The best place to take your kids! My kids could spend hours on 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 read more

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I just became an ASTC member, and the Thinkery is reciprocal. It's cheaper to buy your membership through 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. read more

What a fun time my 3 and 5-year old had! We spent over 2 hrs and didn't even do the water section indoors or outdoors. Very interactive, very educational and very fun. The story time was very engaging. They loved the pretend farm/kitchen the most. It's a bit pricey as you have to pay for adults going in too but totally worth it for the kiddos! read more

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Thinking of stopping yes !!! Do it ! Experience it!! Such a beautiful n wonderful experience for kiddies to explore learn n use there motor skills Along with exploring n learning Out little loved every installation that they had in every single room. I don't think there was a time where she wanted to leave to go from one to the next. Prices is per kiddie N adult They have parties and discounts U can spend all day or just some of the day They also validate some for parking read more

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For a kids science museum, this one is sort of lacking by a lot. As a play place- super fun. I just choose to see it as the latter and not compare it to other major cities science museums for children. The membership is worth it, without one an adult and two kids is about $60. I think the membership would be paid off in two-three visits. We have enjoyed so many of the programs here. Baby bloomers in particular is really when this place shines. It's open earlier for toddlers only. They set up special stations within their already set up rooms and it usually has a fun theme. It is so chill because there's no big kids knocking your little one around. My kids can easily spend half an hour doing Independent play in the water room. There are benches that circle the room and make every spot in the room visible, they provide croc style shoes so theirs don't get wet and aprons. The employees are good at announcing story time and they are usually really fun. They have a pretty strict no food rule- totally fine. Do wish they had a small area where you could do snacks because walking outside on a cold or rainy day is not great. We did attend the gingerbread house workshop today and the kids had a blast. At the heart of it the employees make this place magical. read more

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Museum is clean with lots of activities for kids. It would benefit from a cafe, even with prepackaged food. We're visiting from Houston so we didn't bring food with us. When my kids were hungry at lunch, we had to leave the museum. read more

Are you looking for a great way to spend a half day with your kiddos?? Then you should check out the Thinkery! We have visited this learning/play area several times and our toddler has always enjoyed it. There are a large variety of activities that are suitable for different age groups. Most are likely for 2+ years old but they do an area inside for younger children that our daughter enjoyed when she was ~1 years old. They also have activities like story time that are scheduled for select days and times. Story time is free with admission but I believe others, like the gingerbread house during December, cost extra. Overall, I would highly recommend. We liked it so much that we bought an annual membership! read more

I'm glad I waited to write my review for the Thinkery because my first impression was one where it was just 'ok,' overpriced for what it was. I'll roll through why I didn't have a higher opinion of the place but then share what changed it around. It's small. I'm used to children's museums being larger, The Thinkery is a Children's Museum despite the grandiloquent and somewhat vague title. There's no space for eating and kids get snack-y. You know what's weirder than an adult at a kid's museum? No place for a bunch of hypoglycemic toddlers to get a friggin' pudding cup or something in their system before they just break down into a tantrum (saw it happen A BUNCH.) However, I will say that having come for birthday party's for some kids there's definitely a lot things to do for any kid that's not an infant. They may not get all the science behind wind but they definitely love that little scarf wind tunnel thing and for the littles there's a little model train set which seems to draw all the real rugrats. They also have reciprocal relationships with museums nationwide so say your nephew comes to visit and his mom has a membership to MSI then it's a fun place to wander for a bit. read more

We had the best time here! There were so many rooms including building areas, sciences areas, water play, outdoor play and more. Our favorites were the science room and then Lego room. The kiddos did not want to leave. The staff is kind and helpful. While there wasn't much staff in the different areas, when they were around they cleaned, picked up and helped. Def recommend it as a fun indoor activity to get out of the heat. Even the outdoor area is covered and shady. read more

Thinkery - Science area - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I went today with my 19 month old and 10 year old old. Nobody was amused. It was 59.00 for us all to go in. The baby was not interested in anything and my 10 yr old was too old for anything. So I figured we'd get a gift from the gift shop to make up for the dull experience, and I also regret that. We got one stuffed animal and two small baby toys. 70.00 So I spent around 130 for an hour of walking around a crowded building with mid-arts and crafts projects you can do at home. So maybe if you have a 5 yr old, the water area is okish, the rest is boring. read more

Been here a few times with the kids. Although I believe the kids enjoy themselves when we come, I feel as if the admission prices are way overpriced for what is offered there. I can say that it's a place that's good for younger children. They do offer a membership, but it wouldn't be worth it for my family. read more

A fun museum for most kid ages. It has changed a little over the last 8years for the better. I used to come with my nanny charge and now I come with my 3 kids. We were there atleast 3 hours. We went at 1pm and it was NOT packed. read more

We had a great time at the Thinkery! My daughter and I went on a Sunday morning and it was busy, but the museum is quite large so there was plenty to do. My daughter is 1.5 and some of the exhibits are better suited for older children, she still had a blast! There's also a dedicated space upstairs for smaller kiddos so that was nice. There is a parking strucutred locate dbehind the Thinkery where you can park and they will validate your parking which is a nice perk! Tickets are a bit on the higher end, but they offer various discounts and memberships as well. read more

Thinkery - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We love visiting and bringing friends/family from out of town. There's so many rooms that you can easily enjoy a half/full day (definitely recommend having a water bottle/snacks, depending on your stay). Kiddos love painting, playing with water, building models, learning about basic physics (without having to sit/stay put for lectures or videos), etc. Parking is probably the only pain, but there's street and garage options in Mueller, so I assume most frequent visitors are aware of the best spots. A great way to pass the time, in the AC or out of the rain! Double check the hours before you visit! They open/close promptly and need time to setup/shutdown. read more

This was a fun experience. While the building was no where near capacity, there were definitely rooms that should probably have capacities as it felt very crowded at times. Our little one enjoyed the room with building blocks (and Legos), he enjoyed the chicken coop, and loved the water area. read more

Thinkery - Toddler playing at the Thinkery - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

We had so much a great experience at the Thinkery! There are so many things to do and try for the kids, you truly could spend half the day there just wondering around. I love how the setup allows you to try different stations, but come back to it if it was something that you really liked. There is an entry fee, but they do offer free days if cost is an issue. My children love it and can't wait to go back. The play kitchen may have been a crowd favorite or the water station because who doesn't love to make a splash?! Swipe through the photos to see some of the stops! read more

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We got there early on a Saturday for the younger children session 8a-10a and it was a delight. There are soooo many wonderful ways for them to build motor skills, learn life lessons, color, numbers, pretend play and so much more. There are ways to learn for children on ALL levels. An awesome opportunity for your child to develop and meet news friends. Would definitely recommend if you have children aged birth to adults. read more

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My kids really liked it here. My very youngest really liked here more than anyone. Wasn't too crowded either.

A no brainer for new parents in Austin. A super thoughtful museum with great detail. Worth the membership in my opinion. read more

Thinkery - Bloom - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

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A bit of construction going on for a new installation today but we still had an amazing time! There was an artist taking video of some open space for a new art installation which we are SO excited for! read more

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This children's museum was really neat! There were lots of exhibits that we hadn't seen before- the motion and light lab were engaging and exciting for our bigger kids. They also loved the playground in the courtyard. Upstairs, the water room was a big splash for our younger ones! The cost was a little high for the size of the museum, $75 for our family, but we did have reciprocal membership benefits making it more accessible! Overall, we all really loved it and would come back! read more

This was such a fun place to take my son! It's very interactive, they offer different stations that allow them to learn. I liked the outside area the most. They have a section dedicated to water, I wasn't really a fan but had we been properly prepared then it would've been fine. read more

Not worth almost $40 for myself and 3 year old. Smalls and crowded especially when field trips come

Thinkery has community hours on Tuesdays. This is great because the price of admission to the Thinkery is prohibitively high these days, and I appreciate them making the museum accessible to more people. Their site says they validate parking at the garage nearby. Unfortunately, that garage has been bought by Metropolis, a known sleazy company that doesn't use tickets for garage entry, and instead requires use of a phone, cell service within a steel and concrete garage, license plate number, and credit card number. That's not very community accessible at all. What if - I don't have a phone? My phone doesn't work within the garage? I don't have a credit card? What if I don't want to share my information with for-profit Metropolis to be sold and shared elsewhere? What if I wanted to hang out with my kids at a children's museum, instead of fiddling with my phone and credit cards in a parking garage? If I did, I wouldn't visit here. read more

This was such a fun way to spend some time on a trip that included 3 small children. I enjoyed myelf as well!! There is a park across the street that I recommend visiting before or after the Thinkery too. Plan to spend 2-3 hours here minimum but also be prepared for less depending on your child's age and interest level. read more

I'm a huge fan of Thinkery's 21+ events. I have attended several of these events in the past. I was thrilled that they started bringing them back this year. Last week's Jingle Booze event was a blast. It was loaded with things to do including decorate a paper gingerbread, create an ornament with recycled materials, create a paper lantern, screen printing, vodka tasting drag show, ugly sweater contest and so much more. They also had tamales for food that you could order. While I enjoyed the tamales, I'm hoping they bring back additional food vendors in the future. Your ticket included one drink but you could order additional ones. The staff was super helpful and filled with holiday cheer. I look forward to additional adult Thinkery events in the future. read more

Thinkery - My friends and I enjoying the Jingle Booze event. - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

Having recently moved here, we didn't even know this place existed. A friend of ours, after taking us to get ID's, decided that since I'm blind and have a pair of Meta smart glasses, he wanted to take me somewhere that we could really test them out. We had so much fun. My four-year-old grandson, my daughter, our friend, and I all went and explored! My grandson had loads of fun. Getting him out was not very easy because he was enjoying himself so much in the kitchen area. He's always pretending to cook at home, so no surprise there. We only made it to the first and second floors, the next time, we will have to go check out the third floor. It was definitely a place for a blind person to check out all kinds of new things. There are lots of things that make sounds, for people who can see, there are all kinds of things that make light, there's the thing that you put the ball in and it makes it go through the tubes, which if it was quiet, I could probably hear it go through, but since it's obviously popular, wasn't quiet, but my grandson loved it. He also loved the giant Lite-Brite in the lights room. As for the Meta glasses, once I got on Thinkery's Wi-Fi, they worked really well! If you're blind and have a pair of them, I highly recommend that you put them through the real test at Thinkery. We had the discovery museum in Reno, and it doesn't even compare to Thinkery. read more

Thinkery - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

An amazing place for the kiddos to play and learn. So many activities, especially for the older aged kids. There's a small play area for infants with mirrors and toys. I really love that there's this dedicated safe space where little ones can run around and burn some energy. We still have to explore the entire museum and excited to keep going more often! read more

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WOW, wish we had one of these in CA! This was an incredibly awesome place to explore with my 15 month old, something creative and interactive in every corner, inside and outside. Every detail is thought out and made easy for parents. Would highly recommend a coffee shop inside, but honestly the $18 for a full day pass is truly awesome! read more

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Validated parking and community days / hours (Sunday and Tuesdays) make this a great spot for families to explore with their children of all ages! They have regular paid visits (buy tickets online) and memberships. We love frequenting this place as there's soo much to do there! read more

Thinkery - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Came around 3:15 to get a tour of the place after being told it would be $37 for my husband and I to come in with our baby who is almost 1 year old. I asked for a tour because I didn't want to blindly pay $37 and not know what my 11 mo old child would be doing. The person giving us the tour took us upstairs to where the babies are, and wasn't told that we just wanted a tour before buying the admissions, due to this misunderstanding, she told us we can take our baby inside and play. I thought they were being nice because it's the end of the day, or maybe they were letting him have a free trial. Well I was completely wrong. They came up and told us we needed to pay for the admission to continue to play after my baby started crawling and got a toy in his hand. It was super awkward because I didn't want to pay $37 for an hour and 45 minutes, these people came up to get us and basically followed us out because I didn't want to pay $40 (full day price) for the remainder of the day. Grabbing my child, took the toy out of his hand was kind of embarrassing, I would have just paid it normally but like I said, we had less than 2 hours left in the day. I just wanted to check out the area anyway, it's hard to gauge how an 11 mo old would react to a foreign place after all. So kind of an embarrassing experience but lesson learned. read more

Thinkery is one of the best children's places around. Love going here when I have family in town from back home as they're always amazed. My kiddo never wants to leave! read more

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We visited the Thinkery with a large group of children aged 2 - 12 and we ALL had a blast (adults included!). This children's museum is well spaced out so even though we came during a prime Saturday weekend, it did not feel super overwhelming or crowded at all. This museum is two levels and took us about two - three hours to explore. I recommend coming right when they open, grabbing lunch nearby, and enjoying a car nap on the way home for optimal enjoyment purposes. Things to Note: 1) The Thinkery is part of the Children's Museum Reciprocal Network which allows us to get discounted tickets when purchasing at the front desk. If you have littles in your life, I highly recommend joining your local children's museum...we've been able to benefit from perks all across the US and it has saved us TONS of money. 2) Parking is validated up to three hours in the lot across from Origins. You will need to scan a QR code and enter your credit card information when parking and when you arrive at the Thinkery, you can scan their virtual validation code to get credit back to your total bill. 3) Their gift shop is small but very well curated. Whatever we saved in discounted tickets went 100% back to the museum in the form of little souveneirs. 4) Bring an extra pair of clothes if you want to explore the "Currents" section. They have aprons and crocs for children to use but several kids in our party still managed to get extremely wet. 5) Other fun exbibits: Stop Motion (my older kid spent like 20 minutes her), trains, SPARK (basically open ended arts and crafts), and the fresh farmer's market. 6) If you're looking for a great spot to eat after check out Veracruz and Lick Ice cream. read more

Best indoor place for kids (and family)! We all love it so much. They have community hours where admission is free. So great! read more

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The Thinkery is awesome. 2 stories of fun and learning for the kids. Everything is hands-on. Downstairs has a dark room with light exhibits, a room with kinetic energy exhibits, a big wooden train, a gift shop, a paint wall, some air power exhibits, some electric circuit exhibits, and a big craft room. Upstairs has a giant water table room, a grocery store, kitchen, and chicken coop, and a toddler area, a room for private parties and a reading/story time corner. There is also a toddler section upstairs. Outside is a tall play structure, a sandy area, and a little stream with block the kids can use to try to build dams and other toys to play in the water. It's a good time. It is also located in a nice area, next to Mueller Lake Park, and lots of restaurants. There is a playground right across the street. read more

After a year of membership and multiple visits, we've decided not to renew for a few reasons. 1. While the concept is appealing, the lack of activity rotation became a significant drawback. Initially exciting, my son quickly grew bored as the novelty wore off. The limited variety in the four downstairs rooms, two upstairs areas, reading zone, and toddler space, coupled with persistently broken stations, made each visit feel repetitive and disappointing. 2. Way too many kids. DO NOT bring your kid here if their sensory threshold is easily met. They will be overwhelmed and shut down. The overwhelming number of kids proved challenging, especially for my son, who is sensitive to sensory stimuli. Too many kids, making too much noise, not allowing for any one child to take their time to process what is in front of them makes this place a horror show with anyone who experiences sensory overload. 3. The high cost of admission. There's nothing really for the parents to do. So we are basically paying good money to babysit our own kids. And since the activities do not change, it's boring for the parents too. On our last trip, if it wasn't for the special birthday event and the magnet train set by the front, we would have been in and out in under 20 minutes, it was that boring and nerve-wrecking for the kiddo. In summary, the Thinkery fell short of expectations, primarily due to stagnant activities, sensory overload, and a lack of value for the cost. If your child isn't bothered by loud environments and you have a few hours to spare, it might be worth checking out the Thinkery once but can't recommend a membership at this time. read more

Wanted to love this place after all of the hype and great reviews, but we were disappointed. 1. The price point is not accessible. For a family of 4 to visit just once, it costs $72. That is insane. Charging for adults is absolutely wild to me. 2. Very, very crowded. Disappointed that they would allow such a high capacity. 3. There are better "play by learning" options for little ones, especially those under 5. McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels is more affordable and has a better variety for the younger crowd. Playstreet Museum is also a much better, cleaner, and affordable option in my opinion. Considered getting a membership, but won't. read more

Thinkery - Play food - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

As a 9 month pregnant mama, I cannot thank the thinkery enough! My 2 year old was entertained for 2 and a half hours!!! It was $18/person admission for myself and my son and from the moment we stepped through to the play areas we were blown away. SO many different sensory areas, a bunch of different toys that I did not have to clean up after, so many kids my son's age. He had a BLAST from start to finish. With the reduced price baby bloomers (Sat & Mon) and the community (free) sessions on Sundays, I can't think of a reason we wouldn't be here twice per week. I'm incredibly slow and tired currently and the Thinkery allows my son to continue to be his energetic little self with very minimal interaction from me. This is my favorite place. Parking is a a little hard to find on the weekends, but the park across from the thinkery makes the walk enjoyable. I will now be enjoying the blissful silence of a worn out toddler napping after 2 hours of playtime. I love you, Thinkery. read more

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I brought a friend and her daughter (6yo) to Thinkery during their recent visit to austin. Here's a run-down: 1. Location - the museum is located across from muller park - there is free 3 hr validated parking in a garage behind the museum. The setting itself and the 3 hr validated parking was great. For your entry you can go in-out of the museum from your ticket entry time through closing. This allows you to check out the surrounding park area if you want which was great. Location and parking 5/5 2. Value - at $18/ticket regardless of age (no discount for kids) I don't know if the museum itself was worth that cost. Maybe I'm expecting too much but for $18/pp I would have liked for there to be a bit more for kiddos to do/create. The exhibits were all extremely crowded so it was difficult for kids to get in and experience the "station". A lot of stations required pieces and parts and these were often missing or scattered so using the experience was difficult. 3/5 3. Staff - the staff were friendly and seemed to be walking around areas but I didn't really see any of them "restaging" anything successfully (see above). Mostly, they seemed to be monitoring to ensure adults didn't have iced coffees (no food or drink allowed except water). We did have a great experience making embroidery and the staff there were incredibly helpful and kind. Would be great if the staff wandering around reset the various stations. 4/5 I have been to a lot of children's STEM/STEAM museums and this one just didn't hold up compared to others (the San Antonio one is fantastic, Ottawa Canada also has an excellent one). For the price of entry I expected more. It's OK if you are looking for an indoor space to bring your kids but don't expect something spectacular. read more

Thinkery - One of the stations - Kids Activities Near Me - Austin, Texas

A creative place for your child. There's this one area where you your child can go grocery shopping and also cook their own meal. My toddler had a blast in this area. There's also a chicken coop where you can go and get some eggs which is nice your child can learn about the process of farm to table. There's a library section where it looks like they do story time. I also brought my 5 month year old and there's a section where we can sit and play. It's nice that older kids were allowed if they can respect the area because of the babies. We also got to enjoyed the the water area where they provide the kids with a waterproof jacket. Since we're not from the area and just visiting, this place definitely kept our kids busy for the visit. read more

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