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Calling adventurers of all ages! The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a world of wonder that's waiting for you to explore. With five floors of fun and 7.5 acres of outdoor play, there's something for every kid—and grown-up—to discover. Allow this post to serve as your guide, complete with maps of each floor of The Children's Museum to help you plan your things to do with kids in Indianapolis!
Let the adventure begin!
Level 1
Welcome Center
- infoZone—a branch of the Indianapolis Public Library system
- Bumblebee
- Box Office and Will Call
- Lockers
- Stroller rental and wheelchairs
- Entry Gates to five floors of fun (indoors)
- Entry Gates to the Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience® (indoors and outdoors)
Your adventure begins the moment you step inside The Children's Museum, with our favorite greeter, Bumblebee, standing ready to welcome you to the world's biggest children's museum. If you already have your tickets, you do not need to go through the Box Office line—another benefit of buying your tickets in advance. Just head directly to the Entry Gates with your digital ticket ready to scan!
But which Entry Gates will you choose?
If you turn right, you'll head towards our five floors of indoor fun. If you turn left, you'll enter the Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience®, with three indoor sports-related exhibits and a 7.5 acre outdoor sports wonderland. An adventure awaits around every corner, but for the purposes of this post, we'll start by turning left into the Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience®.
Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience® (indoors)
There are three indoor exhibits in the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience®:
- Power Play with exhibit partner Indy Fuel
- The World of Sport
- North American Museum of Sport
Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience® (outdoors)
With 7.5 acres of outdoor sports, this is much more than a sports park. It’s an outdoor sports wonderland. Here’s the experiences you’ll find outside. Please note that the outdoor sports areas are open earlty spring–late fall and are weather dependent. Closed-toe shoes are required for the pedal car racing experiences.
This video shows a brief overview of what you'll find outside:
- The Old National Bank Sports Legends Avenue of Champions
- Nike, Winged Victory and Discobolus, Discus Thrower statues
- Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever Basketball Experience
- Indianapolis Colts Football Experience
- Indy Fuel Hockey Experience
- Indy Eleven Soccer Experience
- The Children’s Museum Guild’s Fantasy Tree House of Sports
- Hershey USATF RunJumpThrow Experience
- Central Indiana Honda Dealers Winners Circle photo op
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pedal Car Racetrack Experience and The Hall Family Dragstrip
- The Pete and Alice Dye Golf Experience presented by Henry and Christine Camferdam
- Wiese Field donated by Elizabeth Bracken Weise and J. Frederic Wiese Jr.
- The Seymour and Rheta Holt Tennis Center
- Jane and Steve Marmon Run-Walk Experience and Dr. Cory SerVaas Fitness Path
Let's go back inside and complete the tour of Level 1.
Level 1 indoors (continued)
Your world of wonder begins on Level 1.
- Rheta, the feathered Tyrannosaurus rex photo op (not included in the map)
- Dinosphere® entrance ramp
- Sunburst Atrium
- The Children’s Museum Store
- Food Court
- Water Clock
- Stairs to Level 2
- Concierge Desk
- National Geographic Treasures of the Earth
- Treasure Transport
- R.B. Annis Overlook
- Captain Kidd Overlook
- Rube Goldberg Ball Machine
- Gathering Room A, where you’ll find face painting opportunities
- Sack Lunch area for school groups and Food Court overflow
A ramp connects all levels of the museum.
Lower Level
From prehistoric beasts, to ancient treasure, to an out-of-this-world future, the Lower Level features exhibits and experiences that will spark your curiosity.
- Dinosphere: Now You're in Their World®
- Giants of the Jurassic™
- Creatures of the Cretaceous®
- R.B. Annis Mission Jurassic Paleo Lab and the Polly H. Hix Paleo Prep Lab
- Pretend play dig pit (not included on map)
- Monsters of the Mesozoic Seas™
- All Aboard!
- National Geographic Treasures of the Earth
- Lilly Theater
- Fireworks of Glass
- Flight Adventures display (not included on the map)
- Beyond Spaceship Earth
- Schaefer Planetarium and Space Object Theater
- Astronaut Wall of Fame
- International Space Station
Level 2
Ignite your creativity on Level 2!
- Dinosphere Art Lab
- Temporary exhibit gallery—currently Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™: Secrets of the Sewer™ (through Sept. 2, 2024)
- Temporary exhibit gallery—currently Emotions at Play with Pixar’s Inside Out (through May 19, 2024)
- Stairs to Level 1
- American POP
- Dracorex hogwartsia (not included on the map)
- Temporary exhibit gallery—currently closed (Mandela: The Official Exhibition opens June 22, 2024)
- Stories from Our Community: The Art of Protest
- Take Me There®: Greece
Level 3
From the stories of Anne, Ruby, Ryan, and Ruby, to a space dedicated to our youngest visitors, the exhibits on Level 3 will challenge and inspire people of all ages.
- IndyCar Race Car photo op
- Playscape® (for ages 5 and under)
- Take a Break Space
- The Power of Children: Making a Difference®
Level 4
Wide-eyed wonder and moments of joy flood the exhibits on Level 4.
Continue the adventure with a membership
With so much to explore, a day at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a day full of joy, wonder, and curiosity for both children and adults. In fact, there's so much to do here, you cannot fit all of the exhibits, experiences, and live programming into one visit. With a year full of unlimited museum visits, special early entry days, members-only exhibit previews, and a whole host of other perks, most member families get their money's worth after just two visits to The Children's Museum!
Your Year-Long Adventure Begins Here
