There is actually a medical term for the fear of ventriloquist dolls: automatonophobia. Some kids get scared of those dummies, even when they aren't particularly creepy. Other kids just seem fascinated by the whole idea of a talking doll. Believe it or not, but there is a museum devoted to the world of ventriloquism. The Vent Haven Museum is located at 33 West Maple Avenue in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. Tours are by appointment only, but a tour is really worth the effort.

The Vent Haven Museum is made up of hundreds of "retired" ventriloquist dolls, including some replicas of famous dolls like Charlie McCarthy. The tour can last up to ninety minutes, so that should give some indication as to what to expect. If the Vent Haven Museum was just a collection of wooden and plastic doppelgangers staring at visitors with their dead eyes that would be one thing and kind of interesting in a macabre way. Admittedly, some younger kids will not be impressed since the Vent Haven Museum is not the kind of hands-on museum that all the kids seem to love today. But as the only museum dedicated solely to the genuinely bizarre art of ventriloquism, it is worth a visit to peek into what still remains a rather mysterious sub-genre of the entertainment world.

Parents whose kids do suffer some form of automatonophobia or parents who suffer the disorder themselves, may want to put some serious thought into visiting the Vent Haven Museum. A large part of the appeal for some visitors is the eerie feeling the museum gives off. Yes, truly walking through a museum that is populated with lifelike dummies everywhere you look is like stepping into the Twilight Zone. If one of the dolls happens to move by itself, the best course of action is probably just to ignore it. It almost undoubtedly is simply your imagination at work. Either that or put a direct call in to Mulder and Scully.

Every Monday night, families used to gather around the television to watch the continuing adventures of the Ingalls family in the TV show based on the Little House on the Prairie novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Today, it is truly a momentous undertaking to find a show that a family with kids can watch without cringing at least once. Those days may be gone, but this show itself lives on in DVD form, and there are always the original novels by Laura herself. Many a young girl still grows up reading these infinitely fascinating tales of the tough pioneer life and the extraordinarily inspiring way in which a young girl became an American icon.

This is where the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum comes into play. There are actually two different museums with Wilder's name, but only one, in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where the stories take place. The museum near Springfield is perfectly fine, but the one in Walnut Grove has a Laura and Nellie lookalike contest every year, usually in July. You remember Nellie, right? That little blonde snot who tried to make young Laura's life miserable every episode. Near the museum, you can also visit the actual site of the home where Laura and family lived.

And then there's the Wilder Pageant, which is the highlight of Walnut Creek's year. The Wilder Pageant takes place during the summer and features a live performance starring all the favorite characters from the show. A visit to the Wilder Pageant is like actually watching the Little House on the Prairie TV show come to life as you get to relive some of the favorite moments of the stories of the Ingalls' family history.

And if that weren't enough, all Little House fans can actually shop at the Olsen Mercantile store for things like flowers, clothing, pottery and collectibles. Oh, and don't forget to make a visit to Nellie's Café. The yellow ringlets of the snotty little Olsen girl may not be atop the head that serves you, but it's a really fun place to visit.

Baseball may not be quite the yardstick by which kid-dom is measured, but that doesn't mean the National Pastime does not permeate into the collective consciousness of most children. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, is unquestionably a destination spot that any lover of baseball will enjoy, regardless of age.

It is perhaps more important than ever to taken kids to Cooperstown, however. After all, the current state of baseball is not one that is inclined to inspire idol worship and heroism the way it used to. Steroids, salary disputes and strikes have tarnished much of the glamour of the game, and for those reasons, it behooves the parent of any baseball fan to take their child to Cooperstown so they can see what baseball players used to be like.

The Babe, Jackie Robinson, The Mick, Dizzy and Daffy. These names are threatening to disappear off the face of the playground, not just because they are old and dead, but because baseball as a social force in America is dying. It is very hard to teach kids about how vital the game of baseball used to be to the very fabric of America when the home run king's tally is tarnished by allegations that his well-sculpted body may not entirely be the result of good old-fashioned workouts. But baseball really did used to mean something special to kids, in part because baseball players were special. There was something elemental about a man knocking out 60 home runs in a season or tossing a perfect game in the World Series. Those days may be gone, but they will exist forever at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.