Cool spot to bring the kids (on a budget). Also, nice activity to do on a rainy or cold day. The…read morefish were colorful and unique and fun for the kids to look at. There are also some turtles outside (back of parking lot). Located in an interesting dome structure (saltwater fish is on the second floor). Parents: I'd avoid a stroller, if possible. It's a bit cramped in here plus it can get crowded. Also, there are stairs to get to the top floor. Small parking lot in the back but also additional parking in the strip mall. Check out Uncommon Objects (interesting antique store) next door.

I visited this store today (3/13/26) and was genuinely excited because I had heard nothing but…read moregreat things about it and how knowledgeable the staff was. My daughter recently received a betta fish for her birthday, and I wanted to upgrade her tank with driftwood and plants. Since I'm new to this, I was looking forward to asking the "experts" a few questions. Unfortunately, that excitement disappeared the moment I walked in. As soon as I entered, the older gentleman behind the counter looked directly at me and then immediately turned away without saying a word. He wasn't helping anyone at the time. I walked around the store for a while and noticed a young woman cleaning items nearby. Not once did she greet me or ask if I needed help. When I was looking at the driftwood display, she walked by, so I asked a question. She gave me what felt like a dirty look, gave a very quick answer, and walked away. I initially thought maybe she was busy helping other customers, but that didn't seem to be the case. What made the experience worse was what happened next. While I was still browsing near the entrance, several other customers walked in. Every single one of them was greeted by the gentleman behind the counter. I hate to even bring this up, but it left me wondering why my experience was so different. I'm a Hispanic male with tattoos, and every other customer who was greeted appeared to be white with no visible tattoos. I truly hope that wasn't the reason, but I honestly can't think of another explanation for the difference in treatment. Either way, it was disappointing. I had specifically chosen to visit a local specialty shop because I wanted the advice and expertise that comes with it. Instead, I left feeling unwelcome and will likely just go to a big box store instead--something I was hoping to avoid. I hope this isn't the normal experience for customers, but it was certainly mine today.

The best place to take your kids! My kids could spend hours…read moreon end here! There is so much to do and see. It's so nice to have an indoor hands on interactive learning place for the young ones! It's fun and pretty clean. We were so generously gifted a family membership for Christmas by our family friends and it was perfect! The STEAM hands on learning and activities really engages children of all ages. My 7 year old and 4 year old enjoy it here. My 6 month old will get into it soon enough. No food or drinks inside the museum. The water zone is nice that it has smocks and crocs for kids to wear and change into to avoid getting wet and slipping. There is also an outdoor playscape and water tables to get into. I am so grateful they have a comfort nursing room for moms to have a private blocked off area to feed babies! It's much appreciated

I just became an ASTC member, and the Thinkery is reciprocal. It's cheaper to buy your membership…read morethrough the Texas Science and Natural History Museum. They charge $120/year for 5 passes each visit. The Thinkery charges $160/year for 3 passes each visit. My toddler loves the bloom section. The bloom section is always clean and sanitized. None of the vending machines were working in the dining area. I could have sworn they used to have people selling food a decade ago. The Thinkery is great for Austin, but pales in comparison to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis which is five stories and 7.5 acres.

Love it here. It's my second time and I'll be coming here often. The food is AMAZING - best…read morebreakfast sandwich I've had in a long time. The kids have fun and have many options for entertainment. I bring my computer, ear, and watch my kids. Everyone is so nice here too.

UPDATE: my son got a fever after we visited. Hopefully they start to sanitize the toys. He has been…read moresick for 3 days and the last place he went before getting sick was this place. I had a fussy 10mo and needed something to do inside as it's very cold. We've never been to Almost Grown and it seemed like a good way for my kid to let off steam. This is a very cute cafe and ice cream shop with a play place in the back. It's a $10 admission per child, parents get in free. The admission here is $8 less than Pikopye's and you're able to just walk in. Love that. As some yelpers have mentioned, it is a bit chaotic as there are so many toys around. There are lots of tables to sit and eat at within the play area. There are different play areas such as a doctor's office set up complete with little scrubs, hats, and stethoscopes. There's a firefighting area with fire fighter gear. As well as a farmer's market area with tons of toy produce. All the toys from each play area are scattered amongst the entire play room. I'm kind of wondering how often they sanitize all the toys/costumes/tables etc. as there are a lot of kids with runny noses here. Overall it's a good place for kids to come and socialize/burn some energy.

Finally--a place where my kids and I can have a blast together!…read more There are a lot of classic carnival rides/attractions like bumper cars and hall of mirrors. At the same time, there were tons of new rides, too! We purchased the wrist bands--which is such a good deal! Truth be told, my kids went on all of the rides, that they could, at least two times! There was also a bungee, catapult jumper--which is a hoot! You have to try it! My little guy loved the games, along the midway--but I mean.... Who doesn't love those?! Can we talk about the food? If you have to eat one thing while you're there, do yourself a favor and order a bucket o'fries! This isn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill fries. They must be coated in fairy dust and deep fried in unicorn tears--they're that good! If you want to splurge, get the bucket o'cheesey fries--trust me, you won't be disappointed. "What if I get two things?" You say? Well, that's a no brainer--get the foot long corn dog--yummy! We've been to a couple of this family's carnivals. Their staff seems great and friendly! Many of them will strike up a conversation with my husband or I while waiting for our kids, outside of rides. Can't wait to try to catch up with this carnival in October, when we go to a family reunion in Louisiana!! Wait.... Am I a carnival groupie?!

This Carnival is so amazing and my kids are absolutely obsessed. Every year when it's in Round…read moreRock & Austin we go multiple times. The food is really great! The burgers, fries (oh my..I dream about the bucket o' fries), corn dogs and homemade lemonade seriously compete with independent food trucks in Austin. This is a local Austin family run business. We have come to know the owners as we go so often, thus when you visit The Mighty Thomas Carnival you are supporting a local business. The rides are fun and small enough that my 4 year old still has multiple ride options. I know that people sometimes are discouraged by the cost of going to a carnival. When you look around and see the cost of operating such a business, the cost of admission is totally appropriate. My kids love it the most and I do have this amazing nostalgic feeling walking around the midway, especially at night. It is such an enjoyable experience! Highly recommend this carnival, especially for families!

Blue Hills Ranch is a can't miss experience. The staff were so incredibly welcoming, warm, and…read moreknowledgable. They went above and beyond to make us feel like family and at home. The animals are so well taken care of and loved. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and we are so glad to have stayed there. Special shout out to Allen the Chef who made some of the most delicious meals I have had and Anne and Jackie who were so knowledgeable about otters and kangaroos. We also loved Dundee (their baby kangaroo.)

Spent the weekend here and had great animal adventures. We stayed in the kangaroo cabins. The cabin…read moreitself had everything and was great accommodations. The place was clean and just the right size for my wife and I. Being city folks you forget how dark it is out in the country at nights. It was nice. We signed up for these adventures to make the weekend even more fun: 1. Feed baby kangaroo(Bodhi). This was about a 30 minute session where we got to feed him a bottle and kibble. It really was an amazing experience. 2. Bucket of food and self guided feeding of animals. We walked the property and hid to feed so many animals. All of the animals were friendly toward people. They were all very good motivated. We encountered a giraffe, donkeys, zebras, horses, cows, pigs, dwarf steers, camels, emu, deer, buffalo and more. The animals were often trying to bully their way to the front of the line. The cow Oreo who has not skipped a meal was always front of the line. 3. Afternoon safari ride in ATV. This was a fun ride around the property. Did not see any new animals but had a great time. The cows out at pasture were thrilled to be fed. 4. Giraffe encounter and meal. This was a little expensive but I would spend it again. The giraffes were super friendly and personable. We wanted to take them home because they were so much fun. The guide, experience and never felt rushed made this worth it. Our guide was top notch. I think her name was Jackie but could be wrong.

My son celebrated his birthday party yesterday and it was such a great experience. Most of our…read moreguest were toddlers and they loved it. This place is safe, clean and staff very helpful, thanks to Tanner, Quinton and Kate, you guys did a wonderful job! I am so glad we found this place and I highly recommended it..

We just had my kiddo's birthday party here and it was fantastic! We invited his entire class to…read morethis open invite party (so awesome that they offer this!) and to our surprise we had a great turnout. The staff were all super attentive and fun and helped facilitate everything so that the party ran super smoothly. I can't wait to go back this summer. So glad we have a place that 'gets' my child. Ya'll ROCK!

Great FREE option in Austin for kids!…read more One of the best parts is you can see an axolotl (two, actually) in their visitor center building. Then you can head over to the birds of prey, the reptile/fish building, and the animal enclosures. There's also a little lake and a large sand pit (dino dig). There's a cool room in the visitor center that has all sorts of nature items (bones, dead bugs, shells, rocks, etc.). You can bring in your own stuff to trade! Is it a huge amount of things to do/see? No but for a free attraction, it's pretty great. Parking is across the street -- lot is shared with Zilker Park and all the nearby attractions so it can get busy.

I didn't know what to expect from this place. Some science centers are kids-only affairs (despite…read morenot being billed as such) while others have more to offer visitors of all ages. Fortunately, the Austin Nature & Science Center ended up falling in the latter category. The main building houses an assortment of bones, shells, and rocks (as well as an axolotl tank) and another building is home to various reptiles. Outside areas include a dino pit (where kids can dig for fossils) and several animal enclosures. What makes the latter unique is that the animals are rehab/rescue cases. They include everything from a bobcat to a porcupine to a 34-year-old one-eyed owl (!!) and more. Granted, Austin Nature & Science Center does offer more for a younger crowd, and it isn't particularly easy to get to by bus, but it's hard to argue with a chance to take in flora and fauna for free.

Live this playground! There are separate slides for be the big and little kids with a few seats on…read morethe sides of the playscapes. You can also grab a bite from one of the many surrounding restaurants.

This place is great for kiddos! There is a play scape for bigger kids as well as some that are a…read morelittle bit younger. There's some cool musical instruments and fun hills to roll down. The best part is there are lots of kid friendly restaurants surrounding the landscape area. You can get a pizza, ice cream, or a burger and sit right there while the kids play. The area has some shade, but not fully shaded. Also, it is not fully fenced in so you do need to keep an eye on your Littles..

Took my niece here while she was visiting on spring break this year and she loved it. It's a great…read morepark with plenty of activities for the kids. I was able to just chill out and read my book too while she played with my brother. I definitely recommend this park to bring the littles to.

Alliance Children's Garden is a playground within the larger Butler Park in Austin. We chose to…read morecome here since its want right across the street from Terry Black's BBQ, where we planned to have lunch. The park has lots of playscapes and climbing structures, and you'll also get nice views of the tall buildings of downtown Austin. They do have an hourly pay-parking lot at the entrance, but it does fill up quickly. It's almost better to leave your car here and walk to Terry Black's. We only hung out at the hills and tunnels section of the park, which our 4yo son loved. They have several hills covered with artificial turf of varying heights that are fun to crawl, climb, or roll down. The tunnels through each hill will make you feel like a Hobbit in those LOTR movies.

I have been frequenting this play street location since they first opened. And we have LOVED having…read morea spot to drop into play. They had a 20 kid limit so we always knew it wouldn't be crowded. The entire concept is great, we buy the five play pass at least once a month if not more. This might be coming to an end because of what happened this morning. My nanny kid has a fractured tibia, play street is a safe option for us because I don't have to worry about dozens of kids tripping over her. We arrived at 9 am after booking a spot online and seeing they had plenty of spots open. The employee who was super nice let me know that they had a large field trip arriving during our play time. The reason we chose and have chosen play street over places like the thinkery because we don't have to battle for space or field trip groups. They should block these time slots out and not have spaces open because this will put them way over their own capacity. I'm not against field trips having places to go to- this is on the franchise owners for trying to accommodate too many people at one time. There needs to be a better system, if there's going to be field trips- find a way to mark it on your schedule so we don't waste our time driving here.

PSM is such a wonderful hidden gem. At first glance, I…read morethought it was a real kids museum and figured my 10mo was too little. Fast forward to last week and we had literally nothing to do so we reserved a play time spot for $15. My jaw DROPPED when I saw all the toys and different stations for the kids. It was PERFECT for my bored little guy. Every station gets cleaned between sessions and I loved it. Everything was organized and the place is just so beautiful. I do wish they offered memberships but at $15 for 2 hours, we aren't complaining. The staff are all incredibly wonderful, happy, smiling folks who are so kind to the kids. We're going today and even I'm excited to get the kiddo out to PSM on this rainy day.