My 9-year old son and my 10-year old daughter—along with her best friend, pictured with the "I Survived the Infinity Climber" sign—approached the massive structure with open mouths, a single, "Whoa..." spoken at first sight of the 21,000 pound play space. The kids leapt toward it, deterred only by the friendly Science Center guards who needed to check their stature (minimum height for the Climber is 42 inches; there is a smaller, less demanding structure for younger kids in I Explore).

Luckily they passed the height check and, after a short wait on line, made their way into the body of the structure, a series of multi-leveled petal-like platforms surrounded by 19 miles of hand-threaded wire as a protective mesh. And then the climbing, stretching, navigating and shrieking began.

I was quite taken with the physical beauty of the climber, as well as the fact that we got a significant workout from it (I was sweating by the time I finished). There is something magical about the twists, turns and little pockets that one can hide in throughout the climber, partly because one feels both airborne and secure at the same time. The webbing allows you to see through to the rest of the museum, but somehow makes you feel like no one else can see you, which adds to the thrills.

There is a surprising number of routes through the maze, and my kids seemed to take every one of them, yelling to each other through the silvery mesh. A few times I thought I had found the way out, only to realize that I needed to reroute myself, which was both fun and challenging. By the time we finished exploring, all of us felt like we had really accomplished something. We were breathing hard, but still had plenty of energy to visit all of our other favorite LSC exhibits.

Exploring Infinity is included in the Center's admission price, and up to 50 children and adults can navigate the structure at once. I'm sure it's going to be a popular place for New Jersey families. No matter how many times we visit Liberty Science Center, my kids and I never get bored— we visit and revisit our favorite exhibits, and there's always something new and wonderful to captivate us. And now we can add the Infinity Climber to that list. 

This post is sponsored by Liberty Science Center, but the opinions expressed are entirely those of the author.