A Parent’s Guide to Early Learning Fun at The Children's Museum
A Parent’s Guide to Early Learning Fun at The Children's Museum
Looking for things for your young child to do at The Children's Museum? From water tables to an outdoor "my-sized" sports wonderland, there's more than a day's worth of fun exploration here. Our team of early childhood experts put together a handy guide to help you and your young child have a personal, fun, and meaningful visit.
Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list, but tese programs, experiences, and permanent exhibits will have your child learning investigating, and discovering the museum in new ways. We'll begin outside and then work our way through the museum from the Lower Level to Level 4.
At The Children’s Museum, we recognize and celebrate that all children play uniquely and differently, so please visit the experiences that you believe are best suited for your child regardless of their age. All Daily Activities and exhibits are included with museum admission.
Buy Museum Tickets
Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list, but tese programs, experiences, and permanent exhibits will have your child learning investigating, and discovering the museum in new ways. We'll begin outside and then work our way through the museum from the Lower Level to Level 4.
At The Children’s Museum, we recognize and celebrate that all children play uniquely and differently, so please visit the experiences that you believe are best suited for your child regardless of their age. All Daily Activities and exhibits are included with museum admission.
Buy Museum Tickets
Outdoors
Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience®
Preschool AgeShoot, dribble, and practice running the court at the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever Basketball Experience.
Kindergarten
Batter up! At the baseball experience, work as a team with your family while running the bases and hitting a home run at Wiese Field.
The Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience®is seasonal and weather-dependent. It is included with museum admission.
Seven Wonders Sculpture Garden
Climb, crawl, and walk through the garden to take time to learn aboutthese famous wonders of the world.
Lower Level
Dinosphere: Now You’re In Their World®
Young ToddlerExplore Mesozoic marine life while visiting the interactive sea wall and ocean-themed play table.
Preschool Age
Become a paleontologist and make prehistoric discoveries of your own while digging for dinosaur bones at the dig site.
Kindergarten
Stop by the Polly H. Hix Paleo Prep Lab to meet staff who are researching real dinosaur bones.
Fireworks of Glass
Young ToddlerPlay a game of I Spy. Ask your child to identify different shapes and colors while admiring Chihuly’s blown-glass sculpture.
Preschool Age
Become inspired and create your own sculpture using replica pieces of Chihuly glass modules.
Kindergarten
Use the interactive computer and become a gaffer, learning the steps of how blownglass art is mad
Beyond Spaceship Earth
Young ToddlerUse pretend nuts, bolts, and wrenches to help repair and maintain the International Space Station.
Preschool Age
Astronauts use codes to help them control and operate the International Space Station. See if you can follow along and replicate the code.
Kindergarten
Take control of the Canadarm and help astronauts on the International Space Station receive incoming cargo.
National Geographic Treasures of the Earth
Young ToddlerClimb and crawl in the deep blue sea as you pretend to be an underwater archaeologist.
Preschool Age
Visit an archaeology dig site and use tools to uncover artifacts with other archaeologists researching the ancient Terra Cotta Warriors.
Kindergarten
Work together as a team of archaeologists to decode hieroglyphs in Seti’s Tomb.
All Aboard!
Young ToddlerConnect, push, and pull trains around winding tracks at the play tables.
Preschool Age
Enjoy imaginative play inside the train station. Answer calls on a pretend phone and hand out tickets to visitors as they get ready to depart on the next train.
Kindergarten
Discuss how the Reuben Wells train was unlike any other because it was a “helper locomotive” and pushed other trains instead of pulling freight.
Birthday Cake Ingredient Collection
All year long, we're collecting donations of shelf-stable birthday cake ingredients to distribute to local food pantries. A collection bin is available in the Welcome Center.
Level 1
Young Toddler
Rev up your engines and “race” cars around the play table track.
Preschool Age
In the NCAA Sports Legends training area, become a gymnast and try the balance beam.
Kindergarten
Why do you think the hockey puck moves faster or slower across the smooth and rough surfaces? Touch the different surface samples and then slide a puck across both to learn about friction at the Ice Slide Challenge.
Rev up your engines and “race” cars around the play table track.
Preschool Age
In the NCAA Sports Legends training area, become a gymnast and try the balance beam.
Kindergarten
Why do you think the hockey puck moves faster or slower across the smooth and rough surfaces? Touch the different surface samples and then slide a puck across both to learn about friction at the Ice Slide Challenge.
National Art Museum of Sport
Preschool AgeLet your child pick their favorite work of art. Looking at the work, facilitate a “see, think, wonder” lesson. Scaffold their learning
by asking them these three questions:
Kindergarten
Sculpt an athlete in action using putty and armatures. Discuss the different ways athletes use their bodies when playing sports.
Atrium Show: Musical Storytelling
Use instruments, your voice and your body to create new soundtrack for a classic fairy tale! This interactive Daily Activity takes place every day in the Sunburst Atrium.
Water Clock
Preschool AgeStop by and check out North America’s largest Water Clock. Observe the clock with your child and notice what happens when minutes or seconds pass by.
Rube Goldberg Ball Machine
Preschool AgeStudy the tracks inside the machine and try navigating the paths of the balls by using ramps, levers, and pulleys.
Level 2
Preschool Age
Become a paleo artist and illustrate your own dinosaur. Visit a scanning station and watch your dinosaur come to life!
Kindergarten
Are you as tall as a sauropod? Visit the “How do you measure up” wall and compare your height to a family of growing sauropods.
Family Fun
Work together to design a family of dinosaurs in our Dinos Alive! Daily Activity.
Become a paleo artist and illustrate your own dinosaur. Visit a scanning station and watch your dinosaur come to life!
Kindergarten
Are you as tall as a sauropod? Visit the “How do you measure up” wall and compare your height to a family of growing sauropods.
Family Fun
Work together to design a family of dinosaurs in our Dinos Alive! Daily Activity.
Register for an Early Childhood Special Event
Our early childhood educators provide guided small group learning opportunities during Special Events throughout the year. Collaborate, learn, and explore as a family with exclusive time in the museum before it opens to the public. Additional registration and fee required.
Level 3
IndyCar Race Car
Young ToddlerExperience what it would feel and look like to be an Indy 500 driver as you sit inside a race car and take your turn at the wheel.
PlayscapeⓇ
Young ToddlerDiscover new textures and sounds while cruising, crawling, and climbing through Babyscape.
Preschool Age
Splash about at the water table as you learn about different animals that call a creek their home.
Kindergarten
Play and explore a variety of instruments from all over the world inside the Music Studio.
Family Fun
Visit our web calendar for times of these Daily Activities inside Playscape®—Experiencing Art Together and Making Music Together.
Level 4
Corteva Agriscience ScienceWorks
Young ToddlerImagine life on a farm while steering tractors through the fields of crops at the play table.
Preschool Age
Solve the dinner plate puzzle to create a balanced and healthy meal inside the Farm House.
Kindergarten
Visit the Hillside and look for different animals native to Indiana. Discuss which animals you have seen before.
Family Fun
Find out about the animals tha tlive in our Pond in the Life in the Pond daily activity (see web calendar for times).
Discovery Lab
Discovery Lab is a place for young children to investigate, play, and learn. Located inside Corteva Agriscience Scienceworks, Discovery Lab is an early childhood STEM space designed for young learners and their families to participate in play-based scientific exploration.There is so much to explore in the Discovery Lab:
- Play in sensory tables filled with kinetic sand and pretend mulch with insects
- Use different tools and materials, such as puzzles, magnetic wands, weighted building blocks, and scales, to investigate foundational science topics
- Read children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction, covering a variety of STEM topics
- Use magnifying glasses to study and explore natural specimens and create your own observational drawing
Carousel Wishes and Dreams
While the Carousel itself is closed for maintenance, the rest of Carousel Wishes and Dreams continues to be open!Preschool Age
Host a tea party or work in the ice cream shop in the child-size houses at the back of the exhibit.
Kindergarten
Navigate your way through the mirror maze, taking twists and turns that lead you to new discoveries.
Mini Masterpieces
Preschool AgePlay a game of I Spy with your child. Read riddle clues around the exhibit and ask your child to help find the mystery objects located in the miniature rooms.
Join the End of the Day Parade
Every day our mascot, Rex, leads visitors on a parade from Level 4 to the exit. It’s a tradition at The Children's Museum, symbolizing the close of an amazing day of fun and family memory-making. The parade begins at 4:45 p.m.
Discoveries Around Every Corner
This list of discovery opportunities for your young child is really just the beginning! In addition to our five floors of permanent exhibits, we also have temporary exhibits throughout the year. Keep an eye on our exhibits page for our current exhibit lineup. Our staff-led daily daily activities—included with museum admission—are pure magic. Check out our Daily Activities calendar and start planning your next visit!
Become a Member
The upcoming year will be one for the record books and you can celebrate with us all year long! Become a member and experience it all with unlimited visits, exclusive member-morning hours, discounts, and more.
