1. Summary
This article highlights The Thinkery in Austin, Texas, an educational children’s museum designed for creativity, exploration, and interactive learning experiences. Discover engaging exhibits, hands-on activities, and opportunities for young visitors to develop essential skills.
An Educational Play Space with Fun, Interactive Programming
Address
1830 Simond Ave, Austin, TX 78723, USA
Phone: +1 512-469-6201
Designed to help kids develop creativity and critical thinking skills, the exhibits at The Thinkery are also just plain fun. Parents will appreciate the museum’s guides who help lead the little ones through many of the exhibits. With 40,000 square feet of exhibit space, the museum can be a little overwhelming without the help of a knowledgeable guide.
Spark Shop
The Spark Shop houses a machine that allows kids to paint a sign with thick ribbons of wax. Moreover, they can use magnets to move a thick fluid around and create sculptures. The Projectile Range and Wind Lab lets them launch airplanes as they learn about the mechanics of air pressure.
Light Lab
The Light Lab features a wall full of lighted pegs that looks like a giant Battleship game. In the Frozen Shadows display, kids can create a shadow, freeze it and walk away — and the shadow stays behind. In the Paint with Light area, light-emitting hula hoops and bracelets create colorful designs on the walls as the youngsters move.
Recent additions to the Light Lab give kids even more opportunities to have fun while learning how light waves work. The AR Projection Table has a 3D camera overhead, the same kind used in advanced video games. Consequently, as kids move objects around on the table, a computer projector transmits a colorful display based on the objects’ movements and the distances between them. The Kaleidoscope Towers allow kids to feel like they’re inside a kaleidoscope. Kids can spin the base of the towers, and filters inside the cylinders display colors and patterns on surrounding surfaces. In the activity-oriented Move Studio, Snug Play involves modular pieces that can be moved around, encouraging unstructured play. This station fosters creativity and motor skills while promoting cooperation as kids often need help moving and placing the large pieces.
Currents
In the Currents area, visitors learn about the properties of water in motion. Be prepared to get wet! Kids can play drums immersed in water, watch a tank full of water turn into a swirling eddy, and be mesmerized by a water wall.
Let’s Grow
For the young environmentally conscious Austinite in the family, the Let’s Grow exhibit features a pretend farmer’s market and chicken coop. Intended for very young kids, the little shoppers can gather plastic eggs and vegetables and learn about good nutrition.
The Bloom section of Let’s Grow gives toddlers a garden-themed space for crawling through and playing hide-and-seek. These activities help with sensory awareness and motor skill development. The nearby Story Nook is a calming place for children to enjoy a story. Most of the books are picture books aimed at the very young, but there are also scheduled story times where the little ones can listen to a well-told tale.
Faces
In the Faces exhibit, children can take selfies and upload them to a photo wall featuring only that day’s visitors. To make it even more entertaining, they can alter their own photos, adding mustaches or crazy eyes.
Innovators’ Workshop
A 2,500-square-foot space, the workshop allows kids to operate simple machines, paint on a huge glass wall, and learn how electrical circuits work. This engaging area also includes microscopes, a Stop Animation station, and a Little Learners’ Lab for tiny inventors of the future.
Kitchen Lab
Equipped with sinks and counters, the Kitchen Lab hosts supervised activities ranging from baking to creating dramatic fizzing and bubbling. This zone offers educational activities where kids can learn about chemical reactions, see edible minerals, and even experience small demonstrations of explosions.
Our Backyard
The outdoor play area features ropes to climb on and tunnels to wriggle through. Plus, there’s a babbling brook complete with rubber duckies, encouraging imaginative play.
What Parents Say
The museum consistently receives rave reviews from parents with children under five, offering endless possibilities for stimulation. However, some notes suggest that older kids might lose interest after about an hour. It’s always advisable to arrive early, as the smiling, helpful staff sometimes tends to get a little grumpy and tired by the afternoon. Although the one-time admission can appear steep, many agree that the membership offers excellent value, especially for families planning to visit multiple times throughout the year.
The Thinkery – Austin Children’s Museum
1830 Simond Avenue / (512) 469-6200
