- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Children's Discovery Center
Rating Details »
111 Ohe Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 524-5437
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 524-5437
- Hours:
Tue-Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
5 reviews for Children's Discovery Center
If you've got kids then you'd better put this on your list of where to go when you're sick of the beach and you can't stay at home a moment longer! The Children's Discovery Center is great for kids and for parent's too! They've got large scale educational displays such as a theatre, a news station, the body parts, a kitchen, courthouse, bus and pretty much anything else you could think of. The best part is that kids can play dress-up and touch pretty much everything. As a parent of a three year old and a five year old, watching their every move and making sure they don't break things can get pretty exhausting. The CDC (no it does not stand for the Center For Disease Control! Although I'm sure a good # of germs is passed through here) is an interactive experience where kids can be kids, explore and learn lots of fun stuff.
The only downside to the CDC is that the admission can be a little steep ($10 non-kamaaina, $8 for kamaaina) so if you're committed to going at least once a month it would worthwhile to buy a yearly membership. Hours are short on weekdays (9am-1pm) & a little longer on Sat/Sun (open til 3 pm), closed on Mondays. Parking is free!
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
- Funny (1)
A wonderful kid's play museum. Inside the warehouse are mini stores where kids can pretend to be cops, mechanics, farmers, and so on. There's a working stage where my daughter danced in the spotlight as a little boy worked the lights and music (one burlesque tune sounded like it was meant for Gypsy Rose Lee, ha ha). There's also an exhibit where you can go inside a giant fake mouth with giant fake teeth (a monitor tells you about brushing) and a giant fake tummy. The tummy one upset my kid, because it intones, "WELCOME TO MY STOMACH! COME IN!" or somesuch, and it's freaky.
Upstairs they have mini houses from different countries. The China house has pans and "noodles" so kids pretend to cook and serve food. My daughter's fave was the English garden house.
It's slightly more expensive than a movie at $8 a person. Also, no snacks are allowed nor do they sell any. I was there 3 solid hours and was starving-- could not tear my kid away.
I would buy a membership, but at $250 a year for my family I would have to go 6 times to make it worthwhile. I wish they'd make the membership a better deal to entice people to buy it.
It's best for young kids. I think the older kids in there were moderately amused, but for ages 5 and under it's the best. I wouldn't bother taking my 7 and 10 year olds here.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Funny (1)
- Cool (1)
I totally agree with La L.'s review. We went here on a rainy day and spent a few hours here. What a fun place! The top floor lets you discover different countries. You can see what a typical home might be like in each of India, the Phillipines, Japan, China, and Korea. Each of the little homes is filled with authentic details. We enjoyed having a little sushi meal in the Japanese house. There is an American house as well and of course it has a picket fence and apple pie!
The role playing area is really neat as well. There is a theatre and you can dress up, control the lights, or sit in the audience. You can go to the TV studio and control the cameras or sit behind the desk. The auto mechanic area is really neat. There is a car up on a hydraulic lift and you can change the air filter, the muffler, or the tires, with kid sized hand tools.
The first floor is all about the body. You can go into a model "stomach" which is a round room filled with bean bags and "food" that you can stick on the walls, then go down a slide to get out. There is a little doctor's office where you can weigh yourself. Oh, and there is a little store with a working scanner. When you check out and scan the juice it says "Oh no, too much sugar!"
There is just so much here to do! Couple more things of note:
- The folks who work here really like it when you put everything back where it belongs
- The Kahana, the boat from Lost, is moored near by, I saw it on the way out
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
- Cool (2)
Of the four Children's discovery museums we have visited (San Jose, CA; Berkeley, CA; Chicago, IL; and Honolulu, HI), this museum is our favorite. It has three levels, and each level is full of hands-on activities that encourage kids to explore, imagine and role-play. This museum is best for the younger child--anywhere from toddler to pre-school and maybe a little older.
The first floor has a baby/pre-walker area, a mini basketball court, an educational exhibit about the body, and a miniature town. The town has a T V station, firehouse, garage, grocery, post office, court, construction area and various other areas I can't remember. There's a separate reading room that is full of books.
The second level is a combination of transportation (commercial airplane and a boat) and old Hawaiian artifacts (a general store, a pineapple field in honor of the farm workers, and a traditional imu underground oven).
The third level has little villages representing the different cultures that make up Hawaii's unique ethnic mix--Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese, etc. Kids can dress up in traditional costumes and imagine that they're eating ethnic food. My daughter (who is half Chinese) couldn't get enough of the fabulously crafted felt dim sum and tea in the Chinese section.
The museum has odd hours (it's only open a few hours a day), so make sure you check before venturing over. They're also not a member of the reciprocal children's association, so they don't honor reciprocal memberships.
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
I totally agree with the previous Yelpers - this place is fantastic! I've been to the discovery museums in the SF Bay Area and this one is way better. They are currently doing some construction so I could just imagine how great it's going to look afterwards. I loved that there are workers walking around just to help out. The exhibits were well organized and I felt as though you can actually learn practical everyday things here. My husband and I enjoyed it as much as our 2 year old. We can't wait to come back on our next visit.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)