Great attraction. First floor includes more traditional museum type exhibits and is geared to adults AND young people. There is a lot of history and information on the tall grass prairie. The 2nd floor includes a lot of interactive exhibits and displays and is geared primarily for kids. Not much for adults. The third level includes an outdoor terrace. The weather today was not conducive to enjoying the outdoor environment. Adults- allow 1-2 hours. Adults with kids - allow more. read more

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There are so many educational displays in this discovery center. They really make it fun to learn about tallgrass prairies. I thoroughly loved all of the displays, the view of Manhattan from the rooftop, and the educational and enjoyable immersive theater. Do not miss the 15 minute theater experience where they engage all of your senses to learn about the Flint Hills. It's worth visiting Manhattan just to explore this place. read more

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We stopped here briefly on our way in to Manhattan to check out the children's portion on the second floor. It had a lot of fun things to do- a slide, large light bright type toy, pretend saddles, and a toy train area. The kids really enjoyed this area. It is pretty small compared to other children's museums we've been in, but the children's portion is just one part of it! The building seems pretty new, and the staff were friendly as well. There is a nice gift shop when you enter as well. It's worth a stop in! It's also a part of the sunflower summer app and I've been stopping a lot of places we wouldn't ordinarily because of it. read more

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This museum is really well designed and engaging. The introductory film in particular goes way above and beyond the usual looping films you might see at a tired nature museum. I was impressed that the film combined some cool showy effects with a punchy well done musical score and managed to convey some depth of thought. The kids will probably find it just entertaining enough because of the effects but at least some of the adults will be thinking about the short film long after it ends. The first floor houses most of the permanent exhibits and while they aren't explicitly catering to children, there isn't a ton of depth to any one subject and the interpretive signs etc are all just a few paragraphs at most long. The 3rd floor leads to the rooftop garden and a terraced trail with some native plantings and explanatory signs as it winds down to street level. This is an attractive modern facility with a few stand out features that will fill kids and many adults desire for an introduction to the ecosystem of the Flint Hills but information hounds might find it a little lightweight. read more

Great way to spend a few hours and quite affordable. The 4D film so much fun. Each floor has entertaining and educational activities. My high school ages student even likes it. Put this on your much see list read more

Great resource for homeschool kids. My son loves it. I like that they change out the upper room with different them see every so often. It's always clean & tidy when we come in. The downstairs has a very cool small Kansas museum that has a lot of information. The roof even has a beautiful native flower garden. We go several times a month and bring friends. Great place, great atmosphere for kids and the staff is wonderful. They even have a room in the front that has tons of resources for attractions in Kansas! I was quite surprised they had so many locations I didn't know about. There were a ton of kid friendly ideas. read more

The flint discovery museum was a detour stop, was very educational along with all the hands on and virtual affects and toys to play with. Definitely a place to bring the kids, not so much adults. We did however stay for both movies, which we found to be very knowledgeable on the echo system in which Kansas prairies rely on. The 1830 Indian removal act. Exact replica of the tragic event that cast out natives into concentration camps, were they were raped murdered and forced to conform by colonists. We no longer consider the holiday known as "thanksgiving" a day to remember a mass murder of innocent families.. we may have lost the culture completely but we now devote the day of thanks as Indigenous Day! HOOAH read more

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We held our daughters K-State graduation party here last weekend. The room was perfect!!! Jonathan the event director was professional and had great communication to make all the details for the party work great. Everything in the room was set up just as we needed, it was clean and everyone who attended loved the location. Easy access for older grandparents that attended! We were very well taken care of by friendly helpful staff and cannot say enough wonderful things about this beautiful building! read more

I have been a student for 4 years here, so I was excited when they built a new museum/discovery center last year. I didn't exactly know what exhibits they would have but I heard from previous visitors that it was a lot about grasses and they were disappointed. You will walk into the lobby and walk straight ahead to the welcome desk. Pay your fee. $7 for students/military/seniors and $9 for regular adult. The very small gift shop is to the left of the desk and the entrance to the exhibits is to the right. Walk to the right and start walking through the exhibits. The first tier of exhibits is all about the different types of grasses in the Flint Hills, kind of boring. There was alot of reading and not alot of actual things to look at. Go behind that first tier to the right and you will enter the "cave exhibit". It has readings about the different types of soils and wildlife in the Flint Hills, probably the best exhibit since it gives you something to look at. Walk out of the cave and go to the right and you will see several exhibits about Native American life. Not really exciting, there are a few pieces of pottery, pelts, etc. Nothing extensive. After that there is an exhibit about cowboys. To your left will be more exhibits about people that settled the Flint Hills, alot of reading once again. Right behind the welcome desk is the movie area. I guess they call it the immersion experience. It's about a 10-15 minute movie on a semi-circle screen with wind/dry ice effects about the history of the Flint Hills. Probably the only worth really seeing in this place. So make sure you see a showing (every hour). Went upstairs which was a little bit about research at K-State and the children's section with a small play area and dress up station. Walk past that and you will walk into a photography gallery. It's a little random I would say but all the photography is about Native American lifestyle today. Walk out the gallery and up the stairs and there are a couple meeting rooms and the outside patio area. I went and walked around outside to see if there were any good views. Which there really weren't. You see Sears really well though lol. You can see the KS hill and the train station but nothing spectacular. I was overall very disappointed in my experience. I paid $7 for less than 1 hour of exploring this place. There was alot of reading and not many actual things/artifacts/art to look at. Would categorize it as more of a natural history/nature museum but don't expect dinosaur bones or something really cool like that. Having been to museums in LA, San Fran and New York with the same admission price or even free, I expected alot more. I don't see myself coming back again for another visit. But I guess I am glad I went just to say that I have been there. read more

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Every time I visit Manhattan, Kansas I visit the Flint Hills Discovery Center. On the last visit I got to bring my granddaughter! So fun; something for all ages to enjoy!! read more

Super awesome. Kids loved it, 4D theatre was worth the price of admission alone. Cool thing to do on a game day when in Manhattan read more

Flint Hills Discovery Center - Museums Near Me - Manhattan, Kansas

Came in the with Lady to look the place over for a possible wedding venue. Lots to look at and see. A little small for our guest list but really nice overall. Lots of stuff for kids and adults to see and do. Elevators for accessibility and good restrooms. Just wish it could seat 400 lol. Love the balcony looking into town. Just nice. read more

This place is a gem! Every time I bring visitors to town, we spend an afternoon at the Discovery Center. They are always impressed with the quality of exhibits, the rich history of the Flint Hills, and the kindness of the staff. I learn something new each visit, too. Who knew that we had cowboy auctioneers? Or that Blue Earth Plaza is named after nearby Blue Earth Village, a former home of the Kaw people? And, the 4D movie is great! The Discovery Center also offers day camps for kids on No School days. My kiddo loves it. There's something special about getting to explore your community museum with a private guide. Upstairs are exhibits for younger children. Some displays are permanent, others are visiting exhibits. Best for kids age 2 - 9. Older kids can go on a self-guided scavenger hunt in the permanent collection. Overall: a wonderful museum that adds to Manhattan's quality of life. Every detail has been thoughtfully considered. ps: Check out the gift shop! Great regional gifts, and good quality toys! read more

We stopped in for the first time this morning, a very windy first day of May, 2017. The theater was awesome, and so was the short film on a very wide screen. One of the narrators of the film was Lyle Lovett. My wife and I are glad that we took the time to come here. We went up to the third floor and sat for awhile, enjoying a beautiful view of the sky, clouds rolling by, and nearby buildings. My wife enjoyed the gift shop, and now we have several great souvenirs of our visit. Yes, I would recommend FHDC to our friends, family, neighbors, etc. read more

The building is a work of art and I found the exhibits to be pretty interesting. There were history exhibits that I found enlightening, but the "Voices of the Flint Hills" video in one of the viewing rooms wasn't all that informative. The Center was a great place to take friends that were visiting from out of town, but I'm not sure that I'll need to go again. read more

I'm not a big fan. You pay a lot and the exhibit is tiny. It is a huge building that mostly has the same stuff and when they do get something exciting, it is minimal at best. I think they could do better! read more

First off, it expensive for what you get ($26 for 2 kids and 2 adults). Cost wise, I'd rather take my kids to the K-State Insect Zoo again and get a guided tour for less. The building is clean and modern with close parking but that only goes so far. The material and the presentation/exhibits leave a lot to be desired and certainly are not for kids under 10. Things seem very tight so if there are a lot of people, it feels crowded. I didn't get much out of exhibits but I'm from the area. I've had several classes in HS and at K-State on the various subject matters and such topics difficult to spark interest in; sadly the center didn't make it "come alive" as I had hoped. There is a lot of reading in the exhibits, but nothing I felt you couldn't get from Wikipedia or a good book on the Flint Hills or KS plains. If you more interested in KS history, I'd recommend Kansas Museum of History instead. I think if you are going to have a museum about the Tallgrass prairie, you should also have living grass to touch/feel. The exposed dry roots were interesting but really if you want to experience the beauty, head out of the Konza Prairie. You just cannot get the same feel for what it looks like at this center. I didn't like a lot of the "interactive" exhibits, partially the room which was mostly video opinion/editorial spots that really I felt were over edited, scripted, and sometimes too preachy. That room really felt out of place in the whole center. There is a nice kids' indoor playground area, but I could go to a playground or Chuck E. Cheese just as easily. The Kansas Children's Discovery Center in Topeka is a much better deal and does a lot better job for kids under 10 and even has KS related interactive exhibits. I liked the art area, but it is pretty small. You can go to the Beach Museum of Art at K-State for a bigger and better selection. If you have done everything else in the Manhattan area and have nothing better to do on a rainy day, then may be. But I would not recommend it to any new visitors or family coming into town. I feel there are better experiences to spend your time and money on. read more

Being new to the area we wanted to go check out the discovery center. Learned a lot about the history of Manhattan and the flint hills area. There were a lot of high quality interactive exhibits. There were a lot exhibits in a small area, but did not seem to have a clear flow. It would be good for upper elementary or middle school kid, but at $9 an adult it was a little over priced. read more

This place entertains both the child and man-child in us all! The exhibits are well laid out and constantly rotating. Toddlers to teens to those of us just excited with learning should all buy a year pass. You'll be visiting often enough to make it worth its weight in gold! read more

We took our 4 and 6 year old grandchildren and their parents. We are from the Flint Hills area so knew a little bit about everything in the center, but found something interesting for each of us to enjoy. The kids play area upstairs and the interactive videos and stations downstairs were a hit with the little ones. The section about town/county history was interesting and it was fun to point to things we had seen & places we have been and learn or remember the history of them. The grasses display and insects/soils display was interesting (more so to the adults, but the oversized representations of bugs thrilled the kids). The area of native Americans and rocks/fossils were not of interest to the kids at all. We enjoyed the 15 minute video on the small auditorium. The kids enjoyed the lighting effects, the wind blowing and the snowfall - and there was room for them to dance in it at the front of the seating area. We enjoyed it as a family. I see other reviewers have noted 'you can see more/better at other places' but I was in Manhattan, and only had a few hours to spend with the kids, so this was a perfect afternoon. They even enjoyed the 3 story circular stairs in the glass entry (there is an elevator available). Parking and location were ideal. I would recommend it very much. read more

We were driving from St. Louis to Colorado and thought this looked like a great place to stop and stretch our legs. We were so glad that we did. The building is beautiful and the 15 minute interactive movie offered welcomed surprises and delighted our two children (ages 1 and 4), honestly my husband and I were delighted by it as well. We did not have much time to look at the exhibits on the main floor since the museum would be closing within the hour, but we did see the exhibit showing the root systems of prairie grasses. It was actually very interesting. It was more important to us to let our kids burn off some energy from being in the car for several hours, so we headed to the second floor which had a lovely play area, probably best for kids 8 and under. My favorite part was the designated area for toddlers, specifically for kids 30 lbs and under. It was the perfect place for our daughter to play. The admission may be a little steep, but we used our membership from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which is reciprocal and granted us free admission. And, after we left we headed across the way to a lovely plaza with a splash fountain. Our kids loved it. So if the weather is warm make sure to have towels packed along with a swim suit or change of clothes. We are so glad we made the stop at the Flint Hills Discovery Museum. It made our continued travels through Kansas much more meaningful. read more