Quirky Attraction: National Farm Toy Museum

National Farm Toy Museum
Location: Dyersville, Iowa
When to visit: Open 9-6 Mon-Sat, and 10-4 on Sunday
Cost: $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for kids
Time needed: 30 minutes
Website: www.nationalfarmtoymuseum.com

Would you believe there’s a museum dedicated to farm toys? It’s located in Dyersville, Iowa, very near the Field of Dreams movie site. Who doesn’t love toys?

This museum has just about every kind of farm toy you can imagine, from the old-timey miniature farm animal playsets to larger wagons and tractors that kids (or immature adults) can ride around.

The museum claims to receive more than 30,000 guests per year, which works out to more than 100 per day. So it sees plenty of traffic, but it’s not going to be overcrowded like many museums in big urban centers.

There’s a kids play area and shelf after shelf of farm toys, spanning several decades. Some actually go back as far as the 1800s! I’m a fan of the older toys, which were so boring and plain by today’s standards but have an old-school charm to them.

Look, they make a John Deere Barbie!

National Farm Toy Museum History and Shows

The museum was founded in 1986 and holds a collection of more than 30,00 artifacts. It hosts both the National Farm Show and the Midwest Toy Truck Show (who knew there was such a thing?!)

The cost of visiting the museum (as of 2019) is $7 for adults and $5 for kids, which is not bad at all for such a unique attraction. Kids under age 5 are admitted for free. The facility is open seven days a week, with shorter hours on Sunday.

The National Farm Toy Museum also has a large gift shop with an extensive selection of toys, books and other memorabilia. For five bucks, why not stop in and check out this quirky attraction?

U.S. Route 20 passes through Dyersville, making this museum a fun place to stop off on a road trip.