison I would take a tween "exploring", starting at the terrace of Memorial Union, up the woodsy lakeshore path to the dorms, then south to Babcock Hall where they manufacture and sell ice cream. I would come back up Observatory Drive to Observatory Hill and then to Bascom Hall to see Abe Lincoln. I'd end down on the library plaza, maybe stopping in the U bookstore. The Weeks Geology museum over near the engineering campus could be of some interest, too. If more entertainment is needed, I'd consider a trip to nearby Vilas Zoo.</p>
<p>At U of MN-Twin Cities the interconnecting tunnels around the East Bank quadrangle would take quite a while to explore. A trip across the Washington Ave bridge (over the Mississippi River) and back could be engaging. There is also the Bell Museum of Natural History to visit which has some of the old-fashioned dioramas that aren't as popular now in today's virtual reality world but might be fascinating to some one who hasn't seen many of them.</p>