56 Best Sights in USA

This bright, cheery, 30,000-square-foot ode to playful learning has 12 state-of-the-art permanent galleries that do not disappoint. Kids of many ages and abilities (exhibits were designed to be accessible for children with special needs, too) will love the gigantic Banyan Tree, a focal point at 45 feet tall and a climbing obstacle of sorts; the Farm & Market, a cooperative playground where roles are assigned (a harvester or cashier, for example) to subtly encourage team building and math skills; and the Green Construction zone, where hard hats and eco-friendly building materials will inspire future architects.  The museum is in the same place as the Sun-N-Fun Lagoon water park, and it's possible to do both in one day.

"Don't touch" are words never spoken here. The museum is hands-on through and through, with an art studio, replica vet's office and grocery store, a "beach" with real sand, a touch tunnel, and other interactive play areas. Kids and grown-ups alike will marvel at Reefscape, a brilliantly colorful fabric and yarn interpretation of Florida's underwater ecosystems.

Since it sits to the side of the walkway, this unassuming, museumlike attraction is often overlooked, but it's worth a visit if your kids love dinosaurs. In demonstration areas, a realistic raptor hatches, and you can see what you'd look (or sound) like if you were a dino. In the Beasaur area ("Be-a-Saur"), you get a dinosaur's view of the world. There's also a dinosaur trivia game, as well as numerous hands-on exhibits. Burger Digs, the quick-service upstairs restaurant, is a nice place for an indoor air-conditioned break or a lagoon-view respite at a table out on the balcony. A wide promenade also affords lovely views of the entire park. For people with disabilities: The attraction is fully wheelchair accessible.

Little ones can pan for gold in a small creek, play Spider-Man on a weblike climber, or race around a trike track at this children's museum.

Adults are hard-pressed to get youngsters to leave the 17 hands-on exhibits at this Glenview museum. Here toddlers to eight-year-olds can learn about solar power or how sounds make music. They can slip on a white jacket and be pretend doctors in a baby nursery or vets in an animal hospital. Kids can also get into home construction in Hands on House, learn to change a tire, or paint their faces and don costumes. There's also a spot to put on raincoats and play in the water. When weather permits, the two-acre Habitat Park, just outside, is a great place for bug hunting, wall painting, and wandering through a grass maze.

This top-notch children's museum covers 8½ acres of educational fun and exploration within City Park. Favorite indoor exhibits include a hands-on history of New Orleans and its architecture as well as an interactive exploration through food for the young mind, from growing it to shopping and cooking. On the second floor, children can splash through the mighty Mississippi with a 100-foot water table. The best part of the museum's new location in City Park is perhaps its acres of outdoor fun, including tunnels, slides, and educational exhibits on Louisiana flora and fauna.

Three floors with more than 40 interactive exhibits let kids explore the state's ecosystem in Nature Trails, learn about other cultures in TradeWinds, step into classic children's books—all written by Maine authors—in Booktown, and unearth dinosaur "bones" in DINO DIG. There's also drop-in art and STEM classes and daily programs on a range of topics.

This 84,000-square-foot cathedral of play and learning is aimed at children 10 and younger. Everything is hands-on, so your child is free to fill a shopping cart in the marketplace, don a fireman's hat, clamber through the cab of a city bus, scale the crow's nest of a three-story pirate ship, or splash in numerous water stations. Older children can play chess with 2-foot pawns, perform simple science experiments, or learn about the value of cash at the Moneypalooza exhibit. Toddler Hollow, designed with an enchanted forest in mind, is meant for kids under two. The space's wide-open design and its architectural details, including a suspension bridge and a courtyard with a 6-foot marble fountain, give adults something to look at as well. There's also an IMAX theater.

This Arquitectonica-designed museum, both imaginative and geometric in appearance, is directly across the MacArthur Causeway from Jungle Island. Twelve galleries house hundreds of interactive, bilingual exhibits. Children can scan plastic groceries in the supermarket, scramble through a giant sandcastle, climb a rock wall, learn about the Everglades, and combine rhythms in the world-music studio.

The exhibits at this fun museum are designed for children under 12, who can tour an airplane cockpit, explore a fire truck or police car, scale a climbing wall, create crafts out of recycled materials, or learn about buildings in the construction zone.

Admission is reduced to $5 Friday 5–8.

In 2020, the Mobius Science Center and Mobius Children's Museum combined to create a new entity, the Mobius Discovery Center, featuring the best of both for kids—hands-on learning and fun through creativity, play, and science inquiry. Exhibits include STEAM Labs, space exploration, an eye clinic, a market, a water play area, enchanted forest for the littlest tikes, and the perennial kids favorite, bubbles. The center is in the historic Washington Water Power building. 

Monterey Bay comes to life from a child's perspective in this fun-filled, interactive indoor exploration center. The seven galleries showcase the science and nature of the Big Sur coast, theater arts, Pebble Beach golf, and beaches. Also here are a live performance theater, a creation station; a hospital emergency room; and an agriculture corner where kids follow artichokes, strawberries, and other fruits and veggies on their evolution from sprout to harvest to farmers' markets.

The National Museum of Mathematics (aka MoMath) transforms math into hands-on fun for all ages—even if numbers aren’t your thing. Solve mind-bending puzzles, ride a trike with square wheels, make your own color patterns with magnetic tiles, play brain games at interactive stations, and much more. Adults will love it as much as kids, making it a rare museum where everyone can geek out. Don’t miss the stellar gift shop, packed with clever, math-inspired finds.

This is the imaginary home of Professor Phineas Pennypickle, where kids accompanied by parents enter a time machine that carries them through 11 rooms of interactive exhibits demonstrating perception and illusion, music making, flight and aviation, chemistry and physics, plus power and electricity. The shop stocks an array of educational toys, games, and books. Reservations are not taken, so be sure to get their early, especially during school vacations.

The newest museum in the University of West Florida Historic Trust complex offers a variety of programs for children of all ages, including story time; art projects; and a plethora of interactive historical exhibits with maritime, multicultural, and other themes.

Activities at this facility geared to children under age 10 include an "imagination-powered" elevator that transports visitors to a series of underground caverns. Kids can pick rubber fruit at a farmers' market and race in a fire engine to fight a fire.

Stimulating hands-on exhibits, a solar greenhouse, oversize geometric forms, and an 18-foot indoor rock-climbing wall all contribute to this museum's popularity with kids. Outdoor gardens with climbing structures, forts, and hands-on activities are great for whiling away the time in the shade of big trees. Puppeteers and storytellers perform often.

Adhering to the principle of learning through doing, the Savannah Children's Museum has open green spaces with several stations geared toward sensory play, including a water–sand play excavation station, sound station of percussion instruments, and an organic garden. The storybook nook is a partnership with the public library and encourages visiting youngsters to balance physical and mental recreation. One station includes costumes for stage performances.

Boynton Beach's history is highlighted through interactive exhibits that make the museum a kid- and parent-pleaser. The museum is housed in a school that was built in 1913, and is one of only a few original schoolhouses that are still educating children on a daily basis. Kids have the opportunity to touch, play, and interact with history through hands-on exhibits where they experience what life was like for early Florida pioneers long before the days of computers, cell phones, TVs, and even cars. A great castle playground is next door. Check the website for a calendar of science projects, arts and crafts, specialty workshops, and community events for families.

This 22,00-square-foot "museum" is a big play area divided into themed sections—there's a mountain to climb, a toy train track, a puppet theater, a craft workshop full of art supplies. The basic idea is to give kids an engaging setting and let their imaginations have free reign. The museum's stated target age group is 10 and under, but it's aimed primarily at the younger end of that range.

Next to Town Square Park and the downtown library and set inside a former school building with a striking red-stone exterior, this well-designed museum contains two floors of touch-friendly exhibits, including an earthquake-simulation table, a science discovery lab, a transportation center with planes and an auto shop, and a miniature version of St. George's red-rock–framed Tuacahn Amphitheatre.

The ColorCoaster, a 27-foot-high kinetic structure in constant motion, is the centerpiece of this hands-on museum with exhibits organized by age. Visit the Energy Lab, where youngsters learn about wind, water, and solar power while splashing around the extensive water play area. The Light Gallery has colorful LED displays; Studio K has a green screen and video feed for real-time "newscasting"; and for babies and toddlers, Tot Town is a safe place where they can play with toys and puzzles, "cook" in a play kitchen, and learn about animals on Old MacDonald's Farm.

This 40,000-square-foot children's museum offers a mesmerizing variety of interactive, hands-on exhibits that blend education and play for "learners" of all ages. Explore the STEAM-based programs and themed rooms, like the Light Lab, where you can play architect with fascinating light structures, and an Innovators' Workshop that puts curious minds to work on creative problem-solving. There's a superb playground in the backyard, with climbing structures and water features.

Offering a hands-on learning experience where children literally can step into a story, this downtown museum is filled with imaginative interactive exhibits geared generally to those under 12. Visit Jack's Fairy Tale Diner, a Japanese House, the Jupiter Train Locomotive, or the German House Puppet Theater. Other fun activities include songs, theater, and art workshops. Admission is actually slightly higher ($8) for kids than adults.

Lancaster County--based Turkey Hill Dairy, best known for its ice cream, created this interactive extravaganza where kids can milk a mechanical cow, climb aboard a vintage milk delivery truck, and shoot a Turkey Hill commercial. In the Taste Lab you can concoct your own flavor and taste-test it; outside the lab, you can have unlimited samples of the company's flavors. Grown-ups may enjoy the displays on dairy farming and the family-owned company, but mostly this one is for the kids. Reservations are recommended for the Experience, and required for the Taste Lab.

Geared toward younger children (but open to those 13 and under), Wise Wonders is the perfect place to burn off a few hours of energy. That said, adults also get a kick out of the cool, scientific gadgets and gizmos. In addition to interactive exhibits, there's an indoor playground. Wise Wonders also has a cute coffee shop, Ebon Coffee, serving up Belgian waffles and free Wi-Fi to parents who want to work while the kids are at play (the museum also offers staffed programming).