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Austin Children's Museum
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Downtown
201 Colorado St
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 472-2499
201 Colorado St
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 472-2499
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
17 reviews for Austin Children's Museum
Child bedlam. I'm not sure how much my kiddo enjoyed it - she seemed happy enough as an 11 month old in a warehouse full of insanity can be. Me, on the other hand, I thought it was hysterical.
It made me want to change my livelihood to being the guy that designs all the toys. Plastic bolts flying around, easily-swallowable LED toys sticking to the ceiling. Yes, that's the job for me.
I enjoyed playing with the toys. Some were broken, though plenty weren't. I could have stayed for hours.
And the guy who did story time was hysterical. Staff were dynamic and fun.
Can't wait to go back. With or without my kiddo.
And when they move to Mueller, it will be twice as big (and walking distance for me - yay!)
Oh, for shame, Austin. Is this really the best you can do for your city's kids? The museum is small, many exhibits are worn out or poorly maintained, and several of them have been up for the full five years I've been going here.
If a 5-year-old kid can go through the exhibits in under an hour and have seen everything, there's a problem. And it ain't with the kid's attention span.
Some nice philanthropist out there should start a fund-raising drive for this place. It's an embarrassment.
I'm a Children's Musuem snob. I expect the best.
The ACM is the most expensive museum to join in the state and doesn't have all that much to offer. Many of the permanent exhibits often don't work that well, if at all. It's also kind of small and could stand to have better exhibits that appeal to older kids as well as the younger ones. Granted, I'm glad it's here. But with Dell's name being out front, I expect SO much more.
Here's what ya do: Go see each new travelling exhibit once or twice on Community Night.
Or if you get invited to a birthday party here, even better.
Drive to Houston or Fort Worth for a better Children's Museum experience. But ACM is good for checking out the travelling exhibits at least once. And I think it closes just in time on Community Night to run over and catch the bats flying out from under CAB.
I was surprised when my ten-year-old daughter and her stepsister (also 10) wanted to go here on Saturday because I was pretty sure they would have outgrown it by now. But, they were persistent, so off we went.
It cost about $20 for the three of us to get in and I was thinking "Okay so, about $1 a minute most likely."
I was so pleasantly surprised by our visit.
The girls *loved* it. They played on just about every exhibit, spending an inordinate amount of time putting milk bottles into the little shoot and pretending they were *very* busy with shipping and handling, etc.
Anything that can make those sweet ten-year-olds, who have one foot in childhood and the other venturing out into the great unknown, play like they did gets a very favorable review from me. It was lovely.
We even came back after lunch so they could play on the big slide.
I'm not a mother....but my sister and her two boys were in town for a visit and I was watching the kiddos for an entire day as she had a class to attend.
With the temperature nearing 100 we needed some indoor fun so we turned to the Austin Children's Museum.
My nephews (7 and 3) had a blast. They were mostly occupied by the crane and mock Metro bus at the front. It was adorable to watch the 7 year old pretend to be the bus driver and ask other little kids where they wanted to go.
The 3-year-old was jumping from one thing to another and must have slid down the little green slide like a bazillion times. Both loved the train area (but it was sadly not working the day we went) A permanent sign near the train indicated that it probably rarely works.
The museum was lots of fun and managed to occupy two very curious little boys for about 3 hours.
Any thing that can do that gets props in my book!
I was excited when I passed by the Children's Museum a couple weeks ago and decided that my family should stop by and check it out. I was really disappointed on how small it was and how rude some of the parents were.
I don't think we will be going back anytime soon...
We go on Monday Morning's sometimes for Baby Bloomers. My daughter has sooo much fun. They have story time then music time. During music time they have a parachute thing that she loves to run under! They also have a nice baby area that is fenced off from the rest of the place.My daughter's favorite area is the cow and the train. Right now one of the exibits is arts and crafts for toddlers and older kids. They have rotating exibits.
So not worth it. There's such a run-down quality to the whole place...if I were Michael Dell I'd be a bit embarrassed to have my name on the door, to be quite honest. Kids can amuse themselves with a brick, so this review is really about the parental experience, which I don't think the museum is really hip to. Yes, it's a children's museum, but where there are kids, there are parents and we're the ones making the spending decisions so it's definitely in your best interest to up the ante on how parents can interact in the museum as well. There's not much for a grown-up to do but stand around and watch the clock.
If it wasn't such a hassle to go here, maybe I wouldn't be so grouchy about it. But as it stands, it's not worth the parking hassle (and fees) in addition to the admission price.
Great for rainy days or too hot days. Park away from downtown and take a 'dillo in (there's no free parking). Kids love it: interactive and fun.
Wash hands often; it is germ central.
I agree there is something for every age here. My daughter loves it. It seems a little dirty, but I'm not sure how you can avoid that when you cater to children. Kids are straight up not scared of dirt.
Great for a rainy day or just a fun day inside.
just went back for their inventions exhibit and it was cool. My daughters both love this place. They have a baby section for my 9 month old and my 3.5 year old loves everything else. CHECK IT OUT! I thought we'd be there for an hour, and we were there for 3. DO IT!
A OK for kids under 8 yrs old with a really soft toddler area. Get there early for cheap parking on the street.
Looking for something really cool to do with the kiddos this summer? Check out the Austin Children's Museum. I guarantee it will also bring out the kid in you.
Okay, I don't have any kids, but I have lots of nieces and a nephew. There is so much going on at this place, that there is something for every kid. Upstairs there is a craft room. Downstairs there is a rotating exhibit. Right now, I believe it is giant board games, like a 3 foot Jenga and a life-size chess board.
Also, there is a small sound stage for kids to bring out their inner rock stars. Not sure if this a permanent exhibit or not, But my 5 year-old niece (at the time) and I strapped on some guitars and created our own Austin City Limits show. Still waiting to be booked for the festival . . .
Anyway, they have private rooms for birthday parties, And I even had a friend go to a wedding here recently. Not sure how that worked, but it sounds like they are willing and able to accommodate kids of all ages.
We been a few times with the kids. It's not my favorite place to go, as I don't think it's a good value for what it costs-- ages 2 and up are $5.50. Parking is a big hassle. And now with all the high rise condos going in around it, it's hard to walk from far away parking because the sidewalk is closed. As someone else said, it is dirty. But, I do think if the employees spent some time cleaning it wouldn't have to be dirty-- even with kids around.
Also as far as Children's Museums go, it's lame. It just doesn't have that much to offer. I've been to way better Children's Museums in other cities.
My kids do have fun there-- so three stars. Also, Wednesday nights are free.
The children's museum is friggin cool! Does your inner child want to explore cool exhibits or learn about interesting things ?
I remember at the old location they had a fake supermarket where the kiddies could go food shopping, a big toy doll that had removable organs, and a craft station where you could build some amazing toilet paper roll creations. Its amazing how clearly I remember all of these things.
The new location is less messy and more high class. And every once and a while Ill walk by and see someone has rented out the location to throw a party for some charity or other. Hands down, this place is pretty dang cool.
I'm so disappointed. It seems like each time we go, there are less working (broken) exhibits. And the rocking house was my fave. What's up with that? The Cap Metro exhibit is lame. You can wait for that one to move on down the road. I'm bummed we missed the sound exhibit during Austin Museum Day. But it was so loud and crowded it just wasn't fun. I do give them props for the new inventors area upstairs. And of course the arts and crafts area upstairs is always a favorite with my kids.
While this place is not the fanciest, it does keep the kids entertained for quite a while. Both of my chit chits can play and play for hours. I ESPECIALLY love it after 5 because the price per person is by donation, so its a nice way to end a day. I have to say....parking is a witch but I'd still recommend..
Went to a birthday party at the ACM this weekend. It was fantastic. So easy for the parents and fun, entertaining AND educational for the kiddos. The shadow exhibit is the neatest thing ever. I was pushing kids out of the way to jump up and down with the tadpoles. ;)
