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30 reviews for Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo
What a cute place! I am very happily childfree, so I'm never obligated to entertain children and think of places to go (and as a result of not having offspring, I deal with less stress and more disposable income, but that's another story!). But, if you happen to volunteer to watch a friend's child for a few hours, then this is a cool place to go.
Sorry if any of this repeats from others' reviews:
-The parking lot is small, so sometimes you'll have to drive around or just sit in your car and wait for a space. The good thing is that people are constantly coming and going at different times, so it's inevitable that cars pull out.
-The museum is in two small areas: an indoor play space where kids can experiment with little games and "experiments" like at the Exploratorium and and outdoor mini-zoo.
-The bad thing about the indoor exploring area is that 1. The kids that are there run amok and grab everything, so when you have 20 kids all crowded around one area waiting to grab a ball that comes out or turn a lever or crank, it's very hard for each child to do so, and of course, parents let their child run free and don't bother encouraging them to take turns. And 2. Most of the stuff have explanation cards and instructions to help kids learn, which is great, but most kids who go there are around 2-6 years old, so they can't really read full sentences and learn what they're doing. So it makes it less fun for them when they see a contraption with handles and knobs and colored lights, but they don't know its goal/objective. So many kids get bored because they don't get the concept.
Zoo: Cute exotic animals! My only concern is that on every glass partition with a small animal inside, there's a sign that says "Please don't tap on the glass." Now, some parents are responsible and ensure that their terror doesn't tap the glass. But so many kids wander around running and many kids don't follow directions or respect animals, so I am concerned that too many kids will end up tapping the glass over and over. There is not an employee out there, so it's up to parents to enforce this, but sadly, many do not. :o(
It's nice that it's free and that they encourage donations! Also, there's a nice park nearby right next to it.
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OMG! What a cute little place to take little ones!
This place is simply darling! So perfect for my little man. There is no cost but $3 donation bin is placed at the door per person. Which is nothing if it makes your little ones smile.
The place reminded me like a miniture exploratorium for toddlers inside and a small zoo outside which is perfect for their tiny attention span. I love how he could run around the whole area and he would not get lost. :D The place had fishes, snakes, rats, lizards, a bob cat, turtles, goose, ducks, bats (yuck), birds, an owl, a peacock and baby sharks. :D
After we left, I got a big hug and a "thank you mommies." ended with a smile, that turned in to a yawn. :) His day was filled with fun.
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Late one Saturday morning I decided I needed to get the wife and kids out of the house to go do something together. I quick search on Yelp for something kid friendly and this place popped up. One of the reviews mentioned it was uncrowded, kid friendly, FREE (unless you donate), and there was a lot to do. I was sold! Printed the directions and we were off.
As you walk in you see a donation robot. Feed him the money and he eats it. Makes donating fun for the kids.
The first room you enter is a science type room. Machines that make tennis balls travel through the different stages. Each kid can stand at a station and work the ball through his part of the machine. Some exhibits showcased wind power. Some exhibits geared toward younger kids had plastic discs traveling down peg boards. There were some electrical switches they could wire to make sound, fans, and lights work. It was small, but anyone under 5 would think it was Disneyland.
Then there is a zoo outside. They had some reptiles, fish, an owl, bats, ducks, geese, rats, mice, ferrets, racoons, fish, shark, turtles, rabbits, a peacock, and a hawk.
The great part for us was that our son got to see everything in about 2 hours. By then, we were bored, he had seen everything, and we could go. He's 3 years old and if the place was any larger it would have really worn him out, but this was perfect.
The only negative thing I could mention was there is no gate. My son got confused for a second and started out the front door with a group that was leaving. I would prefer there be some type of adult controlled gate. Also, the zoo cages make it a bit hard to actually see the animals.
The suggested donation is $3 per person.
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Love this place. It's free, it has a good amount of pocket pets and other small animals, like a bunny that lives with this 40 lb chinese goose and a bunch of red eared sliders, ferrets, fish, and snakes. The zoo area is well laid out and small enough so that your little one can't wander too far, and is pleasant and shady.
The indoor toddler museum has a bunch of hands on exhibits featuring balls, balls, and more balls. My toddler had a blast, and loved it. How can something like this be free??? I really hope the zoo gets lots of donations so it stays in business for a long, long time.
This is a very accessible place to take little kids to spend a couple hours of engagement with interactive exhibits and running around viewing various animals (ducks, turtles, bats, owl, raccoons, bunnies, etc.) outside.
It reminds me a little of Coyote Point, but it's less expensive, smaller, and the exhibits appear more hands-on. Parking is free and the entrance is a suggested donation of $3 per person. This is a wonderful little museum / zoo for the younger crowd (probably ideal for ages 2-5). There is a playground / park next to the museum, which is also fun, though geared toward older children.
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i remember this place when i was lilttle i lived in some ghetto ass apartments in EPA and this was good fun away from home every weekend for a couple of yrs..
thanks for keeping my sanity
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Great place for 1-3 year olds. Older kids might get bored at the zoo. Museum caters to all ages(1-100). Parking free but can be tight so go early for a spot. Museum is very interesting with easy to understand and easy to explain experiments. Zoo a little disappointing , the fish tank has dangerously murky waters and i didnt even want to look at it a second time.
you can easily spend a good 2 hours with you lil one here.
Birds/Animals here - snakes, rats, bunnies, ducks, peacock, owl, raccoon, lizards. Thats it :)
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Ah, the waves of nostalgia wash over me every time I visit the Junior Museum! Still a great place for the wee ones. The animals have changed over the years but great to still seem them hopping, slinking, honking, and pooping. The exhibits are okay, but change regularly. I understand that there is work afoot for an expansion. Good for them, but an expanded facility won't match the charm and innocence of the current museum.
after reading the great reviews in yelp, i decided that this was a must see destination for the summer. well, because of the high expectations, i have to say that this was a real disappointment. parking was easy as we arrived around 1:30pm friday. the outside looked old but you can't judge a place by its facade, right? without hesitation, we donated $$$ as we must support the animals, no matter what. we walked into the exhibit room, and at that instant, i knew we wouldn't spend more than 45 minutes in the place.
the place looked untouched from the early 70's. but wait, the zoo must be top notch, right? well, i dunno. the garden-like zoo seemed unkempt. the floors weren't swept, the cages, aquariums, and pool that kept the animals weren't cleaned, and the vines seemed more like they were growing out of control rather than being part of the charm. there were spider webs on the rafters so you had to be careful when bumping into things. the boa constrictor, ferrets, bats, bobcat, owl, and hedgehog were all asleep. that was more than half of the animals already. there was a raccoon the size of a large dog that was pacing. i thought that was the highlight of the place. there were 2 geeses(sp?), a rabbit, rats, an eagle, and fish. wifey said she saw mice running around in the rabbit pen, but she wasn't sure if they were part of the exhibit. after one round, we went back inside to the exploratorium. trying to muster up some enthusiasm, i had my daughter play with all of the exhibits. they didn't really pique her interest and she probably played w/ the exhibits just to make me happy. so at that point, we decided to just go to the park next door. i'm probably more of a snob as i get older, but i was really surprised that a rich city like palo alto didn't put money into this museum. for sure, the economy has taken its toll. this place was no gilroy gardens, but you do get what you pay for. don't expect an amusement park here because it's far from it. i give it 3 stars because i do think this place has potential and it can be a good place to visit if it gets cleaned up. everyone should visit this place at least once. we won't be coming back though....
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To really appreciate this place, you need to have a budget conscious mindframe (you're already at a huge advantage if you're a mondo A$IAN CHEAPNE$$ CHEAP$TER, whether you are A$IAN or not) and think inside the box; a box that is a child's mind, say between the ages of 2 to 5.
You come here because you 1) have a kid or 2) you've been tasked with caring for one (or more) for the day or afternoon, and you are scratching your head as to where to take them next, other than the local playground, a trip to the tried and true breakfast type joints like Hobee's, and other places like Chuck E Cheese (aka RAT PIZZA with games n' fun). Every self respecting adult only takes their kids to CEC/Rat Pizza for the rides, literally consume the baked dough bread with RAT cheese and tomato sauce at your own risk.
So a search of "where to take the kids" online revealed search results in the form of websites and blogs, many of which point to this hidden gem and lifesaver for parents, at the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. Seemingly a non-profit type of place, they do not charge admission like most other museums, theme parks, and zoos.
Word of warning, the parking lot quickly becomes full on weekends, as most parents and caregivers pretty much have the same idea. This misleads parents into thinking the zoo starts in the parking lot (when you actually have to go inside to get there). When the lot is full, try up the block or further away in the residential area.
Donations here are strictly optional, there is a drop box once you pass the entrance. I encourage the a$ian cheapne$$ cheap$ter$ to dig real real real deep into your pocket$ to donate at lea$t two dollar$. This goes back into the care and maintenance of the place, and is well worth that minimum amount, especially if the kids have a blast here (which they usually do).
Once you go past the entrance, the fun and games starts to the right. Various exhibits requiring your kid's involvement one way or another, mostly demonstrating the laws of physics, gravity, motion, geometry. Great educational fun, although it is easy for this area to become chaotic, when out of control kids run around and throw/shuffle stuff around, and copycat kids do the same. Hint: opening scene of Mrs Doubtfire as I said before.
Further in is a door leading outdoors to the animal exhibit area, with some smaller showcases behind glass of smaller creatures, to caged birds (peacock, some sort of funky looking pheasant, and a humongous looking owl that would make Harry Potter want to trade in his). Near the center is a mini pond where you will see two geese looking birds, alongside a giant rabbit or hare. Then further against the wall side is another exhibit of a cross section of a creek, showing the joys of ecology, moss, plankton, little fishies, greenery and the ilk.
Chances are the little ones will enjoy the owl, and the rabbits and geese like birds by the pond, as there is a little bridge for them to cross in between.
An easy way to kill an hour to two with the little ones, or to keep them pre-occupied, rather than them sitting at home watching cartoon Arsenio Hall (whether it be Nick and Junior, Disney, or DVDs) .
Little kids can be like women and certain men. You have to keep them attentive and interested, take them to new places (so they don't think you're a tried and true Johnny who can't learn new tricks) and reward them with little treats like trips to places like this (for the kids only, I doubt you want to take a hot date here). And in return you are rewarded with happy smiles and hopefully preventing near future temper tantrums and emotional and physical meltdowns.
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Love this place and my kids love it too. Its free and has cool stuff to play with. I feel a bit sorry for the animals, its a tough gig. It can get crowded on a rainy day, but when you got to get out of the house and you got no money, its the best. Its even fun making the donation!!
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Qualified 5 stars. If you fit the following catgory, this is a 5 star place:
You have children under age 5.
You enjoy smaller less crowded venues
You do not get bored easily
This is not the place for you if
Your children are older
You, or your children, like to explore lots and lots of new things,
The thought of watching yoru child make and remake a stop action video about a dinosaur dance over and over for half an hour would send you wrenching in pain from bordem.
The suggested donation of $2 to enter is a godsend! It has kept us happy and in from the rain and within budget on several occasions. We also like the bat exhibit and the California stream exhibit. They are cool things that would get lost in a larger "zoo." I tend to need to move from exhibit to exhibit a little quicker than my daughter who can enjoy focused play on one exhibit for a longer time than I can. But this place is small enough that I can sit down and watch her from a distance in a way that is not possible at other museums and that keeps me attentive.
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This was a totally fun inexpensive outing for my husband, 8-month old and I. He was too little for the exhibits inside, but had fun watching all the older kids run around and yell. The "zoo" is small enough that it was just right for his attention span. The fish tanks were a bit grungy, but it was cool to see a leopard shark, and the bigger animals were lots of fun -- an owl, bobcats, red-tailed hawk, geese, ducks, peacock, bunnies, etc... We'll definitely be back.
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I have to give the Junior Museum and Zoo props just for being here in the heart of Palo Alto. Neither the museum's play area nor the zoo are going to rival the offerings you can find in SF, Oakland or San Jose... but for those of us who live here, it's wonderful to have this local play place & access to animals.
My five year old is now starting to outgrow general playtime at the museum, but we're excited to try some of their cool-sounding science & animal classes for kids of different ages.
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I don't have children but went to Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo to take a look at the aquariums, which failed to impress us. However, we fell in love with the place!! If I had kids, I would definitely bring them here. It felt like an ideal place to take your preschoolers on weekends or even on school trips.
Inside they have activity stations set up. The stations are well spread out, so there is room for parents and children to walk about. The colorful walls and toys look inviting and stimulating yet not overwhelming. I plan to open a preschool and will certainly come back here to look at their set up as a model.
The zoo is outside. It's small but it's a good enough size. All the animals are small regional wild animals but even from an adult's perspective, it was still exciting to see them. Then again, I'm easily entertained... To tell the truth, I prefer this place to SF Zoo, where all the animals look like they're starving and there are bird droppings everywhere. Here the animals look well-fed and happy, you feel clean air breezing, and the cages are clean.
When we were there, there were a lot more children inside(~8-10) than outside(~2-3). But even when we were inside, it never felt crowded. I spent about 20-30 minutes there. With children, I'd say 45 minutes to an hour is plenty.
Who would think that there would be a zoo in the middle of Palo Alto?
The animals are far from exotic (raccoons, owls, bats, peacocks), but it is a great way to spend part of your day if you are a toddler. Inside, rotating exhibits create a large playroom feel. I've been coming here since I was a kid and I continue to bring my niece/nephew. Donation are encouraged, but if you live nearby the family membership is the way to go.
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This is a great neighborhood resource. It consists of an indoor area (which I guess is considered the museum) and an outdoor area with all of the animals. The indoor part really isn't a museum in the usual sense. It's a big play room for the kids. I think it's called a museum because the displays periodically change, but since I've been going with my daughter it hasn't changed.
The museum area is mostly filled with a series of science-oriented props that kids can play with. Typically these are devices that allow the kids to drop and throw balls around or just watch others do it. My daughter loves it. It can get crowded, but all of the areas can accommodate multiple kids so its never been a problem. The kids are always well behaved there too.
The big play room also has a play kitchen area that some kids like to use. The place is good for kids 1 year to 5. There's a couple of displays for older kids (5 to 7?) that allow them to make movies and play with films, but my daughter's still too young for those.
You enter the zoo through the back of the museum. It's not a great collection of animals. They have a couple of bobcats that seem to sleep a lot, some swans, ducks, turtles, rabbits, a raccoon, and a peacock. It's a nice little layout and doesn't take long to see. My daughter loves watching the ducks and turtles swim in the little pond.
There's no charge to enter and it's next to a park with a playground. They do request a small donation (one or two dollars).
It's definitely worth going to if you are heading to downtown Palo Alto and want to distract your kids for a couple of hours or just tire them out.
You can also hold birthday parties there.
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This place is just fabulous for kids! My child was bouncing from one game station to another and he got so burnt out he almost didn't even make it outside! Well, here's how i rated it:
1 star: Close to home
1 star: CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP
1 star: plenty of parking
1 star: great park right next door
1 star: Just perfect for my 3yr old
The only thing I found was that if you go around the afternoon it's jam packed with kids/schools etc. However, around 2ish or so it was as if we had the whole place to ourselves and it was great
A delightful little place, the indoor play area and the small zoo are ideal for curious toddlers and pre-schoolers. My kids enjoy tracking balls through mazes, examining shapes and pictures in light boxes, staging dinosaur matches against a green screen and watching them on a monitor while they did this and all sorts of other exploratory activities when they visit here.
Admission is free but donations are appreciated. I let my kids drop the money in the box to get them engaged in the idea of giving back. We often incorporate a trip to the nearby Rinconada Park Playground with an excursion to this place.
Check it out at: http://www.cityofpaloa...
Warning: Heavily biased review as follows
I love this place especially since I worked at the zoo during the summer of 2003. I got to know the zoo curators quite well and when I was invited into the bobcat cage to play with the kitties, I jumped at the invitation. I had a lot of fun not only with the bobcats, but working with the people and animals there as well. To this day, when I visit, I could still get a rise out of the geese when I call out "Aaaaaaalex!" Gets the gray one all going, which gets Roxie, the white one, all riled up as well. Makes for a very noisy reunion.
Also to this day, I still get asked if I want to come back to help out with their summer camps. I have to graciously decline, though. If there are any Yelpers out there looking to work with kids this summer, give Karen Miel a call.
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Yes, there actually is a cute museum and zoo in Palo Alto. I took my 4 year old daughter there last week and she had tons of fun there. There's no admission fee, only an optional $2 donation to keep the place nice and fun for the little ones. The zoo has probably the same square footage as my house (I don't live in a mansion,mind you) so it has small animals like birds, an owl, bats, snakes and a raccoon.
They have a parking lot right in front but it was already full and we went there on a weekday. It's a really fun and cute place to take your kids to. Way better than Chuck E.Cheese:)
The zoo is sweet, although it's very small, and a little run down.
The "museum" is a fairly limited playspace, which gets crowded very easily. Three of the exhibits were not working on a recent visit, which is significant, considering there are few exhibits in the museum. The overall feel is that it's in dire need of renovation.
Kids like it, but I don't think it's the museum itself as much as the chance to run around with other kids.
Very cute and cool little place! It's free, which is awesome, but they ask for a $3 donation. Ok, they suggest a donation on their website, and have a cute little funky robot donation holder by the entrance. But nobody standing there guilting you into donating. They have a good number of interactive exhibits, and a little zoo outside. We were a little bummed that the bobcats were hiding out, but we loved the bats and the owl! They do have a couple water exhibits, that pale in comparison to any aquarium, but they do show the fish type critters pretty well. My daughter loved it, and it was an awesome way to spend an afternoon! It's easy to get to, too, right off of 101. If you are expecting something on the scale of the Children's Discovery Museum, you will be sorely disappointed, but this is an awesome little place for a freebie that's been around forever!
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omgraccoonsowlsgeesefishbatsBOBCATSomgomgomgomg
^^^ The four year old child in my brain freaking out when we got here.
Wow. Who knew that Palo Alto housed such a gem? My sister and my four year old nephew visited and I was frantic trying to find things for us to do. Thank you, Yelp, for showing me this place! My nephew LOVED all the animals here, and I was able to prance around behind him gleeing over the animal myself without looking weird. It might say children's museum, but I think it would do well for "first dates" for the wildlife-minded as well. Totally cheap (free, but leave the recommended donation of two dollars please), and the animals are up-close and personal (the great horned owl was only an inch away). Only thing I would beware about is the geese who were in biting distance (and I have traumatic memories of geese chasing me so that was a bit scary :P). The helpful workers would also bring out the ferrets so we could pet them.
Very, very cute for a couple hours of cheap and easy fun. Absolutely on my list for places I can let my inner child out!
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This is a great place for little kids. The kids love to spend time inside exploring before heading out to the mini-zoo. I personally love spending time outside watching all the rescued animals but the kids love it inside better (I get bored in there). This is definitely worth going to at least once and well worth the $2 donation fee it suggests (although many people do not even pay it)
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A really wonderful place for young children, it has tons of room inside with lots of activities such as a playhouse, tunnel, and other full-size games and a small zoo outside with raccoons, bobcats, bat house, and a lovely pond with geese and rabbits. It is really a wonderful place, plus Rinconada Park and the Palo Alto Children's Library share the same parking lot. They ask for a $2 donation.
The dozen or so hands-on exhibits and adjacent zoo will entertain your young children for a few hours. Be forewarned that on a crowded day, the room gets chaotic and claustrophobic. There is no admission fee, but there is a donation box at the entrance.
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The fact that it's free makes this place great. They do suggest a $2 donation (we gave them $4 and I saw loads of people bypassing the donation bin) so that's very little too for a family. The inside area is small but the kids seem to like it even though I couldn't figure out what exactly most of them were trying to achieve. The outside "zoo" area is rather pleasing. The animals were so-so featuring a pair of geese, 2 bobcats, tank of trout, some turtles, a pair of racoons, some other fowl, a hawk and some frogs and snakes. I like the setup outside and the kids surely found it fun. A good place to spend an hour before venturing over to Rinconada Park to play.
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I wholly recommend this to place for the 2-5 year-old age range. I brought my girls here multiple times from Sunnyvale because of the semi-educational indoor activities and toys and the interesting critters in the back pond area. I felt like it was always well worth a few bucks donation at the front.
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My kids (1 and 3) LOVE this place. They play with all the exhibits, run back and forth, watch all the animals, climb the stone frogs and turtles, and MORE!! It's perfect for a couple hours of playtime, and educational to boot. No need to make a full daytrip drive to SF or SJ. I wish there were more things like this to do in the peninsula.
