The Best Children's Museums in the US, From San Francisco to St. Louis

Condé Nast Traveler

2 days ago

While there are several children's museums that have climbing gyms, tot-scaled supermarkets, and STEAM-inspired tinkering labs, what makes an institution really stand out from the pack is its creative play spaces. At the Children's Museum of Eau Claire in Wisconsin, for example, kids scramble up the tongue and slide out the bum of a digestive track-themed indoor playground. Then there are the record-breaking exhibits like the world's largest Triceratops fossil skeleton, a.k.a. Big John, which is on display at the Glazer Children's Museum in Tampa, Florida. As for the places that dedicate space to deep dives on unique and important subjects, the Bronzeville Children's Museum in Chicago is the first and only African-American children's museum in the country. (And it goes all in on Black inventors.)
What follows are eight of the country's best children's museums—dynamic, sensory-rich spaces that engage and entertain as much as they educate.
The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix houses 7,500 instruments from more than 200 countries and territories in its collection.
Musical Instrument Museum
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana
It doesn't get any bigger than this—literally. Opened in 1925, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis may not be the oldest in the country (that distinction belongs to the Brooklyn Children's Museum, founded in 1899), but it is the world's largest. We're talking five floors of interactive exhibits, 7.5 acres of outdoor sports experiences (including a simulated Indy 500 race course using bicycles in place of cars), a replica International Space Station, an antique carousel, the largest water clock in North America, a 43-foot-tall Chihuly glass sculpture, a kid-friendly food court, and more to see and do than any family could reasonably pack into a day. This powerhouse is next level in every arena: Like many kids' museums, for instance, it has a special zone dedicated to dinosaurs. But this one features a real T. rex skeleton, interactive dig sites, and an open lab where kids can meet working paleontologists and ask them questions about the fossils they are preserving. Other exhibits touch upon youth activism, locomotives, and ancient mysteries of Egypt and China. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis was the launch pad for Disney Jr.'s first-ever Mickey Mouse Clubhouse exhibit but also lands cool exhibitions for tweens and older—like the new 'Afrofuturism in Costume Design' show surveying the work of Academy Award-winning designer Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther, Malcolm X). There's even a 110-foot Ferris wheel parked outside, brought in to celebrate the museum's 100th anniversary. It'll remain on site through November 2, 2025.
Where to stay for families in Indianapolis: