Scienceworks Hands-On Museum

Normally I would say this place was amazing! I’ve actually been here a bunch and loved it. However, for the first time I had my mother — a Filipina woman — and my daughter, and her Hispanic babysitter visit there and they were treated very rudely.
I wanted to give my babysitter cash for admission, so I called to ask the rates and was told kids under 2 were free and adults over 65 were free and that other adults were $ 10. Great! I said ok then so they’ll just need $ 10 and she said yes. I gave my sitter my $ 20 and she said she’d bring back the change. I was surprised senior citizens were free and not discounted, but went with it.
Upon approaching the front desk the woman’s first question was not a greeting but and trite «what’s your zip code?» I have never been asked this before. One friend said they asked her once, but her husband stated he had never been asked for all the time he’s lived here — he was born in Ashland.
Service tip #1 greet people first.
#2 treat people consistently
Then when my babysitter told them my daughter was under 2 (she’s 20 months) the same woman asked «are you sure? What’s her birthday?»
My sitter told her.
The woman said «that baby is not under 2.» My sitter confirmed she was. My baby cannot talk. Anyone with a trace of children’s experience would know she was under two, and if you can’t know that, don’t argue rudely with someone.
#3 do not tell someone their child is not the age you tell them
I then have to wonder why the front desk person thought my family was lying about my daughter’s age when she couldn’t even talk like a two year old. This hasn’t ever happened to myself or any friends so I am suspicious it was due to the ethnicity of my family — why else would she be so exceptionally rude and unbelieving?
Can’t prove it. But not happy about it.
Then she also charged my mother who is 80 — my mom asked if she really had to pay because I called in advance and was told that people over 65 were free, and she was very rude and told her she had to pay and was appalled she asked.
We would have done so without a problem if they had not said otherwise when we called and if admission fees were easier to find online. It wasn’t for lack of money or willingness to pay. It was for consistency and would not have been an issue if the woman admitted she could have misspoke.
#4 give the customer the benefit of the doubt — especially when they are 80.
When I heard about all this I called the front desk to talk to the person I spoke to when I had first called ahead of time. I asked why they interrogated my babysitter and charged my mom when they said she would be free because I wanted to provide my babysitter with all the cash she needed. She told me she would never say senior citizens were free — instead of admitting she could have made a mistake. Then said «well I did refund SOMEONE for charging for the child but I can’t say for sure this was YOUR family.»
All in all I have to ask: would the same questions be asked — and the same treatment received — of a blond baby and a lighter skinned senior citizen? Really science works? Asking someone «are you sure» when they say a baby is under two and the baby is still not sure footed and not even talking? And being rude to an 80 year old woman and making her feel embarrassed when all she was doing was reiterating what she was told?
My babysitter came back upset that she was treated with such suspicion after being so pleasant and my mother was embarrassed that they thought she was trying to intentionally get out of paying — which was not the case.
So rude.
That woman should be refilling the bubble water and not working the front desk.

Clean, creative, thoughtful, educational fun. Buy a pass and go whenever you are bored. For adults and kids alike.
They let you rent out various rooms for parties and events as well.
Support this place; they are doing something good for the community.

Been here a few times. The kids love it. Just got a membership. $ 70 for the whole family for a year which includes over 100 similar museums /​kids spaces all over the US. A ton of affiliates in California. Really an amazing deal. I wish I knew about it sooner. Just the bubble areas and balls keep the tinies busy for over an hour. Yay!

We had such a blast with our kids! Not sure if the adults had more fun than the kiddos. We live in LA area and this what’s better than any of our kids museums.

I’m not sure what we would do without this place, especially in the winter! Great, hand-​on science exhibits for children of all ages. We bought the family membership which is a steal at $ 79/​year and visit at least twice a month. It is split up into different areas, including a play area just for toddlers and a special area that has revolving exhibits every 3 – 4 months.
If your coming though town or new to the area, your kids will really enjoy Science Works.

Kids love this place so much fun things to do for all 3 of my children. The bubble room is awesome. price isn’t bad if you buy a annual membership.

We were passing through on our way back to LA from Portland and wanted to find something the kids would enjoy for a few hours. We drove over on Tuesday only to discover they were closed. :(
Still we let the kids climb over the outside installations and just went to the entrance to «make sure» they were closed. They were, but since they were technically open for a lecture for a specific group, the girl at the desk let us in anyway! The kids had the run of the place and it is FILLED with interesting, fun, educational exhibits. It truly is hands-​on and our kids had a fantastic time!
We could hardly pull them out of the place when it was time to leave, though we probably made it harder on ourselves by ending with the awesome Bubble Room exhibit. I can’t say enough good things about this place. Definitely worth your time and a visit if in Ashland.

Great family fun! We have had a yearly pass for over two years and have enjoyed it. Our children who are five and under all have something to do. There is an area just for little ones and one just for little little kids.
Perfect for in depth educational fun or just running from activity to activity all afternoon. I always enjoy the new exhibits and have a few favorite non rotating activities. The shadow room it always fun for everyone to be involved in.
Bring a lunch and make a day of it, if you think you’ve done it all keep looking. There will always be something you missed!

This was a great place to take our kids. Not much for the younger crowd but it was still a fun adventure for our family.

Coming from the SF Bay Area where there are many great children’s museums, I expected my kids (ages 4 and 8) to have fun but not only did they love it, my wife and I also giggled and grinned and learned. It’s a big place with many different exhibits and just enough instructions to get started making things (airplanes, rockets, soap bubbles, marble runs, etc.). Lots of moveable parts to things (levers to pull, chairs to ride, cannons to tilt, etc.). We spent hours here and the kids didn’t want to leave.

Great fun for my 4-​year old. Lots of hands on experiences. There are 2 spots that are fairly contained and entertaining for him so had I been there with him alone or another mom I would have really enjoyed it. There was another mother there who was quilting while she was just letting her kids play.
(OMG a play date that allows the moms to actually talk!)
We went while visiting my parents in Grants Pass and it was about $ 40 for three adults and 1 child to get in. Pretty spendy for the grandparents who got bored quickly and were ready to leave in about an hour but the two hours my son got out of it we’re not quite enough for his tastes or for the cost to get in.
The dinosaurs are very realistic & cool (they watch you when you approach using kinect texhnology) but scary for the little ones. I saw several 4 – 5 years olds (my son included) stop short and or cry when they roared.

This place is fun for the little ones. We took my niece and nephew here and they were entertained for a few hours. They are almost 5 and 3 years old. The highlight is the bubble room. Even I enjoyed making huge bubbles! The oversized kaleidescope is fun too.
They are interactive exhibits and science shows every hour. We saw a show about matter and it was fun. The teacher played with liquid nitrogen which entertained the 5 year old. The 3 year old wasn’t that interested in that so my sister took her to another exhibit to keep her busy.
A great way to spend a couple of hours. Get the annual pass if you can.

We (my 10 year old son and myself) loved it. We were told that it was a cool place to see — good recommendation. We happened to show up on Wednesday — and the first Wednesday of the month — it ended up being free to get in. My son had a blast — it was super crowded — but I ended up having a great time too. It is small — but an excellent place to play and learn without them knowing they are learning. But wow — crowded.
When in Ashland with a child — 12 and under — go go go!

We were on a driving vacation and found Scienceworks via TripAdvisor. Nice break for our 9 year old. George and Scott greeted us at the main kiosk and were as friendly as can be. Scott led an abacus build demo. Plenty of parking. Fun exhibits. Climbing area. Perfect for K-​8, but I had fun with the exhibits as an adult.

Whenever our grandkids visit, ScienceWorks is at the top of their list of places to go. We have four ranging from ages 4 to 9 but I’ve seen plenty of younger and older enjoying all there is to offer. We’ve been to OMSI in Portland and to the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose and this compares well with them. It’s smaller of course, but with the same quality of interactive exhibits without the high noise levels, crowds or wait times for the most popular attractions.
There’s a bubble room, a science theater (our kids loved the last Science Live presentation on combustion), a current interactive exhibit on the human body, a five-​and-​under room for the tots, outdoor exhibits, light exhibits, a build-​an-​arch we always have to do, a bee hive and so much more.
If you live in the Rogue Valley, get an annual pass. The grandparents’ pass (grandparents plus all grandkids) is only $ 60 or pay the day fee if you’re passing through. So much to do and way fun! A treat to have in our rural area.

This place was terrific. My daughter and I enjoyed going around learning about science in this hands-​on museum. We were lucky to enjoy it with only a few other visitors. We spent about 1.5 hrs exploring the museum and had a great time watching three wild deer eat from the lawn surrounding the building. Highly recommend this place.

Stopped here on our way to the Oregon Caves. Our kids enjoyed the different rooms and experiments. It’s not very big and you can probably complete it in less than 2 – 3 hours.
I think the admission price was $ 10 per person. But ask the receptionist if they have any discounts. I asked and she mentioned that if I was a member of any of the places connected to them we could get in for free. YES! I had my Turtle Bay Exploration member card on me thank goodness!

Great place to take the kids for an afternoon to explore! VERY fun day was had with my niece and nephew at this place. Lots of fun and interesting things to do plus the staff is helpful and friendly. HAVE FUN!